Leonardo DiCaprio explained why Jonah Hill was hired on the spot for The Wolf of Wall Street
A lot of fans think Jonah Hill was born to play Leonardo DiCaprio's bumbling sidekick in The Wolf of Wall Street - and so did he.
The actor, 41, starred as stockbroker Donnie Azoff in Martin Scorsese's debauchery-drenched 2013 flick, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
Even though he was only paid £48,000 for the film, Hill knew he was 'destined' to get the part before he'd even auditioned for it.
When the project was still a pipe dream of Scorsese's, the actor got wind that casting had began and decided to ambush DiCaprio, 50, with a list of reasons as to why he deserved a seat at the table.
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According to Hill, he presented an 'impassioned argument' to his future co-star about why he deserved to play Azoff.
In a conversation reminiscent of the iconic 'sell me this pen' scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, Hill wowed the Hollywood heavyweight with his pitch.
During a Q&A panel following the film's release at the Produced By Conference in Los Angeles, DiCaprio revealed how Scorsese then ended up hiring the comedy star 'on the spot'.
The Beach actor explained he had met up with Hill in Mexico, who quickly launched into a silver-tongued spiel about why he was the perfect person to play Azoff.
DiCaprio explained: "He basically said to me, 'I know people like this. I know what these people represent in the culture, I've met people like this.
"'And there is nobody on Earth that should play this character except for me. I'm the man for this job'. I said, 'No, I hear you'.
"He's like, 'No, you don't understand - this is my favourite script I have ever read in my life and I'm destined to play this'."
And as they say, the rest is history...although Hill obviously did have to get over the hurdle of impressing Scorsese, 82, too.
But luckily, his A-list pal put in a good word for him.
DiCaprio continued: "I immediately called Marty and said, 'There's an actor out there that really feels like they're the person for the job'.
"I think Marty met him a week later, and I heard it was one of the best meetings he'd ever had with an actor. [He] hired him kind of on the spot."
The actor said that Hill actually ended up 'setting the tone for the film', adding: "He really is one of the most unbelievably talented improvisational actors I've ever gotten the opportunity to work with.
"He took scenes and directions that we never even thought possible."
What a glittering commendation, eh? Hill's power of persuasion really has no bounds.
Hill previously explained that armed with the 'support' of DiCaprio, he flew to New York to meet with filmmaker Scorsese.
"It was the first audition I had in six years and the first one back was nerve-wracking enough, but also for my hero was slightly more scary," he said in 2014.
The Superbad star ended up being hospitalised due to the epic amount of fake cocaine he shovelled up his nose while starring as Azoff.
And despite insisting that he was born to play the part, Hill revealed that he didn't actually like his character in The Wolf of Wall Street.
"I just didn't like the way that Donnie treated people, that was the thing I had the hardest time with," he said.
"There's a scene with a goldfish where I throw a lit cigarette at this kid and make him cry and fire him and eat his goldfish and it's really degrading.
"On the way home I would just be like, 'Oh gosh, what did I do today?' I would feel bad."
But to lighten the load on his conscience, Hill did confront the real Jordan Belfort - who the film is based on - about whether he felt sympathy for his victims.
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Celebrity, TV and Film
Olivia Burke