In the new comedy-drama War Dogs, Jonah Hill and Miles Teller play childhood friends who meet up again in their late 20s and go into business as arms dealers. Since it's based on a true story, both actors were keen to dive into the roles.

Jonah Hill and Miles Teller in War DogsJonah Hill and Miles Teller star in War Dogs

Hill says he was aware of the story from a Rolling Stone article, but found out that The Hangover director Todd Phillips had already bought the rights. "So I reached out to him," Hill says. "And I said, 'If you ever make a movie out of this, I'd love to talk about playing Efraim because he is one bizarre, messed-up character.' I was just really attracted to how insane the story was and that the characters were people my age doing these insane things."

Teller agrees that the characters' age was a key factor in his interest in the role. "I think that these guys' youth kind of gave them a certain feeling that maybe they didn't have as much to lose," he says. "It's rare to get a script for guys in their 20s that are actually doing things with big responsibility or a more mature tone. And I was excited to play the straight guy who actually has more of a moral compass. Those aren't always the parts you're getting."

Watch the trailer for 'War Dogs' here:


 

While Teller was able to work with David Packouz, the man he plays in the film, Hill still hasn't met Efraim Diveroli. "As written, Efraim was kind of outlandish, colourful, deceitful and manipulative," Hill says. "But also everyone described him as very charming. So that was the great challenge."

In working on the role, he also began to understand Efraim's morality. "It's the 14-year-old version of yourself that goes, 'Hell, yeah!' but you don't examine the outcome," Hill says. "You see the snapshot and want to live in that snapshot, but you don't see the moral, physical, legal repercussions. You're just thinking like a kid."

Due to previous work commitments, Hill and Teller didn't have the usual time to bond before filming began. But Hill says this actually worked in their favour. "These are two people who were really close but haven't seen each other for a long, long period of time," he says. "On the set, I think we got to really bond because we started the movie in Romania."

Teller agrees: "Yeah, you bond when you're just waking up at 2am in a country where you don't know anybody and you don't know anything!"