Jonah Hill 'hated Superbad co-star so much' during auditions and asked producers not to hire him
Jonah Hill's Superbad co-stars have claimed he hated one of his co-stars so much he tried to stop Judd Apatow hiring him.
I'm old enough to remember going to the cinema to watch Superbad when it was first released way back in 2007.
Aged only 15 myself at the time, it was a coming-of-age teen comedy that became the younger millennial generation's very own American Pie, with it aging like a fine wine over the last 17 years.
The film follows Jonah Hill as Seth alongside Michael Cera as his schoolmate Evan.
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The two are tasked with getting their hands on some alcohol for an end of school party hosted by classmate Jules (Emma Stone), with Hill's character having a huge crush on her and eager to impress.
With Cera's character Evan having also having a thing for Jules' friend Becca (Martha MacIsaac), the two guys hope to use the party to finally become men, if you catch my drift. As with any coming of age comedy, things don't go quite as planned.
But the film could have looked incredibly different in a way that could have changed its fate, with one of the key people cast in the film urged not to be cast by Hill himself.
We're talking about Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the American actor cast in the role of the iconic character of Fogell, who uses a fake ID with the iconic 'McLovin' name to buy booze. No surname. Iconic.
His performance is part of what makes the film as iconic as it is, with executive producer Judd Apatow certain he was the man for the role after initial read throughs of the script with Mintz-Plasse.
But Hill wasn't in agreement.
Mintz-Plasse secured the role after an open audition window for McLovin, which saw him compete against a number of young actors for the role - many of whom were friends of his from drama class.
He was the only one to get a callback, and he went on to read for the role alongside Hill and Cera.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Hill said that Mintz-Plasse was 'really, really amazing off the bat'. But he added: "I think he was really annoying to me at that time."
Apatow remembered Mintz-Plasse being 'very caustic', adding that he 'attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah'.
Seth Rogen, who played Officer Michaels, added: "Jonah immediately hated him. He was like - 'that was f**king with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy'."
Apatow, who has also directed the likes of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, claimed Hill didn't like Mintz-Plasse as a result and went as far as saying 'I don't want him doing it'.
"That’s exactly why we’re hiring him. It couldn’t be more perfect," Apatow recalled saying.
"The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want."
Speaking at Fan Expo Chicago, Mintz-Plasse said: "Jonah Hill hated me so much after my audition. I get it, I was 17, I was not a professional actor, I was in high school and we're playing high school kids.
"So Jonah's roasting me - and you remember being in high school, you just like yeah it's my f**king buddy roasting me, it's not going to bother me, I'm going to roast him back. And that's what I did in the audition.
"And I left the room... and Jonah's like 'f**k that guy'."
Mintz-Plasse said that the pair quickly put the beef to one side with Hill messaging him saying he should have 'big bro'd' him after the audition and took him under his wing.
Topics: Jonah Hill, Film, Celebrity, Entertainment
Tom Earnshaw