Timberlake liked Fincher's directing style

NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star and actor Justin Timberlake says he enjoyed the many-take technique director David Fincher used in making their film "The Social Network."

Fincher is nominated for the Best Director Oscar, while the Facebook origins film also goes into Sunday night's ceremony with nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for star Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the social networking Web site.

Timberlake, who plays Sean Parker, the charismatic inventor of the music-sharing Web site Napster and adviser to Zuckerberg as Facebook takes off, told reporters at a New York press conference last fall he liked how Fincher gave his actors many chances to get a scene right -- a process the singer likened to the rehearsals he does for his own music concerts.

That was good news to Fincher who told the fledgling actor he had been afraid he would grow bored of filming scenes so many times.

"It's more collaborative," Timberlake, whose previous acting credits include "The Mickey Mouse Club," "Alpha Dog" and "Southland Tales," said of Fincher's directing style.

"To get to toss the ball around with such great actors, it's an incredibly fulfilling, collaborative, creative experience and to have the freedom to go in and mess it up for 97 takes and when you get to the 98th and it's good?," he said. "We sort of feel like we all just wanted to please David. So, if we did that, then we were all satisfied with our performances."