For his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, actor Jonah Hill accepted the minimum wage to participate in the legendary film. He would have even been willing to sacrifice more.
Who is Jonah Hill?
- Jonah Hill has been active as an actor for two decades and has appeared in many films such as Don’t Look Up, Superbad, and War Dogs.
- He had many speaking roles in animated films, including The LEGO Batman Movie and How to Train Your Dragon 2.
- Even before his appearance in The Wolf of Wall Street, he had been featured in major film productions like Moneyball and 21 Jump Street.
This is what Jonah Hill says about his fee in Wolf of Wall Street: The actor had already had a remarkable career before The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s even more surprising that he accepted the minimum wage to participate in the film.
In “The Howard Stern Show,” the actor revealed that he didn’t hesitate to sign the contract (via hollywoodreporter.com):
They offered me as little money as possible. That was their offer. I said I would sign the papers tonight, fax me the papers tonight. I want to sign them tonight before they change their mind.
Jonah Hill, The Howard Stern Show
Hill would have even accepted collaboration under even worse conditions. He does not regret his decision at all:
I would sell my house and give [Scorsese, the director and screenwriter of the film, note of the editor] all my money to work for him. I would have done anything in the world. I would do it again in a second.
Jonah Hill, The Howard Stern Show
In The Wolf of Wall Street, Jonah Hill plays a stockbroker in the 1980s. We have embedded a fitting trailer for you here:
Jonah Hill received $60,000 – Di Caprio $10 million
Is this the minimum wage? Jonah Hill received $60,000 for The Wolf of Wall Street. Indeed, this is the minimum wage for a filming period of seven months, which the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) prescribes.
So, at the then-current rate, Jonah Hill received “only” about €44,000 for seven months of work. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, on the other hand, did not have to settle for such a small allowance – he received $10 million for his work on the film (via statisticbrain.com).
What is SAG?
- This is the actors’ union responsible for the current strike of the actors.
- Since July 13, 2023, SAG-AFTRA has been on strike in the USA for better working conditions, especially for unknown actors.
- The Rock has donated to striking actor colleagues to help them make ends meet.
- The strike of the screenwriters has now been settled, but the actors’ strike continues (via moviepilot.de).
The film has according to Box Office Mojo grossed $406.9 million. The budget was “only” around $100 million. Therefore, the team could not offer every actor such a high fee as Leonardo DiCaprio.
However, the film has likely helped Jonah Hill to climb further up the career ladder. He also helped actress Margot Robbie achieve greater success:
While you wait for “Barbie”, you can see Margot Robbie in one of her most iconic roles on Netflix
