Jesse Eisenberg's cousin works at Facebook - Hollywood Reporter

Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Zuckerberg

Jesse Eisenberg didn't meet Mark Zuckerberg before portraying him in "The Social Network" -- but his cousin did.

"In the final weeks of filming the movie, my cousin got a great job at Facebook and is now an employee there," Eisenberg told Reuters ahead of the film's wide open Friday. "My cousin told me Mark couldn't have been more gracious toward him."

Zuckerberg, who has said he won't see the movie, which he refers to as "fiction," approached Eiseberg's cousin shortly after he started. [ Related: Inside the Mark Zuckerberg - Social Network PR Battle]

"Mark came up to him at a party during his first week on the job and said: 'I think your cousin is playing me in a movie; that's really cool,' relays Eisenberg. "I couldn't have heard better things from my cousin both personally and professionally about Mark. It coincides with how I feel having played him as well."

Eisenberg says he'd be "very interested to meet" Zuckerberg after spending "six months, 14 hours-a-day filming."

By Lindsay Powers

Oct 1, 2010, 09:35 AM ET

Jesse Eisenberg didn't meet Mark Zuckerberg before portraying him in "The Social Network" -- but his cousin did.

"In the final weeks of filming the movie, my cousin got a great job at Facebook and is now an employee there," Eisenberg told Reuters ahead of the film's wide open Friday. "My cousin told me Mark couldn't have been more gracious toward him."

Zuckerberg, who has said he won't see the movie, which he refers to as "fiction," approached Eiseberg's cousin shortly after he started. [Related: Inside the Mark Zuckerberg - Social Network PR Battle]

"Mark came up to him at a party during his first week on the job and said: 'I think your cousin is playing me in a movie; that's really cool,' relays Eisenberg. "I couldn't have heard better things from my cousin both personally and professionally about Mark. It coincides with how I feel having played him as well."

Eisenberg says he'd be "very interested to meet" Zuckerberg after spending "six months, 14 hours-a-day filming."

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