Jonah Hill 'immediately hated' Superbad co-star at auditions

It's hard to imagine the cast of Superbad having anything but an excellent time together while filming the iconic comedy, but Jonah Hill is actually said to have 'hated' one of his co-stars at the film's inception.

Numerous rewatches probably mean that fans of Superbad know the story off by heart, but the film actually just celebrated its 15th anniversary, making it nearly as old as Hill, Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were supposed to be when they starred in it.

Following the story of students desperate to end their high school careers with a bang, the film saw Hill (Seth) and Cera (Evan) attempt to get some alcohol and make it to a party thrown by one of their classmates, played by Emma Stone.

Though Cera and Hill might have already been familiar to fans, it was Mintz-Plasse who stole the show as McLovin - no last name. His performance as the over-confident high schooler remains iconic to this day, and while executive producer Judd Apatow knew the role belonged to him, Hill wasn't so sure.

Mintz-Plasse was cast after open auditions for the role of McLovin, which he tried out for along with a number of his friends from drama class. He was the only one to get a callback, and he went on to read for the role alongside Hill and Cera.

Recalling the audition process, Hill admitted to Vanity Fair Mintz-Plasse was 'really, really amazing off the bat', but added: "And I think he was really annoying to me at that time."

Apatow remembered Mintz-Plasse being 'very caustic', adding that he 'attacked Jonah and did improvs insulting Jonah'.

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Seth Rogen, who played Officer Michaels, added: "Jonah immediately hated him. He was like, “That was f*cking with my rhythm. I couldn’t perform with that guy.”

Apatow claimed Hill had told him he didn't 'like' Mintz-Plasse, saying, "I don't want him doing it," but the executive producer replied: "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."

The actor, who was just 17 at the time, said he was 'super stoked' to be there and admitted to having everyone sign his script because he didn't think he was going to get the part.

Obviously, Mintz-Plasse did ended up being cast, and though Hill might not have been on board at first I think we can all agree it was the right choice.

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Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.