Jonah Hill has won the Powerball jackpot of comedy with small roles in Judd Apatow’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Now, in Superbad, Hill is front and center.
Can you explain the plot intricacies of Superbad?
It’s basically Michael Cera and me in our final week of high school, trying to get alcohol for these girls we like. But Michael’s character gets into Dartmouth and mine gets into a crappier school in our hometown. It becomes more about the decline of our friendship. It’s about separation anxiety.
How fun was making this movie?
It was the most fun moviemaking experience I’ve ever had, and unfortunately will ever have, because so many of my friends were involved. Seth Rogen and Evan [Goldberg], who wrote it, are two of my best friends. Michael and I became really close friends. Bill Hader is a great friend of mine. And then there’s Judd and Greg Mottola, the director.
I would have hung out with those people for free.
You’re also in Evan Almighty. How did the two sets compare?
Judd has a very serious work ethic. He’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever met. He expects the same from all of us. It’s funny and fun, but you’re extraordinarily focused at all times. Evan Almighty was definitely something else. You show up to work and there are 75 elephants there. You can’t improvise a take when this giraffe has to walk across at a specific moment.
In Knocked Up, you played a guy who was part of Seth’s crew. How much training does it take to act like a Canadian stoner?
They never really established if we were all from Canada. I played it as American and threw in a little bit of Dutch—for all my Dutch fans. But these colors don’t run. For all of you soldiers reading Penthouse, I’m from America! Fuck yeah!
How was Conan O’Brien’s show?
I was feeling pure terror because I was nervous. Luckily, I have good stories that my friends find amusing. Also, Judd Apatow was very helpful. He’s good at working with people who are going on these shows. We wrote some possible stand-up material in case the interview didn’t go well, but the people from Conan thought the stories were really funny. During the commercial breaks, he’d be saying I’m awesome, and I’m like, “You’re awesome.� He’s just a cool dude who likes the same music as me.
What have you been working on?
I’m writing a movie for Universal that Judd is producing called The Middle Child. I play a first-born character who is an antisocial college student. The only time he’s really happy is when he’s home with his family. One day he comes home and there’s a stranger sleeping in his bed. His parents explain that three years before he was born, they had a kid who they put up for adoption. The kid found them, and he’s the kid they’ve always wanted. He’s exactly like them. All my characters’ friends like him way more than they like my character. He essentially replaces my character, so I start going through middle-child syndrome in my early twenties.
Is this a project for your friends?
Judd is producing, and it’s written for Seth Rogen to play the older brother. I like to write for specific people. But
nothing is official. I have a script deal at Universal, so whenever they want to make it, they’ll make it. Call them up and tell them you want to see it.
What about directing?
I just directed a short film that I’m currently editing. In acting, because you don’t always get the roles you want to play, you have to generate your own material, especially in comedy. The people who stay relevant—like Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and all the huge comedy stars—tend to write movies for themselves. It allows you to do it in your own voice.
You must feel a bit of privilege being in Apatow’s crew.
Yeah, man. I feel so fortunate, it’s nuts. I spoke to Judd after we showed Superbad in Austin and I said, “I can’t believe I’m in this movie.� If it were someone else’s film, I’d be dying to see it.
By Jonathan Stern
