Jonah Hill Talks Landing The Wolf of Wall Street Role, Training His Dog With Channing Tatum's Help

Actor spoke about the experience during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show scheduled to air on Wednesday

By Jordana Ossad Feb 19, 2014 5:24 PMTags
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Jonah Hill is feeling "incredible" right now and for good reason.

The 30-year-old stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to celebrate his Oscar-nominated role in The Wolf of Wall Street and to dish about how he landed the part as stockbroker Donnie Azoff.

"Well, I had met Martin Scorsese at the Oscars when I was nominated for Moneyball, and I was like, I'm not going to go up to him and bother him because he's my hero," Hill told Ellen DeGeneres, during an appearance scheduled to air on Wednesday. 

He continued: "Goodfellas is the reason I dedicated my life to making films, and he…I was sitting right in front of him and I was like, I'm not going to bother him. I'm not going to bother him. And then I went up to him and was like, 'Goodfellas is the best.'"

Hill admitted he felt a bit embarrassed after this interaction with the legendary filmmaker, but then a few weeks later he would get a life-changing phone call.

"I got a call from my agent saying I was at the bottom of a list of far better and more accomplished actors to star opposite Leo [DiCaprio] in The Wolf of Wall Street."

"Nice of your agent to say that to you," DeGeneres quipped.

"Ya, you know, she keeps me humble, you know," Hill joked.

Hill would eventually meet with Scorsese and DiCaprio in Mexico, while they were both promoting different movies, and explained that he probably didn't stop talking for "probably an hour and a half."

"I was like, I have to play this guy," Hill revealed. "I don't care who else gets this part, I will kill them and then I will get to play the part. And that's the way it is."

As for the audition, Hill said he was "so nervous" to read for Scorsese because he hadn't auditioned in six years. 

"I said, 'If anything else, I got to work with Martin Scorsese for an hour,'" Hill added. "That was the coolest."

The waiting period was difficult but he finally got the call one long month after his audition.

"I'm at dinner in New Orleans, and I get a phone call and it's Leo," Hill said. "He says, 'You got it. Let's go do it.' And I ran around screaming through the streets of New Orleans. It was the best moment of my entire life. It was great."

Hill also opened up about a very special relationship in his life with his "daughter," French bulldog Carmela. But as everyone knows, some pet pooches require some training and Hill explained that he had some trouble disciplining his furry friend. Enter Hill's 22 Jump Street co-star and "strong" Channing Tatum.

"His dogs are like the most amazing, incredible, behaved dogs I've ever seen." Hill said. "So he was kind of helping me whip her into shape, and she respected him more than me."