Anghus Houvouras on Jonah Hill’s ‘pay cut’ Oscar campaign…
Jonah Hill really wants to win an Academy Award. That statement seems pretty obvious at first. Most actors want to achieve the highest possible honor that can be bestowed upon them and be recognized by their peers. But Jonah Hill wants it a little bit more than his fellow nominees. How do I know that? Because of this story:
You’ve probably seen this story floating around online. It’s popping up everywhere. It seems people are just now discovering that Jonah Hill took a sharp pay cut and only earned $60,000 dollars for his work in The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s an interesting tidbit, if not all that unique. Lots of actors take gigs on quality films for a reduced rate because they believe in the project or the talent involved. Maybe it’s a vanity project or someone they are excited to work with.
Or maybe they’re chasing an Oscar.
This story is the most obvious kind of award season pandering. This entire story was engineered, orchestrated, and timed to achieve maximum media penetration. This is the kind of publicity tactics you normally see reserved for political campaigns.
Is Jonah Hill getting his award season advice from Harvey Weinstein? This is the kind of stunt that has the tinge of desperation. Like last year when Weinstein started pushing the phrase ‘An instant classic’ in regards to Silver Linings Playbook to anyone who would listen.
Oscar campaigns are often undignified affairs. This story is harmless enough, but to me the offense lies in its blatancy. The entire story which stemmed from an interview with Howard Stern has a feeling of being coached. The humble actor willing to work for peanuts to work alongside a filmmakers whose work he respects. Fine and good, until you realize that nugget didn’t really hit big until after the nomination.
Now it’s everywhere. Every major and minor outlet has been running with it for the last 24 hours. Jonah Hill is out there trying to win hearts and minds. He wants that Oscar so bad he can taste it. We can respect Jonah Hill for taking the pay cut to work with Martin Scorsese. But we can lose just a little for rampant award pandering.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.
Originally published January 23, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
