FILM INTERVIEW: JONAH HILL

Star of 'Cyrus' Talks of Friendship, Films & Good People

By: Izumi Hasegawa

June 24, 2010

Izumi Hasegawa: Is there a lot of pressure on you?

Jonah Hill: This is a breeze. I’ve been on the road for three months. [Laughs] I’m just happy to be in Los Angeles. We just got back from Australia yesterday. It’s been amazing, but it’s nice to be home for a second and see my family.

IH: Is there a difference in the audiences elsewhere?

JH: It’s very different in what people respond to in each movie. Cyrus is a delightful change as far as the bigger comedies, which I adore. Certainly places like Australia and the U.K. will understand them and relate to them more than some countries. Certain countries, like Spain — when we took Superbad there, they didn’t understand why kids couldn’t buy alcohol. Conceptually, the movie made no sense. Whereas movies like Cyrus or Knocked Up just have themes that are relatable no matter what culture you’re in. Cyrus is a very human, emotional movie. No matter your cultural background or where you live might be, you understand these feelings universally.

IH: Lots of adult-kids are staying with their parents nowadays for economic reasons.

JH: This movie has less to do with the current (economic) situation and more to do with the mother having no one to hang out with and the son having no one to hang out with besides each other. You could probably put more of the blame on Molly because she may have made some mistakes, or has made some mistakes with allowing Cyrus and her to be so close without forcing him to go out in the world and even meet anyone else. I’m unsure if he knows anyone else.

IH: Do you know someone like Cyrus?

JH: I don’t. I’m happy to say I don’t because I would feel bad for them. They say you have to like the characters you’re playing, so this was the most difficult movie for me in that I couldn’t find a connection to him. He’s a very manipulative person. I couldn’t find a way to like him. I’d never be friends with him. But I found my way in by forming sympathy for him. That was my road into understanding him. Mark [Vadik] and Jay [Duplass] crafted the story so well, you actually do hate Cyrus until that scene on the bed with him and Molly, and he thinks he’s being replaced and forgotten about and will be left alone. That’s something anyone could sympathize with.

IH: Were you trying to branch out with this role? Who are your acting idols?

JH: I try not to read the stuff online because I think it tampers with the feelings of your own work. I used to be a lot more obsessive about reading what was said about me or anything like that. At a certain point, you’re going to be miserable because you have no control over any of it. It’s just being out of control. For me, it wasn’t a conscious decision that I’ve done all these comedies and that’s what I’m only known for, I need to branch out. That wasn’t the driving force. My taste ranges. I love these comedies and I’ve been lucky to have been in them, but my taste ranges beyond just the genre of comedy. I knew I always had it in me, and I wanted to express that part of my taste and ability but was unsure I’d be given the opportunity. Then, when this opportunity came along, I jumped on it but not to say, “Hey, look at me, I’m embarrassed about this other work I’ve done. I need to show you I’m a serious actor.” It was to say, “I’m proud of everything I’ve done, but I’m also into these kinds of movies.” That was a special leap Mark and Jay took on me. The movie could have been hurt if I hadn’t been able to pull off a dramatic role. It’s not about people’s expectations or who I’m emulating. I have a multitude of heroes whose careers I love. I tend to lean more toward directors and writers than actors, like Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Harold Ramis… There are a billion filmmakers I love. Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson… As far as actors, I look at Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller’s careers, to the perfect person who encapsulates it the most — Bill Murray — because he’s a comedic genius, and when he does dramatic work, it’s flawless. John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman are modern-day elements. If you look at Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy or Billy Madison and Punch Drunk Love, they’re flawless in what they’re trying to do. It’s beautiful when someone can pull it off. They’re the people I really admire as an actor. But Bill Murray, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen, John C. Reilly, and Philip Seymour Hoffman I look at as heroes.

IH: Was this a quick shoot?

JH: Yes, it’s the quickest shoot I’ve ever done. It was amazing. [Laughs]

IH: Did you like the pace?

JH: I loved it. We shot in sequential order. I’d never experienced that. It was fantastic because, in life, if you do something manic or out of the ordinary, the next day or later that day, you have to deal with the repercussions of it. In Cyrus, if you did something like I did at the wedding, you’d have to deal with it at home that night or the next day. That’s how we dealt with it in the movie. I literally had to deal with it that day or the next day. That was a beautiful experience.

IH: How did you prepare with Marisa [Tomei]?

