Justin Timberlake admitted that he was nervous about taking on a challenging part in David Fincher's much-anticipated Facebook movie, "The Social Network."
"It scared the sh-- out of me," the pop superstar told Us Magazine at the movie's premiere in New York City Friday night. "This movie's dense. There's a lot there. It would take me all night to sort of go through what we talked about, about what this character is."
Timberlake is putting his acting skills to the test playing Napster creator Sean Parker. He said the tech genius's character has "a lot of layers" and he and director Fincher worked together in building Timberlake's performance.
"[We worked on] diagramming the arc and peeling back the layers," the "SexyBack" singer said, adding, "He's an actor's director, and he pulls performances out of people."
The Social Network - which sagas Mark Zuckerberg's rise to social media glory and hits theaters October 1 - is another addition to director David Fincher reel of intense, complex flicks. That includes "Fight Club," "Zodiac," and the Oscar-nominated "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Timberlake is no stranger to the big screen. He has had roles in "The Love Guru," "Alpha Dog," "The Open Road," and other movies.
Critics are already giving JT's performance a thumbs-up "Like," some calling it Oscar-worthy. PopEater.com ran an editorial this month praising the pop sensation for his surprising big screen talent and have even began a Facebook campaign to nominate him for an Oscar.
Timberlake certainly did his research, but had difficulty friending the real Sean Parker. Vanity Fair reported that when Timberlake approached Parker at a nightclub to gain insight into his character, Parker resisted him.
"He said he wanted to get to know me," the Napster creator told the magazine, "but I said, 'That isn't going to help you play the part [Aaron] Sorkin has written. That character really isn't me."
Fincher's film is entering movie theaters everywhere with a bit of controversy. Facebook CEO Zuckerberg spoke out against the accuracy of the film, which critics say portray him as a back-stabbing, power-hungry punk. He continued to defend himself and his colleagues on the Oprah Winfrey show on Friday.
"It's a movie, it's fun… I can promise you, this is my life so I know it's not that dramatic. The last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work, but maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama," he told Winfrey.
