Jay and Mark Duplass have been known names on the indie festival circuit for seven years, but no matter how much critics rave about their work, people just didnât seem to make the effort to see their first two feature films, The Puffy Chair and Baghead, at least not in theaters. If for some reason this is because neither of those movies had known stars, hopefully that will change with their upcoming situational comedy Cyrus, which stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and Catherine Keener.
In the movie, Reilly plays a guy also named John who hasnât dated anyone since his wife left him seven years earlier. When he meets Molly (Tomei) at a party, they instantly hit it off, but then he meets her 21-year-old son Cyrus. This is where Jonah Hill comes in, playing a very odd guy who will do anything to get his mother to break up with John, beginning a hilarious game of one-upmanship as the two of them try to convince Molly that the other one is up to no good.
A few weeks back, ComingSoon.net sat down with the 26-year-old actor who broke out in Greg Mottolaâs Superbad in 2007, and the first thing we learned was that Hill was actually one of the Duplass Brothersâ early fans. It wasnât the best interview because it was hard getting answers out of Hill, and just as he seemed to be warming up to us, the interview was over, but we did our best.
ComingSoon.net: Youâve been working with Judd Apatow and doing his improvisational comedy method for many years, and with this, you worked in the âDuplassian Methodâ I guess you could call it. Did you know their stuff beforehand or how they worked before you came onto this?
Jonah Hill: Yeah, I had seen their short film âThe Interventionâ about seven years ago at a film festival and asked them questions during the Q & A, and then I saw âPuffy Chairâ and thought âThose are those guys that I really loveâ and then I asked them if they want to work together and they were like, âWe donât know who you areâ and then âSuperbadâ had come out and been successful and so I just basically asked them, âHey, if you guys ever want to work together, Iâd love to do that.â I think itâs my responsibility or anybodyâs responsibility when you become somewhat successful is to make sure that you use that success to further someoneâs creative endeavors. They handed me the script, and I was like, âLetâs do it.â
CS: So you were nice about it. You could have said, âYou guys dissed me seven years ago so now Iâm more expensiveâŚâ
Hill: But it would have been counter-productive to just making a great movie.
CS: Had John already come on board or did you guys come on together?
Hill: They had written it for⌠I think they had written it for John and maybe for the three of us.
CS: I know they were looking for very specific people and it wasnât about casting for the characters. I know they had some sort of script but how detailed is it. Is it a full script?
Hill: Yeah, it was a great script, it was an unbelievable script. Thatâs kind of the misconception and they promote their own misconception that they improvise so much, which is weird, because theyâre such great writers. They wrote such a beautiful script, and then we did improvise a lot, but they really had a clear⌠it was pretty clear, in my head at least.
CS: Once youâre on set, they donât do a lot of the usual setting up cameras and lights once you find the right location, but is it a matter of them just letting tape run for 20 or 30 minutes and letting you go on scenes?
Hill: Yeah, the takes would be extraordinarily long.
CS: So do you experiment in what you do each time and do you talk a lot about it beforehand?
Hill: No, you just do it, yeah. They would give great direction. They would also give direction to all of us separately, so we wouldnât know the direction that the other actors were getting, so it would be a surprise what was happening.
CS: What was a good example of that, something John or Marisa did that threw you in a different direction that you werenât expecting or made you change your own game?
Hill: I donât know. I canât think of an example, but everything was meant to be a surprise. We didnât rehearse for that reason because we wanted everything to feel fresh when it was happening and give it the ability to go in whatever direction it was heading naturally.
CS: Do they throw out lines at all like Judd does? I assume they wouldnât want to intrude in the characters interacting.
Hill: No, theyâre very quiet. Theyâll wait until a takeâs over or sometimes Jay, who actually camera operates as well, will maybe very gently whisper something but itâs different than Juddâs method which is a lot more abrupt, as heâll just shout stuff.
CS: Youâve worked with John before albeit brieflyâŚ
Hill: Yeah, very brieflyâŚ
CS: Heâd worked with Adam McKay a few times who is also really big on that comedy improv, so how did Marisa fit into that, since she comes from a more straightforward acting background.
Hill: She was great. She was a fan of âPuffy Chairâ I think as wellâI mean, youâd have to ask herâbut she was up for it. She kind of knew what the program was going to be like and sheâs just a fantastic actress, but I donât have to tell you that.
CS: It must have been a dream come true to have such a hot Mom being so clingy to youâŚ
Hill: Why would that be a dream come true?
