Jonah Hill refused role in The Hangover to avoid being typecast after Superbad fame

Jonah Hill refused a lead role in The Hangover to avoid being typecast.

When Superbad hit cinemas back in 2007, the actor's fame reached new heights as the movie instantly became a monster hit.

During that time, the guys responsible for the soon-to-be billion dollar franchise The Hangover were in town, and Hill had the pick of any of the three main characters, played by Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis.

And it wasn't just The Hangover, as the offers started to flood in.

Hill was also given the opportunity to play a supporting role in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen alongside Shia LaBeouf.

However, the actor had his concerns and decided not to go for either film, which was a bold move at the time.

It turns out he didn't want to be pigeon-holed into purely a comedic actor, while also acknowledging he couldn't just seamlessly jump into a WWII film.

"They were both really big decisions, and ones that most people didn’t understand," he explained to Bullet Magazine.

"I knew I could be a dramatic actor, but I also knew I couldn’t go from Superbad to Schindler’s List."

Sony Pictures

Despite 'missing out' on two huge movies, it's safe to say that Hill hasn't done too badly since.

His 2013 role in The Wolf of Wall Street provided us with a new version of the actor, which many now consider it to be his best role to date.

But in order to convince people that he could play a character like Donnie Azoff, he had to speak to the man who inspired the hit film - Jordan Belfort.

The actor said he confronted the millionaire stockbroker on whether he actually felt bad for The Wolf of Wall Street victims.

Hill starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrayed the infamous life of high-roller Belfort.

Despite landing the career-changing role, Hill has spoken openly about his dislike towards his own character in the movie.

Paramount Pictures

"I just didn't like the way that Donnie treated people, that was the thing I had the hardest time with," he said.

"There's a scene with a goldfish where I throw a lit cigarette at this kid and make him cry and fire him and eat his goldfish and it's really degrading.

"On the way home I would just be like, 'Oh gosh, what did I do today?' I would feel bad."

But what helped him prepare for the role was to have regular convos with Belfort.

"Leonardo and I would have dinner with him all the time and he was an open book to us," Hill explained in a compilation video by 'Focus On Film'.

"Two nights before shooting I asked Jordan, I said 'do you feel bad about what you did to these people?'.

"He just said he kind of didn't think about it at that time and if he could go back, if he could do the same thing without hurting those people, he obviously would have."

Hill said that Belfort explained to him that his character 'liked the fact he was hurting people', which helped the actor understand what he was dealing with.