Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio Embrace

Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio embraced before a live audience on Saturday. On January 25, Jonah Hill made his third return to Saturday Night Live as host. This time around, the actor was confident due to his Academy Award nomination for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street. After his opening monologue, audience members asked him about his Wall Street co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio. Then, the star came out of the wings to join Hill on stage.

As their dialogue and banter progressed, Hill asked his co-star, DiCaprio, if he remembered when they were filming The Wolf of Wall Street, and what they did when Hill got nervous so he would feel safe. He inquired if the two could repeat “the thing” that they had done during filming. On cue, DiCaprio lightly embraced Hill as they modernized the Jack Dawson “flying scene” from DiCaprio’s, Titanic. The act was almost equaling to Seth Rogan and James Franco’s video of Bound 2 that hit the internet.

Money was the driving force of characters and real-life people who The Wolf of Wall Street was based on. However, the Oscar-nominated star, Jonah Hill, recently opened up about the size of his paycheck for his role in Martin Scorsese’s film. The actor disclosed that after working seven months on the film, he was only paid $60,000 before taxes;  a humble figure for a Hollywood blockbuster. Paradoxically, the film reveals the unadulterated financial self-indulgence and extravagance among stock market cons during the 1990s. The funnyman told New York radio host, Howard Stern, that he gladly accepted the low pay for the film. it was not done for the money, but because he was eager to work with director, Martin Scorsese.

Hill plays right-hand man, Donnie Azoff, a quirky trader who is fostered by DiCaprio’s Belfort character. It is loosely based on American executive, Daniel Porush, who served time in prison for money laundering and securities fraud. The actor stated that he took the responsibility of his role in earnest, even embracing the false teeth he had to wear.

In contrast to Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street, is the fifth time Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with Scorsese. The actor has described the film as an “exploration of greed,” and its on-screen portrayal has found its way into controversy.  DiCaprio does not seem to mind. He told Morning Edition’s David Green that he appreciated the creativity and freedom that came with his character, Jordan Belfort. He said that it was unbelievably liberating “to have no moral high ground” and not have anyone in the film question him. Leonardo DiCaprio embraced his role just as much as Jonah Hill.

Martin Scorsese has said that The Wolf of Wall Street was driven by the 2008 collapse of the financial industry, and came out of frustration with the “unregulated financial world.” He told Variety magazine, that he wanted to make a “ferocious film” The black comedy film, The Wolf of Wall Street is nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio may have interpreted the Titanic on Saturday Night Live but they will embrace for a second time for their Oscars at the Academy Awards.

by Dawn Levesque

Sources:

The Independent

NewYorkDailyNews

NPR

Variety