Why Jonah Hill Made Wolf for Peanuts

He took the SAG minimum paycheck, $60K
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 22, 2014 10:11 AM CST

Jonah Hill took the absolute minimum paycheck for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street because he felt so passionate about working with Martin Scorsese, he explained to Howard Stern yesterday. "They gave me the lowest amount of money possible, that was their offer," Hill recalled, adding that that's "something like $60,000 before commissions and taxes," as dictated by the Screen Actors Guild. "And I said, 'I will sign the paper tonight. Fax me the papers tonight. ... I said, 'I wanna sign them before I go to sleep tonight so they legally can't change their mind.'"

Scorsese is his favorite director, Hill explained, and this isn't the kind of movie "you make money for," he said, according to the Huffington Post. "You do 22 Jump Street or you do other things, and you can pay your rent. ... I would do it again in a second. This s--- isn't about money. You should do things that you care about." Prior to landing the role, Hill said, he found co-star and producer Leonardo DiCaprio and told him that if someone else got the part, Hill would kill that actor ... and every other actor who was offered the part, until it was down to just Hill. It worked out for him: He scored an Oscar nomination for the role. (For more Jonah, click to watch his SNL promos for his hosting stint this weekend.)

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