King of the Hill

Even if you went to the French Riviera and made shish kabob of lingerie-modeling triplets, there’s no way you enjoyed a better summer than Jonah Hill. The 23-year-old actor from L.A. has already caused laugh riots with roles in Knocked Up and Evan Almighty, and this Friday he makes his debut as a leading man in the teen angst comedy Superbad. Complex caught up with the man on the cusp of superstardom to talk about getting high on the job, his special relationship with Justin Long, and racist TV sitcoms. Laugh, you bastards.

By Justin Monroe

Complex: What were you doing before you broke into movies?
Jonah Hill: I was making boxes for my friend’s brother, which was the shittiest job ever. And I tried getting a job delivering pizzas for Domino’s, but they wouldn’t hire me.

Why not?
Um, it looked like a smoked a lot of weed when I was 19.

Isn’t that a prerequisite for delivering pizza?
Well, that was my theory when I was 19. I was like, “Hey man, I could smoke pot and deliver pizza. This is the best fucking gig ever.” I ended up folding big pieces of cardboard into boxes, which was not awesome—but you could smoke pot and do it. Not so much now, but when I was 19 years old, that seemed like a prerequisite to getting a job. Choose a function and do it while you were high.

You’ve been able to work with friends like Justin Long, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, and Bill Hader. Is there anyone you haven’t worked with that you want to?
There’s tons of people I admire that I haven’t gotten the chance to work with—like Celine Dion. I’m looking for Dion-Hill collabo. We haven’t figured out the details yet, but Rene and I are in talks.

Romantic comedy?
Oh no, a music project. [Laughs.]

Are you and Justin Long still roommates?
No, we’re not roommates anymore. We’re still really close friends. We just thought it’d be better if we live by ourselves. [Laughs.] We’re talking about it like a breakup.

Who took the couch? Who did your mutual friends side with?
[Laughs.] It wasn’t a breakup. He’s out and he’s doing great.

I bet he is. How did you guys meet?
Justin and me? Um, we met on a Carnival Cruise ship called “Dude Party.” Whatever happened stayed on the Carnival Cruise ship—no, just kidding! We met in a television show called Campus Ladies; we were both on the same episode of that television show.

Justin’s summer consisted of Live Free or Die Hard. You had Knocked Up, Evan Almighty, and Superbad. Does that officially make you the bigger summer sensation?
[Laughs.] I don’t know, man.

C’mon, he’s doing part four of a series…
There’s never once been any sort of shred of competition. But seriously, I hope Justin does terribly. [Laughs.] In all seriousness, though, seriously.

I understand you’re a huge fan of The Simpsons. If you had to choose between seeing The Simpsons Movie or supporting Justin by going to see Live Free or Die Hard, what would you do?
I’d see The Simpsons Movie. [Laughs.] That’s a fucked up question, man!

Glad you think so. What parts of the high school experience seen in Superbad do you relate to?
Um, wanting to get laid and not. [Laughs.] Talking a big game like you know about women when you really have no clue.

And do you understand women now?
Oh, not even close, man. I think I may know less now than I knew then. Do you know all the secrets? Do you wanna fill me in, you little piece of shit?

In time, son. What’s your favorite raunchy comedy of all time?
Is Million Dollar Baby raunchy comedy?

Well, euthanasia always makes me giggle. What do you consider the golden age of comedy?
I gotta say whatever years Designing Women was on. Let’s go imdb Designing Women right now. [Hill finds the imdb.com page.] I guess the golden age of comedy started in 1986 when [series writer] Linda Bloodworth-Thomason created Designing Women, and it ended in 1993, when the show was cancelled.

So the best comedic years were before you were even 10?
Yep. Hold on, let me read you what it says on imdb, like the summary, okay? “Outspoken feminist Julia Sugarbaker runs a design firm out of her Atlanta home, along with her shallow ex-beauty queen sister, Suzanne, divorced mother Mary Jo, and, naive country girl Charlene. Black ex-con Anthony helps deliver furniture for the business and voices his unique opinion on whatever the women are discussing.” That’s kind of a racist plot summary—holy shit! I’m a Jewish dude from L.A. and I’m offended by this. I’m seriously gonna write a letter to fucking Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. [Laughs.] BLOODWORTH! You did it again!

I understand you like comics. What’s your favorite?
Anything Archie is in.

Is a movie adaptation in the works?
Yeah. It’s like Archie in The Joy Luck Club. I’m playing Veronica. [Laughs.]

Home » CELEBRITIES » Web Exclusive » Jonah Hill