Jonah Hill shot to fame and officially became one of Hollywood's funny guys after starring in 2007's Superbad. But rising to stardom after the hit film wasn't all it was cracked out to be. Here's why the actor chose to "hit pause" on his career and reshape his life.
In case you missed it, Mr. Hill is absolutely glowing. The star, who once made himself the butt of many jokes, is shining confidently on the Gram and in paparazzi shots. But that wasn't always the case. There was a time when Jonah would go to extreme (and dangerous) lengths just to prove his worth.
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"I sucked at skateboarding. But I would throw myself down 10 stairs to make my friends laugh, knowing I couldn't ever do any trick that would be good. Or in comedy, I would be brutal to myself, or allow brutality to me, because I felt like that was my seat at the table," Hill reflected.
But then a transformation happened when the A-lister directed his first full-length film, comedy-drama Mid90s. Jonah explained, "What making Mid90s did for me personally was make me understand that I can just be a good person and have value and sit at the table. I don't need some supernatural thing to offer that is beyond just being a good dude."
The actor might've had an impressive filmography by the time that directorial debut came around, but his personal life was something different. "I was really advanced professionally but really behind personally," he admitted. "All my 20s, I wasn't really looking inward. I was just running toward success. Or trying to find success." And so Hill took a much-needed break.
"When I was 30, I was like, I've always wanted to be a director, but if I don't get off this train now and write Mid90s, I'm not going to do it. And I hit Pause," Jonah revealed. "I took three or four years to reshape things." Those years turned out to be crucial for the superstar's personal growth and, in the end, his career, too. The "pause" led to the masterpiece that was Mid90s and his role in the upcoming Netflix comedy Don't Look Up.
