Jonah Hill only got paid $60,000 for his role in Wolf of Wall Street, but it turns out there’s a very good reason behind the unusually small amount of pay.
He first hit our screens as a fresh-faced youngster…
His nerdy awkwardness, hilarious laugh, and crazy hair had us hooked from day one.
The original dudes.
As his career took off he became famous for starring alongside other comedy geniuses such as Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Jason Segel.
And of course, he owes his early success partly to Judd Apatow.
Judd cast Jonah in many of his films but always as the goofy best friend or crazy-a** sidekick.
Superbad was an instant hit.
In 2007 Jonah starred in Superbad alongside Michael Cera. This hilarious coming-of-age film was said to be the launch pad for both these young actors’ careers. And damn were they right.
Then came his large supporting role in Knocked Up with the hilarious Seth Rogen.
This romantic comedy grossed $219 million worldwide and was loved by critics and film enthusiasts alike. “Just do it already.”
He was then seen worshipping Russell Brand in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Cast as the slightly stalkerish waiter in this feel-good comedy, Jonah managed to capture the essence of an obsessed fan perfectly and added lots of extra laughs in his scenes with Russell.
“Shouldn’t have had the Jeffrey.”
In Get Him To The Greek, a spin-off film from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jonah played Aaron Green, an ambitious executive who’s tasked with escorting rock legend Aldous Snow to the Greek Theatre for his comeback tour. If you haven’t seen it, let’s just say the trip doesn’t go smoothly.
Branching out into children’s films.
Jonah was cast in 3 animated films; How to Train Your Dragon, Horton Hears A Who! and Megamind. With his hilarious voice and energy, he suited these roles perfectly.
Moving into a more dramatic role in Cyrus.
Jonah actually turned down a role in The Hangover so he could work on this independent film in 2010. And he was right to do so as this is the film that set the wheels in motion for a huge rebrand and a conversion into the highly versatile actor he has become today.
He received his first Oscar nomination for Moneyball in 2011.
Starring alongside Brad Pitt, Jonah was praised for his portrayal of Peter Brand, a maths genius in this sports drama. At the time he spoke of how much he learned from starring alongside Brad.
His first producing credits with 21 Jump Street.
Starring alongside Channing Tatum, Jonah both acted in and produced this action/comedy. Did it give him a taste for being involved in making films as well as starring in them? We think so.
Of course, we also had to mention 22 Jump Street.
The sequel to 21 Jump Street, this film was received in much the same way as its predecessor. Basically, the fans couldn’t get enough of it. And could we blame them with the hysterical Jonah and the gorgeous Channing. It was a match made in heaven.
After Moneyball, Jonah’s next major film role was in The Wolf of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Jonah wanted to be in this film so badly that he tracked down Leo, pleaded his case, and even offered to take a pay cut. Boy, are we glad he said yes.
Joining the Netflix revolution.
Back alongside Emma Stone again, the Netflix original Maniac received mixed reviews but personally, we loved it. A dark psychological comedy, this role gave Jonah the chance to use his comedic talents but also to portray a more complex character who was suffering from schizophrenia.
His directing debut.
Now that he had conquered the film world so to speak, Jonah moved on to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a director.
And so Mid 90s was made.
This sort of autobiographical coming-of-age drama is set in the 1990s in LA and follows 13-year-old Stevie who loves to skateboard and hip-hop. As we expected, this debut drama is brilliant and has been widely acclaimed by critics. Go, Jonah!
His most recent movie, Don’t Look Up received a lot of praise.
The comedy disaster movie definitely made us stop and think, and somehow Jonah managed to make us hate him in the best way possible.
Talking of Twitter, Jonah has finally liked a tweet!
Although Jonah has been on Twitter since February 2011 and has 4.79 million followers, he has never liked another tweet. Until last year.
And this is what it said: “Emma Stone is such a robust, emotionally generous actor and the men she’s so often cast opposite… aren’t.”
Kyle Buchanan, pop culture reporter for The New York Times, recently tweeted about the talent of actress Emma Stone but how the actors cast beside her are… well, not so great.
But why did Jonah like this tweet?
Slightly strange for his first ever like on Twitter, seeing as Jonah himself has starred beside Emma in the past and fairly recently.
Some are quick to come to his defense, with one fan writing: “It probably means that @JonahHill agrees with what @kylebuchanan has said about Emma stone and not soo much about the other half of the tweet.”
We agree, both Jonah and Emma were fabulous in Superbad. Comedy gold. Boo to you Kyle Buchanan.
And more quickly followed.
We think that Jonah more than kept up with Emma in this series as their respective characters Owen Milgrim and Annie Landsberg. Not to mention the gorgeous Justin Theroux.
Maybe we are reading too much into it?
Could Jonah have honestly just missed the part about Emma’s bum male counterparts? Or maybe he got it, and found it funny? He is a comedic actor after all.
No way are we believing that Jonah was having a dig.
Well, definitely not at Emma Stone. Maybe at Kyle. Well, he did deserve it.
Jonah does sound sincere with his praise for Emma.
Jonah has previously spoken about his love for Emma as a friend and also as a fellow actor. It’s clear these 2 love working together.
And the feeling seems to be mutual.
At the London premiere of Maniac, Emma spoke of her reunion with Jonah saying how long overdue it was. We agree Emma. How could you have left us hanging since Superbad?
Talking of Superbad…
Jonah has recently dropped a bombshell about his time working on the movie, and how he didn’t get on with the cast at first.
During the audition process, Michael Cera and Jonah Hill arrived alongside Mintz-Plasse who tried for the iconic role of McLovin.
Recalling the moment, Jonah told Vanity Fair Mintz-Plasse was “really, really amazing off the bat,” but added: “And I think he was really annoying to me at that time.”
Producer Judd Apatow recalled that Mintz-Plasse was “very caustic,” sharing that he often “attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah.”
Seth Rogen, who was cast as Officer Michaels, also opened up about the friction: “Jonah immediately hated him. He was like, ‘That was f****** with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy.’”
Apatow even shared that Hill had voiced his concerns with him at the time, saying: “I don’t want him doing it,” but Apatow replied: “That’s exactly why we’re hiring him. It couldn’t be more perfect. The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want.”
Although they might have not clicked at first, I think we can all agree McLovin couldn’t have been played by anyone else.
And now, more news has come in about the 22 Jump Street star…
And the reason why he got paid way less than his co-star DiCaprio.
DiCaprio walked away with a massive $10 million…
Whereas Hills only walked out with $60,000.
For most 9 to 5 workers, that’s a cheque they’d want.
But for well-recognized actors, $60,000 isn’t much for a movie.
The reason is very straightforward…
He wanted to work alongside director Martin Scorsese.
He was very happy to be paid the minimum amount to ensure he landed the role ahead of anyone else.
He spoke about the decision previously…
Saying it was never about the money. Rather, it was about working with Scorsese
Back in 2014, Hill spoke about the matter on the Howard Stern Show.
Hill said: “They gave me the lowest amount of money possible.”
He explained how he was eager to work with Scorsese, saying, “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’.”
He continued: “I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for him.”
And it turns out the decision to be paid less to work with Scorsese was a good one…
As the movie went on to be crowned the best movie in 2013 and went on to win multiple Oscars.
Since then, Hill has had the opportunity to work with Scorsese again.
What are your thoughts?