“I can do this with you”: Jonah Hill Begged to Get His Role in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Movie
Martin Scorsese’s directorial Killers of the Flower Moon, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, promises to be one of the best movies of the year, going by its enthralling trailer and the track record of the legendary duo.
The last time Scorsese collaborated with DiCaprio resulted in The Wolf of Wall Street – the movie that is still vividly remembered by fans for its huge star cast and incredible scenes. One such scene was Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) showing a great level of enthusiasm to work with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). Impressed with Jordan’s supposed earnings, Donnie catches him having breakfast and says if he shows him his pay slip, he’ll quit his job to work with him.
It seems Jonah Hill showed the same level of dedication and desperation in real life to secure a part in Wall Street’s big-screen drama.
Jonah Hill Begged to Work in Leonardo Dicaprio’s Movie
Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio‘s chemistry in the movie was absolutely brilliant. Donnie, the right-hand man of Jordan, not only played a big role in helping him grow his company Stratton Oakmont and defrauding multiple investors out of millions, but he also enjoyed a great banter or two with Jordan. The hilarious scene of him accusing his “bro” of kissing him instantly comes to mind.
But that didn’t happen by accident. Hill did his homework and went the extra mile to land the role. The Superbad star said:
“I was on a list of people that were going to get to meet with Mr. Scorsese for the part. The only problem with this one was everyone more famous than me wanted to play him. Then Leo and I were in Mexico promoting different films and I asked if I could meet with him because he was the producer. I sat down and I immediately just launched into who I thought Donnie was and told him I have to play this character. I just begged him and said ‘Look man I really feel like I can do this with you.'”
DiCaprio, impressed by Hill’s determination, called the director to consider the War Dogs actor for the part of Donnie. As they say, the rest is history!
Jonah Hill Took a Pay Cut to Work in Leonardo Dicaprio’s Movie
The extensive research and studying of the character wasn’t the only thing the 39-year-old did to secure a spot in The Wolf of Wall Street.
In a movie where DiCaprio bagged $10 million for playing Jordan, his right-hand man could only take $60K – the lowest amount an actor could have been paid at the time as per the rules of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG). Hill recalled this in 2014 on The Howard Stern Show:
“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.'”
Hill’s sacrifice and dedication worked wonders, with The Wolf of Wall Street managing to write its name in the history books thanks to the incredible response it received following its release in 2013. Meanwhile, Hill got his cake in the form of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Source: Focus on Film – YouTube
