Jonah Hill on the differences between working with the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese
Jonah Hill rose to prominence as an affable addition to an array of comedies in the late 2000s and early 2010s, including Superbad, Knocked Up, 21 Jump Street. Hill’s distinctive presence soon saw him cast in blockbusting dramas like Bennett Miller’s 2011 film Moneyball and Martin Scorsese’s 2013 biopic Wolf of Wall Street.
In these two pivotal movies, Hill raised his profile, acting alongside the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both roles.
Hill ranked 28th on Forbes magazine’s list of highest-paid actors from June 2014 to June 2015, at $16 million. Despite this impressive sum, the actor later revealed that he barely scraped a profit from his involvement in Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street. In January 2014, shortly after the film was released, Jonah Hill revealed that he was paid the comparatively small fee of $60,000 (£36k) for his work as DiCaprio’s partner in crime.
“They gave me the lowest amount of money possible,” Hill said during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. He explained that he agreed to take the low pay because he was desperate to work with the legendary Scorsese. “That was their offer, and I said, ‘I will sign the paper tonight. Fax them the papers tonight. I want to sign them tonight before they change their mind. I want to sign them before I go to sleep tonight so they legally can’t change their mind.'”
“I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for him,” he asserted. “This isn’t what you make money for. You do 22 Jump Street, or you do other things, and you can pay your rent. I would have done anything in the world. I would do it again in a second. This isn’t about money. You should do things that you care about.”
In an appearance on Saturday Night Live at around the same time, Hill revealed how he managed to reach Scorsese to swing the role. “I had got the opportunity to meet with Leo first and give him an impassioned argument as to why I had to play the part, and then he was supportive, luckily,” he said. “Then I went to New York, and I said, ‘well, can I show Scorsese what I want to do instead of just begging him to do the part.’ Then I got to read with him, and I was lucky enough to get the part.”
Hill stepped up to the mark and gave his A-game in Wolf of Wall Street, realising he had achieved his own and most other actors’ wildest dreams. Fortunately, Hill got on very well with Scorsese, and his improvisational acting style worked perfectly with Scorsese’s laid-back approach to directing.
In an interview published by Outstanding Screenplays, Hill discussed Scorsese’s directional style, comparing it with that of the Coen Brothers, with whom he worked on Hail, Caesar!, and Quentin Tarantino, with whom he worked on Django Unchained.
“I never stick to the lines anyways; that’s just not going to happen, I don’t think,” Hill told the interviewer. “And it’s funny when I work with… I worked with the Coen Brothers. I kept saying like, ‘and’ or ‘or’… there was some tiny thing [changed]. And Ethan Coen walks up to me after he had told me a couple of times, you know, this is the line, or whatever. And I just kept botching this one line. And he came up to me, and he just put his hand on my shoulder, and he goes – ’cause he’s very quiet – and he’s just like, [whispering] ‘Jonah, you’re um… you’re actually… you’re killing me. I’m gonna die.'”
“And it’s just moments like that, and even with Tarantino too, he’s such a brilliant writer. But not that I’m wasted in those environments,” he added. “In those two movies, it maybe could have been any decent actor in that role because they’re so brilliant, you’re in their painting. Whereas, in Wolf of Wall Street or Moneyball… the coolest thing about Martin Scorsese ever is he just loves to see what you’re going to do.”
Watch one of Jonah Hill’s greatest scenes from Wolf of Wall Street below.
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