In the 2013 apocalypse comedy This Is the End, Jay Baruchel’s character, a fictionalized version of himself, doesn’t get along with Jonah Hill (he also plays “himself” in the movie). “Can’t stand him, he can’t stand me,” Jay says about Jonah in one scene. This wasn’t far from the truth in real life, too.
A Larry King interview with Baruchel from 2017 has resurfaced following allegations against Hill, including that he was “emotionally abusive” to his ex-girlfriend and that he “shoved his tongue” down the throat of a teenager without consent. In response to a question about what his relationship with Hill is like, Baruchel answered, “There is one, I guess. I know the man.”
While Baruchel was laughing from discomfort, King questioned, “You don’t like him?” The BlackBerry actor “wouldn’t say that,” but “it was contentious once upon a time, but I think now we’re sort of each the devil the other one knows.”
This wasn’t the only interview where Baruchel was asked about Hill.
In a recent episode of The Last Laugh podcast, however, Baruchel delved deeper into their contentious relationship and stated firmly: “I was… real crabby throughout that whole movie … Jonah and I don’t get along super well, or at least didn’t back then.” When told the dynamic “comes through on screen,” the Canadian actor wasn’t surprised: “Yeah, no f*cking sh*t, it does! And also, it was this weird thing of mining personal sh*t.”
He continued, “In the most commoditized, capitalist way of, like, we’re going to dig up real personal sh*t, but nobody’s going to go home feeling better about it. We’re just going to turn it into a f*cking product.” This Is the End was a trying time for Baruchel, Hill, Emma Watson, and probably everyone who interacted with James Franco — but at least Michael Cera had fun.
You can watch the Larry King interview below.
(Via the Huffington Post)