JH: I tried to avoid getting to know her extraordinarily well as a person. John and I could get to know each other really well because we’re meeting for the first time in the movie, but since I had to have this entire life history with Molly, I didn’t want to get to know Marisa extraordinarily well because I thought I would look at her as Marisa Tomei — as a beautiful, talented actress — as opposed to Molly, who’s my mom. I had to have a specific view of her. Although I talked with Marisa, and she’s great, I didn’t want to get to know her on a very deep level because that might have affected the performance.

IH: Did you talk to Marisa about the line of creepiness?

JH: No. She and I had to not look at it from the point that it was weird. It took John coming into these characters’ lives to make them look at their behavior and notice there was something flawed about it. I never looked at it as weird. I looked at it as close and bizarre, but I couldn’t say, “This is too crazy,” because I need to realize that during the movie.

IH: Did you think it was going in the horror direction when you read the script?

JH: That’s the beauty of what Mark and Jay did with this movie. You don’t know what Cyrus is capable of. When he goes to the bathroom at the wedding, you’re not sure whether he’s going to kill John or not. They turn something that’s potentially beyond frightening into something real and heartbreaking and honest. I tried to play him as a real person. I had to believe what this guy was doing, though I’d never do it myself.

IH: There are a lot of quiet moments with your character…

JH: A lot of times, in bigger movies, dialogue and things get in the way of expressing true emotion. A lot of the most powerful conversations I’ve had in my life were spent mostly silent. There’s so much going on. In movies, a lot of the time, people are just able to spit back exactly what they are feeling, whereas if something heavy is happening, you need time to have the wheels turn and understand what is being said to you or what you’re feeling in that moment. It was like I was having a conversation internally. This was a great opportunity to be in a very real setting.

IH: You’re playing Paul de Podesta in Moneyball next. Did you talk to him beforehand?

JH: It’s delicate. Some people in the movie have real relationships with the real person. Paul and I have traded phone calls and texted. We got to know each other a bit through text messages, but I don’t want to meet him personally before we start shooting because I don’t want to do an impression of him. I don’t want his mannerisms. I’m creating a character based on the book and the script. I don’t look like him, so I’m not trying to do a physical impression of him. I’m more interested in the way he thinks and what he’s about. Like when Philip Seymour Hoffman played Capote, Capote is a public figure so he had to nail the nuances of who that person was because someone can say, “I looked at the video footage of Capote and it was nothing like that.” Whereas Paul is a public figure in a sense, but the average person doesn’t know what Paul looks like, talks like, and walks like. It’s important to have the spirit of him and not a physical impression of him.

IH: Do you think it will attract interest of audiences beyond baseball fans?

JH: It’s based on a bestselling book. If it was just for baseball fans, I don’t think it would have been a No. 1 bestseller. I think it’s going to be incredible, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. I got that movie because of Cyrus. Bennett Miller saw Cyrus and thought I was capable of more dramatic fare.

IH: Did you do some of the music?

JH: Michael Andrews, who did the music for this film, made a beautiful score. He also was in charge of Cyrus‘s music. Mark, Jay, Michael and I talked a lot about Cyrus‘s music being good. You’d expect the joke to be that he’s terrible. If it was another kind of movie, that would be the joke. We wanted the music to feel like what this smart and talented guy’s music would sound like. I think it sounds pretty authentic.

IH: Was there any reason why they didn’t make your character in Get Him to the Greek the same as in Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

JH: We put a tremendous amount of thought into that question. Right off the bat, we decided he wouldn’t be the same character because that character, although funny in Sarah Marshall, was bizarre and stalkerish and weird and would not be a relatable character to the (Greek) audience. That movie is far different from Cyrus. It’s the ultimate fantasy of normal person getting to go on the road with their favorite rock star. Matthew, the waiter guy from Sarah Marshall, is far from the average audience member. I don’t think anyone would relate to him. We had to make him a more normal human being.

IH: Is Marisa like your mom?

JH: She’s nice and pretty like my mom, and she’s really smart. Those are all great qualities they share.

IH: How was working with John C. Reilly?

JH: He’s the best. I love John Reilly. He and I became close. I just love that guy. He’s someone I respect and appreciate as a person.

IH: Where is 21 Jump Street?

JH: We’re going to shoot in January or February. I wrote the story with Michael Bacall and he’s writing the screenplay. It’s a comedy take, (but) it’s not a spoof of any sort. We just liked the idea. It’s not an ’80s movie or a spoof movie. We just liked the idea of young-looking cops going back to school.

IH: Will Johnny Depp be in it?

JH: We’re in the process of dealing with that, but he’s said publicly that he’s interested in it, so we’re more than interested (in getting him in the movie).