Hill went on to receive a best supporting actor nomination for the part
Jonah Hill only got $60,000 for his part in The Wolf of Wall Street but it wasn’t because the actor was shortchanged.
While leading star Leonardo DiCaprio pocketed $10 million for his performance as stockbroker Jordan Belfort, Hill got just tens of thousands for playing Donnie Azoff.
While $60K is more than a lot of people earn in a year, it is basically minimum wage in Hollywood. It was the lowest amount Hill could have been paid for the flick, according to the rules set down by the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG).
When Wolf of Wall Street came out in January 2014, Hill had already proved his worth in movies like Superbad and Moneyball, so should have commanded a salary in the millions to star alongside DiCaprio.
But he opted for a lesser pay check for the opportunity to work with famed director, Martin Scorsese.
The actor previously spoke about the decision to be paid as little as possible, saying it was “not about the money”.
He told The Howard Stern show in 2014: “They gave me the lowest amount of money possible.”
He explained his longing to work with Scorsese, adding: “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.”
The decision paid off for Hill, with the movie turning out to be one of the biggest of the year. It also received five Oscar nominations, including one for Hill as Best Supporting Actor. He lost to Jared Leto.
The movie also missed out on the Best Picture award to 12 Years A Slave, while DiCaprio was beaten to the Best Actor gong by Matthew McConaughey for his role in Dallas Buyers Club.
Hill and Scorsese are set to work together again in the upcoming biopic of Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, a movie which is getting made because Hill pitched the idea himself.
The actor explained that he’d pitched the idea for a movie to his manager, who also manages Scorsese, and got the feedback that the legendary director would “love” to helm the film with Hill in the leading role.
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