Oscar nominee Jonah Hill owes Best Buy a huge shout-out, whether or not he wins Best Supporting Actor this weekend.
He explained on the talk show circuit how he prepared for his role in “The Wolf of Wall Street” as the fast-talking, drug-addled securities felon Donnie Azoff by calling Target and Best Buy stores.
“I had this really difficult accent and lisp and I had these big fake teeth and I couldn’t talk … You couldn’t understand what I was saying,” he recalled on Howard Stern’s radio show. “So, for a month-and-a-half beforehand, our accent coach was like, ‘You’ve got to talk with these things in for two hours every day.’”
None of Hill’s friends would engage him in dialogue, so he called the retail stores and asked sales associates aimless questions about payment plans and appliances.
After some initial hang-ups he found a Honolulu Best Buy that would stay on the phone with him for hours a day as he rambled on in character and perfected his role.
The CE chain got wind of the prank, but in lieu of a coaching fee sent Hill a Best Buy Blue Shirt package (see photo), replete with polo, ID card and cap, and is offering a two-for-one sale on three of his Blu-ray/DVD titles.
“So if this [acting career] doesn’t work out … don’t worry about me, man, I’m taken care of,” he said.
