Following his 2007’s biggest hit Superbad, Jonah Hill landed an epic $406M movie with Martin Scorsese. However, while the acclaimed director’s cautionary tale of the epic journey of Jordan Belfort’s drug-laced life from beginning to end appeared as a turning point in Hill’s career, it also made him take some punches from his co-star.
Appearing in the wild true story directed by Martin Scorsese, Jonah Hill had to surprisingly take real punches from Jon Bernthal. While the Oscar-nominated actor confessed that the punches were well-deserved, Hill also mentioned how he initially wanted to avoid real action, until Scorsese passed the idea.
Jonah Hill Had To Take Real Punches From Jon Bernthal
After cementing his reputation in Hollywood as a comic actor through his roles in 21 Jump Street and This is the End, it was highly unlikely that Jonah Hill would appear in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. However, the actor seemingly nailed his performance in the $406M movie, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
While his career graph entirely changed after his appearance in the acclaimed movie, it’s only Jonah Hill who knows what it took to be a renowned face from The Wolf of Wall Street. Evidently, the hardest part for the actor was to take punches from his co-star Jon Bernthal during a particular scene.
According to the movie, Brad (Jon Bernthal) gets fed up with the tantrums of Donnie (Jonah Hill) and lands a solid punch on his face. While the aftermath of the scene looked like a well-deserved punch from Bernthal, Hill will most likely disagree. As per the Oscar-nominated actor, he was initially taking fake punches until Martin Scorsese intervened.
Martin Scorsese Wanted Real Punches After Multiple Takes
Sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits with Vanity Fair, Jonah Hill mentioned how his co-star Jon Bernthal attempted to fake the punch. However, due to a lack of authenticity, the scene failed to bring out what Martin Scorsese had been looking for. And known for being a perfectionist, even Scorsese continued with multiple takes just to get that one authentic shot.
Thus, feeling frustrated with several takes of the scene, Jonah Hill recalled implementing a creative process that led Jon Bernthal to actually punch him while shooting. “I had stayed in character that whole time with him, and had kind of been talking s*** to him in the makeup trailer every day” Hill confessed.
“Marty’s in there going, ‘It looks stupid. It looks fake.’ Leo and I are sitting on a tiny little couch, and Jon is pacing back and forth, and I’m not scared because, you know, it’s just a movie. And Marty’s like, ‘Why don’t you try hitting him for real?’” Hill recalled Scorsese’s idea.
Discussing how even Martin Scorsese became frustrated after multiple takes, Jonah Hill mentioned ultimately trying the real punch, just for the sake of the film. Eventually, the real punching scene looked too great even for the director to pass. Well, for Hill, “Long story short: Jon punches me in the face, and it’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever acted in”.
Despite initially trying fake punches, when Jonah Hill gathered the courage to take the real action after Scorsese caved in, the scene turned out to be an epic, not just for the cast and crew, but even for the audiences at large.
Watch The Wolf of Wall Street on Amazon Prime.
Source: Vanity Fair
