Overview (3)
| Born | in Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Birth Name | Jonah Hill Feldstein |
| Height | 5' 7" (1.7 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Jonah Hill was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of Sharon Feldstein (née Chalkin), a fashion designer and costume stylist, and Richard Feldstein, a tour accountant for Guns N' Roses. He is the brother of music manager Jordan Feldstein and actress Beanie Feldstein. He graduated from Crossroads School in Santa Monica and went on to The New School in New York to study drama.
He began writing and performing in plays while at college in New York, and managed to get himself introduced to Dustin Hoffman, through whom he got an audition for his first film role in I Heart Huckabees (2004). A succession of increasingly high-profile film and TV parts followed until he eventually landed one of the starring roles in the teen hit, Superbad (2007). Continuing to write and act, more roles followed as well as popular appearances on US TV talk shows.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: IMDb Editors
Family (2)
| Parents |
Sharon Feldstein Richard Feldstein |
| Relatives |
Jordan Feldstein (sibling)
Beanie Feldstein (sibling) |
Trivia (18)
Is friends with Dustin Hoffman's children - Rebecca Hoffman and Jake Hoffman, which is how he discovered the role in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
Studied drama at New School University.
Was ranked #21 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. [2008]
Enjoys the films of Woody Allen.
His top five favorite films are Rushmore (1998), The Big Lebowski (1998), Boogie Nights (1997), Back to the Future (1985) and Goodfellas (1990). (2010)
Has a tattoo on his left forearm that reads "Nancy Rules". It is a tribute to his grandmother.
In Superbad (2007), Hill's character says, "This plan's been ep]ed since Jump Street," referencing the TV show 21 Jump Street (1987). Five years later, Hill would star in the big-screen version of 21 Jump Street (2012).
As of 2022, he has appeared in 4 movies that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Moneyball (2011), Django Unchained (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Don't Look Up (2021).
The first sequels of his career, 22 Jump Street (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) opened on the same day: June 13, 2014.
He is the first male born in 1980 or after to have received more than one Academy Award nomination for acting (for Moneyball (2011) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)). The next two are Eddie Redmayne (for The Theory of Everything (2014), which he won, and The Danish Girl (2015)) and Ryan Gosling (for Half Nelson (2006) and La La Land (2016)).
Is very sensitive about his weight, and thoroughly dislikes being asked about it in interviews. He lost almost 40 pounds in 2011, mainly by eating sushi.
Is good friends with Channing Tatum, with whom he worked on 21 Jump Street (2012), This Is the End (2013) and 22 Jump Street (2014). He also befriended Leonardo DiCaprio while working together on The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Friends with Emma Stone.
Son of Richard Feldstein and Sharon Feldstein. Brother of Jordan Feldstein and Beanie Feldstein. Former brother-in-law of Francesca Eastwood. Of Russian Jewish descent, Jonah Hill's great-uncle was actor, director, and producer Alan Rafkin, whose sister, Claire, was Jonah's paternal grandmother.
Announced his engagement to Gianna Santos on September 2, 2019. The two split as of October 2020.
Personal Quotes (13)
I was going to the beach with my girlfriend's family. They're all really big into soccer and her brother was this soccer superstar. And I'm hanging out at the beach with all these jocks and then there's me. I know nothing about sports. I don't even know what a sport is. I have to confess that I'm a little afraid of birds. I am...whatever. So we're sitting on the beach and this bird flies toward me and all I could say was 'Pleaaaase!' Like 'Please don't hurt me,' 'Please don't fly in my direction?' I don't know. And everyone cracked up and was doing impressions of it the whole rest of the day.
It's harder to be funny if you're handsome than if you're very normal-looking. It's just more relatable. You're the underdog. I mean it's funny to see people struggle, and you don't buy that Brad Pitt is struggling, you know that guy could be the most skill-less guy in the world, but if you look like that you will be fine for the rest of your life.
[on Henry Winkler and their family at Zoe Winkler's wedding] I spent 48 percent of my youth here..They were like parents to all of our friends. We got parents and then we got the Winklers. I feel like my sister's getting married.
I despise common people. They make me throw up.
It wasn't the baseball or the numbers I connected to. It was the obsessiveness. Bennett [Miller] said that the way we talk about actors and roles and movies with each other is the way my character should be able to talk to Brad's about baseball. It's what we do all the time about movies-we analytically shit-talk everybody's strengths and weaknesses! Everybody I know does that. So that was my in.
My heroes are Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman. Those are the two actors that both do comedies and dramas, seamlessly. Also John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman. They're all just great actors, neither comedic nor dramatic. They're just great actors.
The Kardashians are as famous as our president. What does that tell you about how skewed our society is? ... The truth of it is, I have friends who work in TV and the Kardashians get higher ratings than their TV shows. Shows that people actually work hard on - writing and creating and trying to tell stories. The fact that the Kardashians could be more popular than a show like Mad Men (2007) is disgusting. [laughs] It's a super disgusting part of our culture, but I still find it funny to make a joke about it. Whenever I say I like reality TV, people write about it like they're in shock. I can't even understand it, so I watch it. I think it's funny and I definitely enjoy it in a making-fun-of-it sort of way, but where does the line sort of end? When do I stop making fun of it and become an actual fan?
[re his distinctive look in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)] I don't want to give the teeth 100 percent credit, but I'll give them their fair share.
[on the death of James Gandolfini] I'm truly heartbroken to hear that James Gandolfini has passed away. He is one of my all time favorite actors. Tragic loss.
Martin Scorsese is my favorite filmmaker of all time. I would paint his house if he asked me to.
I think I'm pretty good at being in movies, I am not good at being a famous person.
[on playing Schmidt in 22 Jump Street (2014)] I felt creatively inspired to think of the clumsy way to do a stunt. There was some creative puzzling: How can I completely mess that up?
[on taking a pay cut to work on The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)] It's not about money for me. None of this s*** is about money. I would sell my house and give him all my money to work for (director Martin Scorsese) ... I would have done anything in the world. I would do it again in a second.
Salary (6)
| I Heart Huckabees (2004) | $40,000 |
| Superbad (2007) | $350,000 |
| Moneyball (2011) | $2,000,000 |
| 21 Jump Street (2012) | $3,500,000 |
| The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) | $60,000 |
| 22 Jump Street (2014) | $5,000,000 |
