Jonah Hill visited Playboy Magazine for a sit-down interview to promote 22 Jump Street, and he didn’t hold back. Read some choice quotes below.
On the moment he became famous: “The day Superbad came out, Michael Cera and I bought a newspaper. I still have it because it was the day we couldn’t walk around together anymore. One day before, we could walk near my apartment in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles and nobody would talk to us. Then all of a sudden it was insane, and it pretty much hasn’t stopped.”
On whether or not fame has changed him: “Every significant event or series of events has an impact on a person’s evolution, but I don’t view myself as any different from who I was before. The only thing that’s embarrassing is if I’m out for one of my friends’ or family members’ birthday and the attention is on me.”
On his toughest stunt while filming 22 Jump Street: “Hanging from a helicopter or hanging off the side of a moving truck is physically challenging, but just the whole nature of those scenes is intense. When you’re standing on a rooftop with a helicopter floating 10 feet above your head, it seems like a bad f**king idea. We were shooting in Puerto Rico that day and heard M16 gunshots, and they weren’t coming from us. That’s a day I won’t forget.”
On the airplane orgy scene in The Wolf of Wall Street: “The only word I can use to describe it is unhygienic. The women were obviously attractive, but it’s an unsexy environment. It doesn’t feel like you’re hooking up with somebody. It feels like you’re at work. The woman who was simulating oral sex on me was talking between takes about picking up her kids from school. And some guy’s genitals are in my face in this hot, cramped, sweaty place. Then, months and months later, your mom gets to watch it with you.”
On whether or not he kept the prosthetic penis from The Wolf of Wall Street pool party scene: “I had to give that baby back, but I do have my character’s teeth in a safe. I usually keep one item from each movie. I have a baseball bat from Moneyball. From Superbad I have the Western shirt my character wore. From Jump Street I have the bike-cop uniform. They’re relics of all the crazy good times in my life.”
On the greatest moment of this year’s Oscar night: “When Leo and I got to spend time with Don Rickles. We were at the Paramount pre-Oscars party, and Don was there with the head of Paramount. We basically bum-rushed him because we’re both huge fans. The man did not disappoint. The guy is almost 90 years old and he’s still got his game. He laid into Leo really hard because he was wearing a newsboy hat. Don was like, ‘Hey, yeah, just keep the cab running outside, kid. I’ll be out in a minute.’ Love that guy.”
On Dustin Hoffman: “Dustin Hoffman is my favorite actor of all time. He represents the ultimate goal of what I would ever try to do, which is be able to succeed in any genre so beautifully. There’s no one you can compare to him. It’s not like I’m saying I want to be like him. I’ll never be as good as he is, but I can try. What was so incredible was Dustin taking a chance on me. I don’t know why he did it, but he got me a part in I Heart Huckabees, and that pretty much set me on my way.”
On advice he’d give his 20-year-old self: “I’d probably say, ‘Don’t stress so much.’ All through my 20s, I worried too much about things, both having to do with work and not, that ultimately turned out to be unimportant. Am I going to get this job? Is this girl going to text me back? Is my friend mad at me? I used to think everyone was mad at me. That’s a big thing I’ve had to work on in my life.”
On his most surreal Hollywood experience, to date: “Steven Spielberg came to the set of The Wolf of Wall Street and spent the whole day. Spielberg and Scorsese would stand together at the monitor, watching the scene I just acted in. I’d get notes from both of them and go, How the hell did I get here, again? That’s something I’ll remember when I’m 90 years old.”