Best Known As: The loud, keyed-up star of Superbad
Name at birth: Jonah Hill Feldstein
Jonah Hill is the round and frizzy-haired star of the 2007 comedy Superbad. Hill got his start in show business with an assist from Dustin Hoffman, who got him an audition for I Heart Huckabees (2004). That led to a small part in the Judd Apatow comedy 40 Year Old Virgin (2006, starring Steve Carell). As part of an Apatow-led clan that includes Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, Hill has appeared in Knocked Up (2007, starring Katherine Heigl), Superbad (co-starringMichael Cera and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, starring Kristen Bell). Hill's other films include Evan Almighty (2007), Strange Wilderness (2008) and the 2008 version of Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who! (starring Jim Carrey).
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jonah Hill first started to find success in show business as a cast member of the brilliant but canceled Judd Apatow series Undeclared. Like many of the actors who were fortunate to work for the successful writer/director/producer, Hill became a part of Apatow's extended stock company, going on to appear in a number of films including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, as a young man who really wants to buy some boots, and Knocked Up, as the buddy who suggested his friend's pregnant girlfriend get "something that rhymes with smushmortion." He also starred alongside his onetime roommate Justin Long in a variety of projects, including the college comedy Accepted.
Hill re-teamed with Apatow and company for their second major effort of summer 2007, the Greg Mottola-directed, Seth Rogen-scripted comedy Superbad, but on that occasion, Hill scored his first lead. He starred as Seth, a slightly geeky high school senior desperate for sex and suffering from some fairly serious adolescent angst. The film rang in as a blockbuster and won critical raves across the board. At about the same time, Hill signed on for a much different screen assignment (and target audience), agreeing to provide one of the voices in the animated outing Horton Hears a Who (2008). He followed that up with a small but funny role in the heartbreak comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a starstruck hotel worker who really, really wants a visiting rock star to listen to his demo. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
While in college, Hill began writing his own plays and performing them in the Black and White bar in the East Village neighborhood of New York City.[2] His plays developed a small following and helped him realize that his true desire was to act in films. Hill was befriended by Dustin Hoffman's children, Rebecca and Jake, who introduced Hill to their father. The elder Hoffman asked him to audition for a role in I Heart Huckabees, in which Hill made his film debut.
Hill then made a brief appearance in Judd Apatow's directorial debut The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which eventually led to him starring in a larger supporting role in the Apatow-directed Knocked Up, a short role in "Click" playing Ben Newman at 17 years old, an uncredited role of Dewey Cox's grown-up brother Nate Cox in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", and a leading role in the Apatow-produced Superbad.
On Television, Hill played the "RA Guy" on the first season of the Oxygen Network sitcom Campus Ladies. He also guest-starred in an episode of "Clark and Michael".
He was scheduled to host Saturday Night Live on November 17, 2007 which would have featured musical guest Kid Rock, but the episode was cancelled due to the Writers Guild of America strike which lasted from November 5, 2007 to February 12, 2008. Instead, he hosted the March 15, 2008 show, which featured musical guest Mariah Carey.
He guest-starred in an episode of "Reno 911" which aired on April 1, 2009.
Hill was in negotiations for a part in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as a minor character named Chuck (later Leo), but opted out. According to writer Roberto Orci, he enjoyed the script but turned down the offer.[3] He next starred in Judd Apatow's third directorial feature, entitled Funny People, which also starred Adam Sandler, Eric Bana and Seth Rogen. He also was an associate producer of the 2009 Sacha Baron Cohen mocumentary Bruno.[4]
He guest starred on a recent episode of The Simpsons called "Pranks and Greens," portraying an immature man named Andy Hamilton who was hailed the best prankster in Springfield Elementary School history.[5] Jonah Hill also guest starred in an episode of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Writer
Hill has wanted to be a writer since he was young, dreaming of someday joining the writing teams of The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and The Larry Sanders Show.[2] He is currently writing two screenplays, both of which are scheduled to be produced by Judd Apatow, producer of Superbad. One of the films, The Middle Child, would star Hill as a young man who returns from college to find that his parents gave a child up for adoption before he was born. The role of Hill's older brother was written with frequent collaborator Seth Rogen in mind.
At one point, Hill was writing a screenplay with close friend and I Heart Huckabees co-star Jason Schwartzman.[2] However, he is now writing Pure Imagination, a comedy for Sony about a man who develops an imaginary friend after a traumatic experience. Filming was expected to begin in 2008.[6]
