22 Jump Street’s Jonah Hill bristles at questioning over homophobic outburst

IT was the all too public outburst that saw him flogged in the media. So has 22 Jump Street’s Jonah Hill learnt his lesson? Cue awkward silence.

Comedian Jonah Hill.

WHEN Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill agreed to sign on for a sequel to 2012’s surprise hit, 21 Jump Street, they had one criterion — the audience had to know they were in on the joke.

“Making a sequel good, that was a pretty big challenge,” says Tatum, looking towards Hill, who’s nodding in agreement. “Traditionally, sequels are s..., aren’t they?”

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Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum tackle “the exact same mission” in <i>22 Jump Street</i>.

This time around, Hill and Tatum have left high school and are heading to university to crack open a student drug ring.

“The joke is that it’s the exact same mission,” says Hill.

“But to make people feel like they got something different is a challenge.”

Indeed, there is absolutely no way that the Jump Street movies should have worked at all.

Hill was impressed by his co-star’s comic ability and took him to see the first <i>Jump Street </i>film with a paying audience so he could hear the laughs.

But what seemed like another case of Hollywood regurgitating a tired idea from an old television show (where undercover police infiltrate high schools to solve crimes) actually emerged an unlikely blockbuster.

And the sequel is set to follow suit — 22 Jump Street currently sits atop the US box office.

While Hill has had a stellar career in comedy (Superbad, Knocked Up, Get Him To the Greek), Tatum has proved to be something of a comic revelation in the two films.

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller reckon they were “surprised” by just how funny he was. “We thought he must have had Seth Rogen writing his jokes under the table,” laughs Lord.

Director Phil Lord says Hill and Tatum’s real-life friendship only enhanced the film this time around.

Tatum, who’d never been in a comedy prior to the Jump Street films, says that Hill gave him “the confidence to go for it”.

Hill was so impressed by his co-star’s comic ability that he implored Tatum to see the first film with a paying audience.

Hill and Tatum, pictured at the after party for their movie’s premiere, have become good mates.

“I had never seen myself in a comedy before, and he wanted me to see it in a good theatre with, like, just moviegoing people, not like industry people or press,” says Tatum.

“I wanted him to hear the laughs,” continues Hill. “I wanted him to hear how people were responding to his work.”

The two, who did not know each other prior to 21 Jump Street, have clearly become close mates. Director Phil Lord says the pair’s real-life friendship only enhanced the film this time around.

“I think it’s the spectacle of seeing those two people together and who are natural predators and realising that they’re actually friends,” says Lord. “That’s such a special visual and such a heartwarming concept for these two guys who shouldn’t get along actually, but they do.”

Indeed, the week Hit speaks to the two in New York, Tatum is clearly feeling protective of his friend. Hill has been on something of a sorry tour after he was filmed using homophobic language towards a photographer. When asked what he’s learnt from his very public flogging, Hill bristles.

“Myself personally, I’m not always super thrilled with the amount of attention. That’s not what I’m trained in. It’s all a learning curve. It’s all about learning to deal with certain things,” he says, flatly.

While actor Jonah Hill is a hit with fans, he admits it can be hard to have to learn from his mistakes in front of everybody.

Cue awkward silence.

“The truth of the matter is,” Hill says finally, exhaling, “that because I’m an actor, I made a choice to be a public person, and I have to learn from my mistakes in front of everyone.

“I can’t complain about that because that’s the life I chose. Sometimes it’s hard to learn from your mistakes in front of everybody, but what can you do? All I can do is just be honest about what I’m going through, and try to figure that out even if there’s people watching.”

For his part, Tatum says he was “frustrated” watching Hill cop such intense media scrutiny for “a mistake”.

“I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for Jonah, but it’s even frustrating for people who love him because we know that isn’t him. It was just a bad situation and a decision that he learnt from and everybody learnt from because we know that’s truly not him. I think that he’s handled it really well, and I think people understand that.”

Channing Tatum posted this photo on Facebook last year with the message: “First father's day with my girls!”

Still, Tatum says that he understands that public scrutiny is part of the job.

“I understand that people have some sort of an interest in you — almost like a relationship to you,” he says. “They feel like they have some sort of investment in you and I’m OK with the idea that I took that on as a responsibility, that I go, OK, I made the choice to become a public figure.”

What he can’t abide, however, is public interest in his one-year-old daughter, Everly.

He married actor Jenna Dewan in 2009 after meeting her on a movie set in 2006.

“I don’t enjoy people thinking they can have access to my daughter,” he says. “My wife and I understand that that’s a decision we made, but my daughter didn’t have any choice in the matter.”

But both Hill and Tatum are on a professional high. Hill has already navigated comedy and drama successfully as a two-time Academy Award-nominee for Moneyball and The Wolf Of Wall Street.

And Tatum is about to make a similar transition from action flicks to the highly anticipated drama Foxcatcher, where he stars as an Olympic wrestler whose brother is murdered by a paranoid schizophrenic (a creepy Steve Carrell).

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“It was the hardest acting challenge I’ve had to date,” says Tatum. “I needed to have a few laughs after that.”

Both Hill and Tatum agree they’d like to work together again, but remain vague on whether there’ll be a third instalment of the Jump Street films (the hilarious end credits suggest there won’t be).

“I think the audience wants to feel like those guys keep going with their lives and they keep going on crazy missions and off into the sunset forever and ever and ever,” says Tatum, “and if people want to make another one, you know, who are we to stop them?”

Tatum hit the red carpet with wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum for the LA premiere of<i> 22 Jump Street</i>.

Originally published as 22 Jump Street’s Jonah Hill bristles at questioning over homophobic outburst