Jonah Hill Biography

Jonah Hill Feldstein, known professionally as Jonah Hill (born December 20, 1983), is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, comedian and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Moneyball (2011), 21 Jump Street (2012), and This Is the End (2013), as well as for his voice role in How to Train Your Dragon (2010). He made his feature film debut in I Heart Huckabees (2004). He co-created and starred in the animated comedy Allen Gregory on Fox. Hill was first nominated for a Teen Choice Award for his role in Accepted (2006) as Sherman Schrader and in 2011 was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his dramatic turn in Moneyball.

Personal life

Hill was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Sharon Lyn (née Chalkin), a costume designer and fashion stylist, and Richard Feldstein, a tour accountant for Guns N' Roses. Hill was raised Jewish. His parents were originally from Long Island, New York, and the family vacationed in the Catskills. He attended The Center for Early Education, Brentwood School, and then Crossroads School, in Santa Monica. After graduating from high school, Hill left California to attend The New School, where he studied music and sports.

Career

Acting

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. 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, an uncredited role of Dewey Cox's grown-up brother Nate Cox in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and leading roles in the Apatow-produced Superbad and Get Him to the Greek. On television, Hill played the "RA Guy" on the first season of the Oxygen Network sitcom Campus Ladies. He 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 canceled 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 (who was a replacement for the originally scheduled musical guest Janet Jackson). 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 Sam Witwicky's sidekick, but this did not go through. He next starred in Judd Apatow's third directorial feature, Funny People, which also starred Adam Sandler, Eric Bana and Seth Rogen. He was an associate producer of the 2009 Sacha Baron Cohen mockumentary Brüno. He guest starred on an 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. In July 2011, Hill appeared at ESPN's ESPY awards sporting a much slimmer physique. He claimed to have lost 40 pounds. In November 2011, Hill, along with Sam Worthington and Dwight Howard, starred in commercials for the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, making his first appearance with his new look.

Hill received a Golden Globe nomination, his first nomination, for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his performance in the 2011 sports film Moneyball, in which he portrayed his first dramatic role as Peter Brand. In late January 2012, Hill received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in Moneyball. In 2012, Hill co-starred with Channing Tatum in the film 21 Jump Street, and with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in the film The Watch. In 2011, it was announced that Hill was in talks to appear in Quentin Tarantino's movie Django Unchained. Hill almost had to decline a possible role due to his prior commitment to The Watch, lamenting that to act in a Tarantino movie was "the perfect next step" in his career. Hill later rejoined Django Unchained, which was released in 2012. He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals.

Writing

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. At one point, Hill was writing a screenplay with close friend and I Heart Huckabees co-star Jason Schwartzman. At another, he was 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, but it has been in development since then. Hill was a co-producer on the movie Bruno, and did some writing for Sacha Baron Cohen, who "taught him how to become a better writer". Hill recently co-wrote the treatment for 21 Jump Street with screenwriter Michael Bacall.

Directing

Hill directed his first music video, "Gonna Get Over You" by Sara Bareilles, in September 2011.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Credit	Role	Notes
2004	I Heart Huckabees		Eric Fawcett
2005	Pancho's Pizza		Actor	Short film
	'		eBay Customer
2006	Click		Ben Newman at 17 Years Old
	Accepted		Sherman Schrader	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Scream
	Grandma's Boy		Barry
	10 Items or Less		Packy
2007	Rocket Science		Junior Philosopher
	Knocked Up		Jonah
	Evan Almighty		Eugene Tannenbaum
	Superbad		Seth	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story		Older Nate	Uncredited
2008	Strange Wilderness		Cooker
	Horton Hears a Who!		Tommy	Voice role
	Forgetting Sarah Marshall		Matthew the Waiter
	Just Add Water		Eddie Tuckby
2009	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian		Brandon/Brundon the Security Guard	Uncredited
	Brüno	Associate producer
	'		Frank
	Funny People		Leo Koenig
2010	Cyrus		Cyrus
	How to Train Your Dragon		Snotlout	Voice role
	Get Him to the Greek		Aaron Green	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Fight/Action Sequence
	Megamind		Hal Stewart/Titan	Voice role
	Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon		Snotlout	Short Voice role
2011	Moneyball		Peter Brand	Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated "? Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated "? Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated "? St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
	'	Executive producer	Noah Griffith
	Gift of the Night Fury		Snotlout	Short Voice role
2012	21 Jump Street	Writer (story) and executive producer	Morton Schmidt/Doug McQuaid	Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Cast Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Fight Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Film " Choice Chemistry
	'		Franklin
	Django Unchained		Bag Head #2	Cameo appearance
2013	This Is the End		Himself
	'		Danny Porush	Post-production
2014	The Lego Movie		Green Lantern	Voice role
	How to Train Your Dragon 2		Snotlout	Filming Voice role
	True Story		Michael Finkel	Filming
	22 Jump Street	Writer (story) and executive producer	Morton Schmidt / Doug McQuaid	In production

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Role	Notes
2004	NYPD Blue		Clerk	"You're Buggin' Me" (#12.5)
2006	Clark and Michael		Derek
	Campus Ladies		Guy	Episodes 1"10
2007	Human Giant		Weenie King Customer	"Ta Da" (#1.8)
	Wainy Days		Neil	2 episodes
2009	Saturday Night Live	Segment writer	Himself " Host/Various	Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (#33.8)
	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!		John A. Hill	"Road Trip" (#4.4)
	Reno 911!		Daniel Shaheen	"Training Day" (#6.1)
	'		Andy Hamilton	"Pranks and Greens" (#21.6)
2011	Allen Gregory	Creator, writer and executive producer	Allen Gregory	Voice role
2012	Saturday Night Live		Himself " Host/Adam Grossman/Various	Jonah Hill/The Shins (#37.17)
2013	Comedy Central Roast of James Franco		Roaster	TV special