Jonah Hill has opened up about why he starred in the Oscar-nominated 2013 flick Wolf Of Wall Street for a payday that was a fraction of his co-star’s.
The thirty-nine-year-old was paid just $60,000 for his work in the film, which sounds like a lot to us normal folk, but when you compare it to the pay packet of the movie’s leading star, Leonardo DiCaprio, it seems like peanuts!
The Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) rules actually mean that Hill’s wage was actually the lowest he possibly could have been paid, whereas DiCaprio was paid a whopping $10 million for his part in the movie as Jordan Belfort, per UNILAD.
Although Titanic star was undoubtedly a more established name at the time, Hill had already been nominated for an Oscar thanks to his work in 2011’s Moneyball, so why was he paid so little in comparison to his co-worker?
As you may know, the 21 Jump Street star has been around Hollywood for a long time now. His career began with a role in the star-studded movie I Heart Huckabees, and from there his career blossomed.
His hit movies included Knocked Up and Superbad, before he found more critical acclaim later on in his journey. Hill has been nominated for 2 Academy Awards during his time, firstly for Moneyball alongside acting great Brad Pitt, and then, of course, for his iconic role in The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Los Angeles native has opened up about why he took such a small pay packet for this iconic 2013 film.
Turns out, Hill was just so desperate to work with the legendary director that is Martin Scorsese that he was happy with whatever money they would offer him!
Speaking to Howard Stern back in 2014, he said: “They gave me the lowest amount of money possible.”
He continued: “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.’
“I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for him.”
It’s no surprise really, as Scorsese is undoubtedly one of the biggest legends of cinema. Movies under his direction include Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, The Age of Innocence and Raging Bull. His more recent pictures include Hugo, Vinyl and The Irishman.