CS: Because sheâs not really your mother and sheâs kind of all over you in the movieâŚ
Hill: My Mom is beautiful, but I donât think anyone wishes, âMan, I wish I had a really hot MomâŚâ That would be weird.
CS: Yeah, but you get to have Marisa Tomei hanging all over you for the entire movie.
Hill: Yeah, I mean she was great, but I honestly was such a big fan of her acting, too. Sheâs just incredible, yeah.
CS: What else did they tell you as far as Cyrus as a character? Did they just tell you to be as weird as possible?
Hill: Absolutely not. It was a very specific character. Have you seen the film? Heâs a very specific person. I think itâs probably the most complex character Iâve ever played and we were very thoughtful making sure that he stayed true to the guy that the three of us were trying to bring out.
CS: Iâm thinking specifically of the techno scene where youâre playing John your music and I wondered whatâs going on in your head while youâre standing there staring off into space.
Hill: Yeah, it was weird, you know, butâŚ
CS: Thatâs just part of him trying to freak out male acquaintances of his mother?
Hill: Yeah, I mean itâs trying to intimidate him.
CS: When youâre an actor making a movie like this, youâre really putting a lot of trust in Jay and Mark to make sure to get the best stuff youâve done on set into the film. Do you feel that you did a lot of stuff you liked that didnât make it into the movie?
Hill: There were certain things that were gone but they were ultimately for the benefit of the movie and the story that Mark and Jay were trying to tell. Like there were sequences that we shot where you find out what Cyrus did when he moves out. You see him move in somewhere else in this kind of house he finds on craigslist with all these younger kids, and he kind of starts having panic attacks and stuff. But it made you feel too bad for him, and you had to feel like he was Johnâs equal rival.
CS: So there were whole other scenes. I was thinking more as far as those 20 minute takes and having to whittle them down to just the best parts.
Hill: No, thatâs kind of the biggest chunk that was lost.
CS: I know youâre doing âMoneyballâ next. I spoke to Soderbergh last year and when he was directing it, there was going to be more comedy in it, so is it getting more serious now?
Hill: Itâs definitely a drama, but thereâs funny moments in it for sure. Bennett Miller, who directed âCapote,â saw âCyrusâ and thought I could do something a little more dramatic.
CS: What was your background before you started appearing in movies? Were you a stand-up comic?
Hill: No, I was never a stand-up comedian. I like film. I love films, all kinds of films.
CS: Did you do drama in high school or anything like that?
Hill: No, I didnât do high school drama. I studied theater in college and writing and directing, and thatâs kind of like⌠film.
CS: I know Juddâs really into having his actors write â I think maybe you were the first person to tell me thisâŚ
Hill: Yeah, he was a definite mentor for me and got me writing. I already wanted to but he really showed me what was up, as far as outlining and format. He literally gave me outlines and showed me how to write a script and walked me through the process a few times.
CS: How has that been going? I know youâve been writing â21 Jump Streetâ⌠is âThe Sitterâ something you wrote as well?
Hill: Oh, âThe Sitterâ⌠no, David Gordon Greenâs directing that.
CS: Thatâs from someone elseâs script.
Hill: Yeah.
CS: How has it been going with the writing because I know youâve working on some stuff for a long time? Might some of those screenplays start moving forward into production?
Hill: Yeah, âJump Streetâ is something weâre working on that weâre going to shoot early next year, and Iâm just constantly writing also for myself as well as professionally. Itâs something that I love to do.
CS: Have you been getting any calls to do any rewrites on stuff or touch-up the comedy in scripts?
Hill: Yeah, you know, I was a writer-producer on âBruno,â so⌠I love doing stuff like that. Itâs interesting to write for other people in other peopleâs voices. I did some rewrite work and stuff like that.
CS: Do you think youâll ever reunite with Seth Rogen or Michael Cera? âSuperbadâ was so well-loved, you would think one of these days, youâd want to do another movie with them.
Hill: I donât know. I love those guys and I would love to do something with them. I donât think weâll make a sequel to âSuperbad.â
CS: No, I think that would be kind of hard to do.
Hill: It would. It just wouldnât be as good as the first one, so why even try to do it?
CS: Hey⌠some people like âAliensâ more than âAlien.â
Hill: âGodfather IIâ is I think better than âThe Godfather.â But I donât think âSuperbad 2â would be as good as âSuperbad.â
Cyrus opens in New York and L.A. on Friday, June 18. You can also hear what the Duplass Brothers had to say about bringing actors like Hill, Reilly and Tomei into their process in our exclusive video interview.
