Director Aaron Sorkin and Mikey Madison on the set of The Social Reckoning
In PH cinemas October 7
Mikey Madison was ready to sink her teeth on a good script after her Best Actress win for Anora at the 97th Academy Awards, and the role that immediately captured her attention was Frances Haugen for Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning. “It was Frances’s incredible moral compass that captured me,” Madison says. “It’s not often that someone acts in as selfless a way as she did. And what I loved most is that she is a hero who doesn’t really even know that she is a hero. All she knows is that there is something inside her that can’t live with keeping this information secret when it is so clearly doing harm.”
Frances Haugen is the whistleblower that defied social media giant Facebook’s culture of silence to bring their dangerous algorithm to light. Working with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), they both risk everything to publish the investigation now known as The Facebook Files. Their story and the effects of their groundbreaking work is the foundation for The Social Reckoning, written and directed by The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.
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Sorkin knew that Madison would be the best Frances for his film because the actress had a good read on the former Facebook employee’s personality. “I had been knocked out by Mikey’s performance in Anora and also loved her in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. I knew that she could do this,” Sorkin says. “In addition to being a great actor, Mikey has qualities an actor can’t fake. An actor can’t pretend to be smart. And an actor can’t pretend to be funny. You need to already be those things to make them authentic, and Mikey is.”
Madison dove deep into the culture of tech, researching lingo, and especially the struggles of being a woman in the industry. “Frances is wickedly intelligent but in a very specific way,” Madison notes. “I had to learn to wrap my head around someone who is always thinking analytically.”
A highlight for Madison while working on The Social Reckoning is exploring the relationship between Frances and Jeff, two people going up against one of the biggest companies in the world. “There’s a certain point in the story where Frances and Jeff turn from using each other as a means to an end to becoming true allies and friends who appreciate each other for who they truly are,” Madison observes. “That’s when Frances realizes she can’t be anonymous anymore, much as she wants to be, because Jeff’s story will only have a major impact if her face is attached to it.”
For Madison, taking on Sorkin’s dialogue was a gift, and she is thankful for the chance to collaborate with the writer-director. “Every word is so specifically chosen. At the same time, I found Aaron remarkably trusting as a director. He chooses his actors carefully, then lets them do what they do best. He definitely doesn’t micromanage, which is wonderful. And he has an incredible sense of humor that is really fun.”
Sorkin preferred that the actors take inspiration from the characters on the page, rather than the actual human being, so Madison took it to herself to develop her own concepts of Frances. She is, however, curious to meet her real-life counterpart. “I do very much hope one day in the future to meet this incredible woman.”
The Social Reckoning arrives in Philippine cinemas on October 7.
