Jonah Hill says ‘Mid90s’ is the first time he’s showing the public who he really is

Jonah Hill on the set of
“Mid90s.”
Tobin
Yelland/A24

• Jonah Hill says his directorial debut, “Mid90s,” marks the
  first time audiences will see who he really is.
• “This is the first thing that represents me,” he told
  Business Insider.

Jonah Hill has been on screen since he was 18 years old, and in
that time has given audiences some memorable roles, but he says
it’s his directorial debut, “Mid90s” (opening in theaters Friday
and nationwide the week after), that is a true peek into who he
really is.

The movie centers around 13-year-old Stevie (Sunny Suljic), who
finally finds acceptance when he befriends a group of
skateboarders. Hill said that culture was a big influence on him
as a kid and that he knew whenever he decided to direct a movie
skateboarding would be a part of it.

You wouldn’t think skateboarding would be an interest for an
actor who we know best from films like “Superbad” and ‘The Wolf
of Wall Street,” but Hill made it clear while talking to
Business Insider that the Jonah Hill we’ve seen on screen is
far from how he is in real life.

“Mid90s” is the first time he’s pulling back the veil to show a
glimpse at his personal aesthetic.

“The way I see it, the director is the painter and the actors are
really an important color in a painting,” Hill said. “So I have
been a ‘green’ my whole life. I can be a pretty good green, but
if the director wants to paint purple over it, then that’s up to
them. To me, this is my first painting. This is the first thing
that represents me.”

Hill compared “Mid90s” to the first films of legendary directors
like Mike Nichols or Barry Levinson, who both had prominent
career on Broadway and TV, respectively, before directing films.

“When they made that first one it really had to mean something,”
Hill said. “They had done all this incredible work that wasn’t
personal beforehand, and, to me, that was my example. Don’t do it
until you have something to say.”