Movies - TV
Jonah Hill Pushed Back Hard On Casting Christopher Mintz-Plasse In Superbad
By JEREMY SMITH
One of the best parts of “Superbad” is Christopher Mintz-Plasse's portrayal of the overconfident nerd Fogell, AKA McLovin, but Jonah Hill didn't want Mintz-Plasse to be part of the film at all. The cast and crew of the comedy flick spoke to Vanity Fair about the arduous process of casting McLovin, and why Hill wanted nothing to do with Mintz-Plasse.
"Superbad" co-writer Evan Goldberg says that finding the right actor for McLovin was so difficult, casting director Allison Jones resorted to hanging up casting notices outside of Southern California high schools. Mintz-Plasse, an ordinary 17-year-old, came to audition for the film with his friends, and landed a callback after impressing director Greg Mottola.
Producer Judd Apatow says Mintz-Plasse got into character during a test reading with Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, and was "very caustic and attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah." Hill added that "Chris was really, really amazing," if "annoying at the time," but Apatow and co-writer Seth Rogen remember Hill being a little angrier.
Rogen claims that Hill "immediately hated" Mintz-Plasse, adding that Hill said the young actor's behavior "was f***ing with my rhythm. I couldn't perform with that guy." Hill didn’t even want Mintz-Plasse to be cast, but Apatow said to him, "That's exactly why we're hiring him. It couldn't be more perfect. The fact that it bothers you is exactly what we want."