Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Can’t Stop Gushing About Each Other
It’s been 11 years since Emma Stone and Jonah Hill starred opposite each other in Superbad, stealing our hearts as hilarious and unlikely high school sweethearts Jules and Seth. It was the 2007 teen comedy that launched both actors’ careers, setting up a decade of Hollywood success to come. Stone, of course, has established herself as a sought-after leading lady, with her La La Land performance nabbing the 2017 Academy Award for Best Actress. And Hill has gone on to appear in one well-received film after another, from comedies like Pineapple Express and 21 Jump Street to more dramatic turns in Money Ball and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Now, after years of winning audiences over with their respective solo projects, Stone and Hill are bringing their special brand of quirky magic back to our screens. They star in Netflix’s new drama Maniac, an intrinsically trippy Black Mirror-esque series that follows two mentally unstable characters (played by Stone and Hill) so desperate for money, they sign up for a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that will handsomely compensate its patients.
VIDEO: Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Share a Joke at Maniac Premiere
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Other than its stars, the intense and surreal nature of Maniac may have nothing in common with the downright ridiculous plot of Superbad. But ever the BFFs, Stone and Hill jumped at the chance to team up again. It’s clear that they’ve stayed real, true pals over the years — they even walked the red carpet side-by-side at last night’s Maniac premiere in New York City, opting to do each and every interview together. And they were more than happy to brag about their #friendshipgoals when we asked about the best part of their onscreen reunion.
“Spending a tremendous amount of time together,” Hill told InStyle, with Stone nodding in agreement mere inches away before she chimed in to second his response. “Just getting to be together all the time, and getting to act with him again, too,” she said. “I mean, he’s so fantastic and genius. It was just so cool to get to be in scenes with him. We got to do a few scenes together in Superbad, but this was much more time.”
The pair have certainly come a long way since their raunchy comedy debut. And they’re adorably proud of each other’s evolution, both onscreen and off. “She started off amazing at 17,” Hill said of Stone. “I have seen this woman grow up and go through large periods of life and growth; and she has all my love and respect.”
The feeling is mutual. “I think that Jonah has immense wisdom that he’s always had, but now he’s so solid in that wisdom and talent and loyalty and kindness,” Stone gushed. “It’s pretty amazing to see.” After hearing Stone sing his praises, Hill exclaimed, “Thanks for making us tell each other how much we love each other!” Stone’s reply? “This was like therapy.”
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In Maniac, you can see the pair actually go to therapy, with Justin Theroux starring as the doctor-meets-mad-scientist who’s trying to cure their characters of mental illness. It’s under the care of Theroux’s character, Dr. James Mantleray, that the seemingly schizophrenic Owen Milgrim (Hill) and broke and sulky Annie Landsberg (Stone) meet as patients at Neberdine Pharmaceutical and Biotech, where they’re given a round of pills that they’re told will heal their mental states in every way possible.
Spoiler alert: Things don’t go entirely as planned. And, according to Theroux, while filming the psychological drama’s heavy scenes, the famously funny stars had trouble keeping their game faces on. But if there were to be a blooper reel of mid-scene crackups, who would be featured most? “All of us — we all broke character,” said Theroux. “Well, not so much broke character, because [Emma and Jonah] are also highly professional, but we had a lot of laughs. Obviously, we were also able to really focus on what we needed to.”
It was filming with Stone, in particular, that really did Theroux in when it came to keeping a straight face. “There were a couple of times where me and Em could not be in the same room for each other’s coverage,” he recalled. “She’d say, ‘You need to get out of here while I say my lines, and then when it’s your line, I’ll leave and then you can say your lines.’ So we did that. We could not keep it together many times.”
Guess there's no matching the chemistry she and Hill share.
Maniac is now streaming on Netflix.
