Donnie from The Wolf of Wall Street has some pretty iconic moments throughout the film but there’s one scene in particular that made Jonah Hill feel incredibly guilty after shooting it.
Jonah Hill is iconic. He’s constantly pushing the boundaries when it comes to style, admitted he didn’t like The Mandalorian and has starred in instant classic films like Superbad and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Speaking of The Wolf of Wall Street, Hill’s character Donnie had some incredible moments – including, of course, the infamous goldfish scene. For those unfamiliar with it, Donnie berates an employee for cleaning his fishbowl during work and then proceeds to eat the employee’s live goldfish in front of everyone in the office.
The scene is arguably one of the funniest and best moments in The Wolf of Wall Street but as it turns out, Hill felt terrible about it. During an interview with Grantland, Hill admitted that after doing the scene he felt guilty and apologised profusely to his fellow actor over lunch.
“There’s a scene where I fire this kid and eat his goldfish. I throw a cigarette at him and I smack him in the face and berate him in front of 200 people and fire him. Even though it’s acting, I saw this actor’s eyes and he looked really upset. He looked horrible.”
Jonah Hill
“I took him to lunch that day and I said, ‘I’m sorry. You know this has nothing to do with how I am.’ And we connected and had a nice lunch…”
Jonah Hill
Hill also said that playing Donnie was incredibly taxing as the character does multiple despicable things throughout The Wolf of Wall Street.
“I would drive home and feel a wave of guilt over all the things I had to do in that day. It wasn’t the drugs, but the things Donnie had to do to people… Even though you’re acting, the way this person treats people is the hardest thing you have to do.”
Jonah Hill
It’s admirable that Hill actually felt real guilt over things a fictional character he played did… And while we agree that Donnie is a horrible person, he’s still an awesome character in an awesome film – which you can watch on Netflix Australia, Binge, Amazon Prime Video & Foxtel Now.
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