Justin Timberlake Was Only Taken Seriously as an Actor After Starring in ‘The Social Network’

For Justin Timberlake, it took some time before the former N’Sync member could be taken seriously as a potential movie star.

He credited the David Fincher feature The Social Network for affecting others’ perception of him.

Justin Timberlake credited David Fincher for boosting his acting career

In the mid to late 2000s, Timberlake took a slight break from his successful music career to focus on his filmography. He made a few notable projects like Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan that garnered some praise from his contemporaries in the film industry. But it wasn’t until his performance in The Social Network that he found his acting getting serious recognition.

He won the role as young tech millionaire Sean Parker in the 2010 Oscar-nominated feature. He even beat out Jonah Hill for the role. Hill might have gotten the part if Fincher didn’t insist on Timberlake.

“Low-key, David Fincher, or high-key, David Fincher didn’t want me in Social Network,” Fincher said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “It was between me and Justin Timberlake for that part….Obviously, [Fincher’s] the man, but he was not having me. The studio wanted me, I think, and then Justin Timberlake was amazing in it.”

Fincher’s casting decision did wonders for Timberlake, who began receiving more offers after his Social Network performance.

“I’m going to have to write some crazy thing in my will to him – or have a business card that says: ‘David Fincher put me in a movie,’” Timberlake once said according to the Irish Examiner. “Because as soon as that happened, film directors were like: ‘Oh, he can see something in him that we can’t.’”

Justin Timberlake wanted to reassure fans that he didn’t turn his back on music after ‘Social Network’ success

Timberlake started further establishing himself as an actor thanks to his newfound credibility. But since he’d taken such a long hiatus from music, fans wondered if he turned his back on the platform. In a 2011 interview with Shortlist (via MTV News), Timberlake shared that he fully intended to return to music. And he clarified that he wasn’t favoring acting over recording.

“To be honest, my plan would have probably been to do another record, probably right about now. I never stop considering myself a musician. To me, it’s my bread and butter,” Timberlake said. “And I mean that in a personal way, I don’t mean that it finances my ‘acting hobbies.’ I joke with my friends that I should have a business card saying ‘David Fincher put me in a movie,’ because Bad Teacher got a blessing due to The Social Network, and then Friends With Benefits came out of that.”

The singer disagreed with the idea that he was trying to send a message by picking so many film projects.

“All the movies I’ve done were just opportunities that came up, but now that they’re all coming out back-to-back, people think, ‘Oh, he’s trying to make a statement by having an acting career,’ ” he continued. “But it’s not like that for me. I don’t ever want to stop doing music,” he said.

Justin Timberlake felt his casting put a cloud over ‘The Social Network’

Because he was such an unproven actor, Timberlake acknowledged that his casting initially might not have done the feature any favors. But the In Time star lost little sleep over it, and was determined to prove to everyone that he was a capable actor.

“I do think there was probably a cloud over a movie like The Social Network in a way that may have been a little unfair, but that’s OK. I can respect that,” Timberlake once told The Independent. “I think the important thing for people to understand is that I’m not doing any of this in vain. I’m doing it because I take it seriously.”