Jonah Hill As An Actor: I've Bought In

[Cena's Little Helper]

In my opinion, Jonah Hill's performance in The Wolf of Wall Street was the fourth best of the year (behind Joaquin Phoenix in Her, Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, and Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave). I was pleasantly surprised by his performance in Moneyball, but I'm never completely sold on a comedian-turned-serious-actor until they've done an exceptional job twice (for example, Jamie Foxx impressed me in Any Given Sunday, but it wasn't until Collateral that I knew that the former cast member of In Living Color had what it took to be a leading man in Hollywood). Mind you, I don't think Jonah Hill will ever be a leading man, but I fully expect him to be what Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams primarily are: phenomenal supporting players (yes, I am well aware that Hoffman won a Best Actor Oscar, but he's been nominated three times since for supporting roles in Charlie Wilson's War, Doubt, and The Master; as far Adams goes, she got a Best Actress nomination this year, but she's been nominated four times before for supporting roles in Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, and The Master). When all is said and done, I expect Hill to rack up at least four or five more Best Supporting Actor nominations, and here's to hoping that he wins at least one. What say you?

P.S. Jonah Hill should be forever indebted to Judd Apatow for his career, but he now needs to stay away from any Apatow films that aren't directed by Apatow himself or that have him in a significant supporting role with either Seth Rogen, James Franco, or Jason Segel as the lead. He's outgrown any project where he has to play second fiddle to Seth Rogen or Jason Segel, PERIOD. He has an upcoming dramatic film with Franco in the lead, but I hope he stays away from such projects in the future as Franco is way too hit or miss in his performances.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

2013 was a good year for Hill. Personally, I couldn't stand This Is The End, but it's praised as one of the best comedies in 2013, and Hill snagged another Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Wolf Of Wall Street. Hill definitely deserves his nomination, and more importantly, Hill proved he's not a one-trick-pony (Moneyball).

Yeah, Hill's proven he's more than a bit player as a sidekick, and he needs to choose his roles more carefully now. With two Oscar nominations under his belt, Hill's name is more valuable, and he'll have more leverage in the selection process. As far as James Franco goes, you're right. Hill needs to stay away from him. 127 Hours happened four years ago, and Franco's inconsistency (that piece of shit Your Highness) is a big problem.

That's why I'm hoping he'll pass on Ghostbusters 3. Hill is so close to taking his career to the next level. He's almost there, and Ghostbusters 3 could be a massive setback. Emma Stone passed on it, but Hill is still a "maybe" the last time I checked. The whole project has disaster written all over it. Too much uncertainty from Aykrod and others, there's no need for another Ghostbusters sequel, and it's not worth the risk for Hill.

 

[Lowdown]

I haven't see Wolf of Wall Street, but Jonah was very good in Moneyball. He seems to be making the transition that Tom Hanks made from comedies going into the 90's.

 

[Dave]

Jonah Hill was incredible in The Wolf Of Wall Street, this much is true. But for me, he is just too indecisive as an actor. One moment he's the comedian and the next he's the serious Oscar nominated actor. As far as buying into him, I'm getting there. For me, he just needs to decide on what kind of actor he wants to be. I also hated This Is The End but that wasn't really anything to do with Hill. But I loved Superbad and didn't really mind him in Funny People honestly.

Like I said though, when you live within two genres like he is doing, I feel you run the risk of being labelled the Jack of all trades and the master of none. His performance in Mobeyball was excellent as foil for Brad Pitt and his more recent performance in TWOWS was even better still. He's definitely got the talent to be a great actor but leading man may be a bridge too far I feel.

That said, if he wants to be another, perhaps more successful, James Franco - doing comedy and serious roles at his leisure then so be it... It's worked for him so far.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I never thought I would take Jonah Hill seriously as an actor, I thought he would stay in the loveable-fat-loser roles like we saw in Superbad, Knocked Up, 21 Jump Street etc but I was shocked when I saw his performance in Moneyball. He was excellent in that film, and was even better in Wolf Of Wall Street, which is definitely his finest work to date. I expected he would stay in the comedy genre, as someone like Adam Sandler or Sean William Scott has done without making many "serious" films. But now I am not sure, and maybe he can do more.

As with an earlier poster in this thread, whether he will be a leading man is still unsure, but he has done his hopes no harm whatsoever with his performance alongside Di Caprio. If anyone hasn't seen Wolf of Wall Street, GO TO SEE IT! It's a fantastic film, and I'm considering going to the cinema again to watch it a second time.

 

[INDYjon22]

He has certainly strung together some quality work over the last few years. His range as a comedy actor has been proven, though it has evolved since he hit the big time with Grandma's Boy, or at least that is the only movie I concern myself in his early days. This is the End was proof enough for me that he is one of the funniest guys in the business today. Superbad, 21 Jump Street and Get Him to the Greek just add support to that.

However, I never thought in a thousand years that I would take him seriously as an actor. Moneyball proved that theory wrong. He sold me on him being a legit actor with that performance and if he is as great in Wolf of Wallstreet as everyone keeps saying he is then that adds more reason for me to watch that film. His transformation from quirky chubster to serious actor has been a pleasant surprise and nice to watch as of late.

 

[Blade]

For sure Jonah Hill is a talented dude. You don't get two Oscar nominations by the age of 30 if you don't have some real talent. Superbad is still one of the best teen comedies ever, and Jonah Hill is a big part of that. And 21 Jump Street was very good.

Now he has transitioned into serious roles in a way few others do. Off the top of my head I can only think of Bill Murray and Jim Carrey. And, while Carrey can be a great dramatic actor, even he couldn't resist the urge to go back to comedy and make the easy money.

I don't see Hill going back to comedy. I mean, we've read that infamous interview where he came off like a dick. He takes himself too seriously. But it was also reported that he worked for scale pay, showing that he really cares about acting and making great movies.

Hill was decent in Moneyball, but the Wolf of Wall Street is what made me really take notice of him as a great actor. His performance was underrated by many due to world's collective (yet understandable) boner for DiCaprio. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Hill does in the future.