If all the drug-taking in “The Wolf of Wall Street” seems realistic, that’s because there were experts on set.
On Monday night at Lincoln Center, after the movie was privately screened, director Martin Scorsese, stars Jonah Hill and Kyle Chandler, screenwriter Terence Winter and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker did a Q&A with the audience.
Hill, who turns 30 on Friday, said he had never experienced a Quaalude, the hypnotic party drug that was banned in 1982 after the FDA discovered it had absolutely no medical benefits. But there was a female drug expert on hand to coach him and Leonardo DiCaprio on how to act high.
Talking about the Quaaludes manufactured by Lemmon Pharmaceuticals, Hill said, “I heard they were very strong.”
“They were,” Scorsese blurted out.
Said Hill: “I guess we already had our own drug expert on set.”