Jonah Hill talks about his latest movie, 22 Jump Street, and working with Channing Tatum
GIVEN that 21 Jump Street (2012) grossed over US$200 million (RM636 million) worldwide, a sequel to the smash comedy seems a no-brainer. But its originator, Jonah Hill, still took some persuading.
“I’ve deliberately never done a sequel before to any of the movies I’ve been in,” the 30-year-old star of Superbad and The Wolf Of Wall Street says, “because I didn’t think they could ever be funnier than the original.”
However the innovative comedy presented by the idea of sending hapless undercover cops Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) back to college, after they only just survived a term in high school, proved irresistible. Plus the very notion of mocking the whole lame idea of sequels was cleverly already pre-built into the franchise.
SELF-POKING FUN
“I think the Jump Street movies work because of their self-awareness and making fun of themselves. In the first one we really made fun of the fact that we were taking a TV show from the past and turning it into a film and exposing how bad of an idea that is.
“And with this one, right from the get go we wanted to make fun of ourselves and the whole idea of doing a sequel: how sequels are always just worse and more expensive than the first one and how they try to recapture a magic that is just impossible to recapture.”
Of course, far from a lame idea, the concept of rebooting a cult 1980s TV show starring Johnny Depp as one of a crack team of baby-faced officers sent undercover into high schools to solve crimes, proved box office gold.
Pressure was on to repeat that success — something that Hill’s co-written script has a lot of fun with.
“Do exactly the same as the last time and everyone’s happy,” Nick Offerman’s Deputy Chief Hardy instructs Schmidt and Jenko before he sends them back to bust yet another student drug ring. Nothing stays exactly the same, including the fact that the ‘boys’ this time round now look even less likely they could pass for 19-year-olds.
“Many of the jokes we were writing were about how we looked so much older in the second one compared to the first one,” laughs Hill.
“You look like you are about 50,” Ice Cube’s police captain shouts at Tatum, who is actually a very youthful 34.
BROMANCE REVISITED
In 22 Jump Street, the tables turn so that Jenko gets to be Mr Popular, becoming a star football player, while Schmidt is socially side-lined. Despite the toll this takes on their characters’ bromance, the buddy chemistry between the two leads remains irresistible.
“We are genuinely friends in real life,” says Hill of him and Tatum. “A big part of making a sequel was wanting to make another film together.”
And, though equally sought after as actors, their friendship is entirely non-competitive.
“That is kind of the great thing about our relationship,” says Hill, “the desire to help the other one out and to really support one another as opposed to compete.”
This extends to stuff like stunts. “Channing is very passionate about doing his own stunts,” says Hill. “You would think it’s his stunt double but it is actually him doing it.”
Whereas Hill is happy to take a back seat. “I am always up for trying stuff,” he says, “but if there is a chance that I could get seriously hurt I am not the kind of person that would fight you on that.”
Hill’s daredevil skills are instead displayed in the arena of improvisation.
Leonardo DiCaprio, his co-star in The Wolf Of Wall Street, for which Hill received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards earlier this year, once told the Wall Street Journal that “Jonah Hill is probably one of the greatest improvisers I’ve ever worked with. He’s completely fearless standing in front of a group of people, coming up with incredibly spontaneous, brilliant dialogue.”
TRUTHFUL PERFORMANCES
As such, Hill played a supportive confidant to Tatum when it came to improvisations on 21 Jump Street.
“There was a tonne of improvisation on set and Channing didn’t think he could do it. He told me that. I said ‘you just have to be truthful. If you are truthful and your character believes in what he is saying, no matter how dumb it is, then it will be funny.’ It was great to see him have that confidence on the second movie, where he knew he could do it. It allowed him to get an even better performance. I think he is fantastic in the movie.”
Hill honed his own improv skills from an early age. At Bard College, in New York, he studied acting and writing and wrote and performed his own plays in New York City. He was befriended by Dustin Hoffman’s kids who introduced Hill to their famous dad.
A debut part in I Heart Huckabees (2004) resulted, quickly followed by ever larger comedy roles in the likes of The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Superbad (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him To The Greek (2010) and This Is the End (2013). All of which demanded improvisation.
SERIOUS ACTING
Recently Hill has made a conscious move away from comedy towards more serious dramas starting with Cyrus (2010) and eventually leading him to Oscar-nominated performances in the likes of Moneyball (2011) and The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013), as well as Django Unchained (2012). These films too largely drew on his improvisational talents.
“I’ve worked with some great directors, like Scorsese and Bennett Miller, as well as many comedy directors and they have pretty much all encouraged people to explore and improvise. I think that it is a wonderful way to get even more truthful in a specific moment, whether it is comedy or drama.”
Remarkably adept at flipping between these two genres, Hill does not consider one form higher or lower than the other, even if the hugely popular comedies he’s excelled in are rarely given the same kind of awards acknowledgement from bodies like The American Academies of Arts and Sciences.
“To me it is all-amazing just to get to do the kind of work that I am passionate about. I really just appreciate the opportunities to do all these different kinds of films, as opposed to thinking about ‘what is more prestigious?’ and ‘what is more well received and lauded more?’” And he could not be more passionate about the Jump Street movies.
As Hill puts it: “Turning the TV series into a movie was my idea. I would say I am pretty much one of the main architects of the whole franchise.”
Currently there are “no plans as of now” for a 23 Jump Street, despite playful hints. But fans should never say never.
“It was incredible to jump back into this with Chan (Channing),” says Hill. “I have been working on the two of them for eight years, so it has been a big part of my life for most of my 20s... from 22 onwards. It has been a purely fun ride.” Sony Pictures
Releasing International
22 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, opened in cinemas nationwide yesterday.
