2023-12-15

jonah hill
Lev Radin / Shutterstock.com
  • Faith: Judaism
  • Career: Actor
  • Birthday:  December 20, 1983

Jonah Hill is an actor known for his comedic roles in movies like "Superbad," "Knocked Up," "21 Jump Street," "Get Him to the Greek," "This Is the End," and "22 Jump Street." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Moneyball." He ranked 28th on the Forbes list of highest-paid actors from June 2014 to June 2015 at $16 million.

In 2020, he was found to have sworn on film more than any other actor. As a screenwriter, Hill contributed to the stories of "21 Jump Street," "22 Jump Street," "Sausage Party," "Why Him?," and "You People." He's also known for his roles in "War Dogs," "Cyrus," "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot," and "Don't Look Up." In 2018, he starred in the Netflix miniseries "Maniac" and made his directorial debut with the film "Mid90s," for which he also wrote the screenplay. Hill produced and directed the documentary "Stutz."

Hill has also provided voices for animated movies like "Megamind,” "Horton Hears a Who!," the "How to Train Your Dragon" trilogy, "The Lego Movie,” "Sausage Party," and "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part." Hill was born in 1983 in Los Angeles. He has a younger sister and an older brother who died suddenly at 40 years old from a DVT/pulmonary embolism. Their parents were originally from Long Island, New York. He and his siblings were raised in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Cheviot Hills, where he still lives. Hill attended the Center for Early Education, Brentwood School, and then Crossroads School in Santa Monica.

Hill worked at Hot Rod Skateboard Shop on Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles. After graduating from high school in 2002, he attended The New School, Bard College, and the University of Colorado Boulder but didn't earn a degree. In college, Hill started 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 his desire to act in films. He was befriended by Dustin Hoffman's kids, who introduced him to their father. The elder Hoffman asked Hill to audition for a role in "I Heart Huckabees," which he made his film debut.

What religion is Jonah Hill?

Hill was raised in the Jewish faith but describes himself as "not super religious." He said, "I like the parts of Judaism that are about being with your family and being a good person more than the specific rules. And lox. I really like the lox."

In a separate interview about his role in "The Wolf of Wall Street," Hill said, "Being someone who's Jewish and playing someone who's Jewish in such an unflattering way, I've definitely thought about how the things that are beautiful about Judaism are not the things portrayed by these guys. They're actually the things that hurt Judaism because these characters are all about greed and money, and there's that old stereotype that all Jews care about is money.  So they're not exactly what we want as a culture out there." 


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