Jonah Hill's $60,000 fee for The Wolf of Wall Street was the minimum amount he could make
Jonah Hill has had a seasoned acting career thus far, shaking off the comedy stereotypes to become one of the most versatile stars in Hollywood.
His performance in 2014 comedy film The Wolf of Wall Street gained the actor plaudits as part of a star-studded cast.
Headed by legend Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, the flick is also known as Barbie star Margot Robbie's breakout role as Naomi Lapaglia.
But Hill, who played stock broker and Belfort's best friend, Donnie Azoff, was apparently paid peanuts in comparison to his co-stars.
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In fact, he said it was the minimum wage for an actor, and while it may still be eye-watering to me or you, it can be a bit of a deal when those alongside you are earning millions of dollars.
Despite this, the 41-year-old was willing to accept the offer, all because of the director behind the movie.
Speaking on The Howard Stern Show back in 2014, he said: "I got to f**king be in a Martin Scorsese movie and I just got nominated for an Oscar.
"I'm tripping out, Howard ... I'm in shock. I'm totally in shock."
Hill said he would have done anything to be in the flick, even if that meant taking home the minimum wage.
"They gave me the lowest amount of money possible, that was their offer," he claimed.
"I said, 'I will sign the paper tonight. Fax me the papers tonight.' I want to sign them tonight before they change their mind. I said I want to sign them before I go to sleep tonight so they legally can't change their mind."
Radio host Stern then cut in to clarify if that meant the actor 'got paid $60,000 for that movie'.
Hill continued: "It was the minimum. I think SAG minimum is something like $60,000 before commissions and taxes.
"Yeah, for an almost seven-month shoot. I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for [Scorsese] ... I would have done anything in the world. I would do it again in a second."
He added: "It's not about money for me. None of this s**t is about money.
"I want to make money to pay my rent, and hopefully have a family one day and have kids and stuff."
The much-loved Scorsese movie is based on the story of controversial stockbroker Jordan Belfort.
While the three-hour film is packed with memorably wild scenes, there is one that wasn't even in the script.
Matthew McConaughey had a small part as eccentric senior stockbroker Mark Hanna, who takes Jordan under his wing as he's starting out on Wall Street.
Over a lunch meeting, Mark shares some top tips with Jordan - namely that he should masturbate and use cocaine regularly.
Between shooting, McConaughey had been thumping on his chest and humming. It was a sort of meditative ritual the Oscar-winning actor had been using for a while, as a means of clearing his head, preparing his voice and finding his rhythm.
DiCaprio suggested that they try to incorporate it into the scene, and the rest is history.
"I mean, it's music," McConaughey told LADbible in 2022, while discussing his memoir Greenlights. "I love music and I think part of my performances and what I try to bring to these characters is a different type of music, tone, inflection, how they speak, what their words are.
"And you know, that was so out-there, and Wolf of Wall Street and that scene is so out-there. Then it comes back at the end of the scene, then Leo uses it later in the movie.
"It was all so odd, but so rhythmically right-on, you're like, 'That scene couldn't have been anything else, but where in the hell did that come from?!'"
Why then did the seemingly nonsensical acting ritual turned broker mantra capture the imagination quite so comprehensively?
"It's funny. It's anarchic. It's inconsiderate. But it's empowering at the same time, and it's fun," McConaughey reasoned.
"And everyone can do it. Like I say, you don't have to go get lessons to do it. Everyone's got their own bass. It's just - here's the drumstick, here's the drum [hmm-hmm-hmmm].
"Get your hum on, whatever it is - singing - you can't do it wrong. There's no way to do it wrong. And I think people just pick it up and find it fun, and it's a good pump up."
Topics: Celebrity, Film, Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, Money
Joshua Nair