NEW YORK — Have you checked your Facebook page today? Do your “friends” know what you ate for breakfast? In its six short years of existence, the social networking hot spot/waste of time has become an integral part of our lives.
How it all got started is the subject of the film “The Social Network,” starring Jesse Eisenberg as its wunderkind founder Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker. We talked with Timberlake about his role, which is garnering a fair amount of Academy Award buzz for the former Mickey Mouse Club member.
Q: How do you feel when you hear your name mentioned in the same sentence as “Oscar”?
A: That’s very kind, but I don’t know how to respond to that.
Q: Your entire body language just changed. You look very uncomfortable with talk about possibly winning an Academy Award.
A: I’m physically uncomfortable with this right now. I just feel like there’s nothing I can say. At the risk of sounding cliche, there was a reason why I have always wanted to get into film, but an award was never a part of it. After all, I started off doing sketch comedy and music on a television show on the Disney Channel when I was a kid.
Q: You’ve accomplished a lot since the Mickey Mouse days; your success with ‘N Sync, you’re one of the world’s most successful solo musical artists, you’re an “SNL” favorite and, now, a serious actor getting critical acclaim. Is it fun?
A: I’m having more fun than ever. I know that it feels like it’s probably a story for some media outlets to write that I’ve spent so much time in music and why would I go to film and not keep doing music, but the truth of it is that everyone like Ryan (Gosling), Christina (Aguilera), Britney (Spears) and everyone who was on that television show when we were kids had to be a triple threat to survive. You know, Ryan is such a talented musician. He probably hates that I say that about him, but it’s true.
Q: On the Internet, there were stories that you came close to being injured when a boom microphone fell while you were on the red carpet for the premiere of “The Social Network.” Are you all right?
A: On the red carpet … (laughs) … that was literally 12 feet away from me, it wasn’t even close.
Travel expenses were paid by Columbia Pictures and WGN-TV.
Watch my interviews 5 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on WGN-Ch. 9 Morning News. My radio show airs 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on News 720 WGN-AM and wgnradio.com. You can also hear more by going to wgntv.com/deanslist.