Jonah Hill heartbroken at losing role to Justin Timberlake after director rejected him straight away
The actor said he was still cut up about it years later
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Topics: Jonah Hill, Film and TV
Claire Reid
Topics: Jonah Hill, Film and TV
Jonah Hill admitted to being disappointed after missing out on a role to Justin Timberlake.
The 39-year-old star has an impressive acting resume with roles in The Wolf of Wall Street, Superbad, 21 Jump Street, Moneyball, and more recently, Netflix’s You People.
He’s also bagged himself numerous award nominations, including two best supporting actor Oscars and a couple of Golden Globes.
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However, there’s one role that Hill missed out on that still left him feeling ‘so bummed’ out years later.
Hill was up for the role of Sean Parker in 2010 flick The Social Network, which also starred Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg.
The movie, which told the story of how Facebook was founded, was directed by David Fincher and wowed critics, with some claiming it is up there with the best movies of the 2010s.
So you can see why Hill might have been a bit miffed to have lost the role to Timberlake.
Speaking on the The Bill Simmons Podcast back in 2018, Hill said: “Low-key, David Fincher, or high-key, David Fincher didn’t want me in Social Network.
“It was between me and Justin Timberlake for that part. Obviously, [Fincher’s] the man, but he was not having me.
“The studio wanted me, I think, and then Justin Timberlake was amazing in it. Social Network is the one that I was actually, like, years later, was like, ‘F**k, like, I’m so bummed.'”
He went on to heap praise on the movie, adding: “That’s a movie I watch on a loop. You can watch that movie anytime.”
Timberlake’s The Social Network co-star Garfield has previously admitted that he struggled to keep his cool around the Cry Me A River singer due to being a fan.
"I love Justin," Garfield told Wired. "I loved working with him in The Social Network. I had to kind of keep my cool because I am such a fan. He was so supportive of me during all of that filming."
Garfield remembers one particular moment the pair shared after filming the scene in which Garfield smashes up a laptop, he added: "During that laptop smashing scene, he came up to me afterward and I won't say what he said to me, but he was just so lovely.
"And it was like, 'I'm gonna remember this moment forever because you're someone who I so admire as an artist and the fact that I grew up listening to your music and now you're telling me I did a good job on something, it's like, damn. That's really special.'"
So it seems like Hill’s loss was Garfield’s gain.