In a 2014 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," Jonah Hill revealed that his friendship with Adam Levine was a generational thing. "Our dads met in the principal's office in junior high," he explained. But while he and Levine also became BFFs, Hill was a few years younger. He recalled being 8 years old when he first saw Levine and his band, Kara's Flowers, perform in concert, saying of the rocker, "I always looked up to him." The appreciation was mutual. "Jonah is family," Levine told Details in 2012. "He was a screwy kid, like me. We were both rebellious [and] didn't like school."
Their paths diverged after high school, with Levine continuing to pursue music and Hill landing movie roles in "I Heart Huckabees" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." By the time Levine decided to follow his friend into film, Hill was a well-established star, thanks to his roles in hit movies such as "Superbad" and "Moneyball." Hill also worked with their mutual pal, Jason Segel, in the 2008 comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
Levine later revealed to Howard Stern that Hill used his Hollywood cred to help the musician land his first movie role in the 2013 music dramedy "Begin Again," which costarred Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. "He kind of vouched for me and I will always be thankful for that," Levine admitted. However, the Maroon 5 frontman confessed that he ignored Hill's advice to avoid memorizing his lines.