Jonah Hill Insisted on Auditioning for ‘Superbad’ Even After Seth Rogen Turned Him Down ‘100 Times’

Actor Jonah Hill has proven that he has range over and over again. That’s after getting his start in comedy. He started off with small parts in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. He made such an impact on the people he was working with that he was cast over and over, in increasingly important roles. 

Superbad was his first real lead, and has become one of his most iconic movies. But Hill almost didn’t star in the coming-of-age comedy about two teens on their last day of senior year. Writer and creator Seth Rogen didn’t want him to play the part. 

Jonah Hill played the lead in ‘Superbad’ 

Superbad was originally written by Rogen and his friend and creative partner Evan Goldberg when they were teenagers. They were the same ages as the teens in the film when they finished writing it, but neither of them had the Hollywood connections to get it made. By the time Rogen and Goldberg were in a position to actually make the movie, they were both too old to play the characters that were written after themselves. 

Rogen did have a part in the movie, but as a police officer. It was a much more believable character for the then 24-year-old Rogen to play. Hill played Rogen’s character, and Michael Cera had Goldberg’s. The characters in the movie were still named Seth and Evan, after Rogen and Goldberg themselves. 

Seth Rogen didn’t want Jonah Hill for ‘Superbad’ 

Even though Rogen was too old to portray an 18-year-old, Hill was also in his 20s, just a year younger than Rogen himself. According to Vanity Fair, that’s why Rogen didn’t want Hill for the part. It took convincing, but Hill eventually made it clear he could play young better than Rogen. Goldberg told Vanity Fair that he and Rogen turned Hill down many, many times. “Jonah was like, ‘I should play Seth. I should play Seth. I should play Seth.’  And we said no like, 100 times. ‘You are too old looking.’ And he said, ‘No, you’re too old looking. I’m not! I can do this with makeup and hair.'”

Eventually, producer Judd Apatow told Hill to make himself as young looking as possible and read a few scenes. Hill nailed it. He was able to play someone a few years younger than himself, as long as he had a close shave. He even filmed his audition scenes on the set of Knocked Up, because he was so excited to have a shot at the part. Without him, Superbad wouldn’t have been the classic it is today. 

‘Superbad’ is a classic 

There are a lot of movies that take place on the last day of senior year. A few are classics. Dazed and Confused, Superbad, and Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart are probably the best examples of the genre. Like all good last day of senior year movies, Superbad represented a generation, with loveable characters and quotable lines to boot. 

There’s a reason that Superbad is so representative of its audience. A lot of the things that happened in Superbad really did happen to Goldberg and Rogen. They tweaked some things, as all good writers do. But most of the best parts of the movie are real, at least to some extent. And maybe that’s why Superbad is still a great movie today. It’s something that amazes Rogen.

He told Vanity Fair, “I think it’s only in the last few years that I’ve grasped, We’re one of those high school movies that’s stood the test of time. You don’t know that that’s going to happen until years and years and years go by. Now that years and years and years have gone by, me and Evan look at each other and we’re like, We did it.”