Actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian Jonah Hill stars alongside Brad Pitt in Aaron Sorkin's film Moneyball, which is set to dethrone 'The Lion King' as the No. 1 film this weekend, and as he's been making the promotion rounds, everyone's been talking about one thing: his very significant weight loss.
Jonah Hill has been working hard to shed the pounds, while battling stereotypes that imply he might not be as funny now that he's lost weight. He tells NY Magazine that slimming down was just a natural part of maturing, for him.
'I was a kid - I was drinking beer, smoking weed all the time - and when I read interviews with myself at that age, it's horrifying! You know, if you had a public record of yourself at 21, you'd sound like an idiot', he says of the unhealthy, but hilarious person he was during the 'Superbad' era.
'Now I'm almost 28, and I'm growing up in front of strangers. So for me, who I was then is a lot different than who I am now. So being healthier came along with maturity', he says. 'And it's hard, because a lot of times people want you to be the guy you were when they met you. And I love doing funny movies, but I want to mature, literally, in how I treat myself. I'm not living in a frat house with a bong plastered to the table'.
Jonah Hill is still doing funny fare, though - after 'Moneyball', we can expect to see him in the hijinks-heavy comedy 'The Sitter'.
What's cool for me is that I can do a movie like 'The Sitter' and say, 'If you loved Superbad, it's that vibe.' But the fact that people my dad's age come up to me for 'Cyrus', and maybe now for 'Moneyball,' feels really good. But all this stuff (points to his body) is just part of maturing in body and in mind. I just want to be a good man and to make my family proud. And, you know, I want to live a long time.
