When your breakout role is in the movie Superbad, you’re always going to struggle to shed that reputation.

Jonah Hill has managed alright, though, garnering two Oscar nominations in the ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role’ category and starring in Martin Scorsese movies.

Still, some will always see him as a comedy actor, despite the fact that he insists you take him seriously.

In a new interview with the Guardian, he spoke at length about growing up in the business, so let’s see some of what he had to say:

“Anyone who knew me was very surprised that this first half of my life went the way it did,” says Hill on a recent afternoon in Beverly Hills. “My dream was always to be a filmmaker.” He’s dressed in a sweater and horn-rimmed glasses with just a pop of whimsy: the sweater is mauve and his hair is streaked platinum blonde…

He became an actor by accident. Dustin Hoffman’s son Jake was Hill’s classmate at his Santa Monica private school. Hoffman surreptitiously watched Hill make crank calls pretending to be Tobey Maguire’s assistant – he once convinced a hotel to install a tank for Maguire’s fictional pet seal. Impressed with Hill’s ability to improvise, Hoffman invited him to audition for a small role in I Heart Huckabees. He got a taste for it. From there, Hill kept landing gigs…

Soon, he was welcomed into Judd Apatow’s troupe and gifted the blabbermouth Superbad role Seth Rogen had written for himself – his character was even named Seth – and his public persona solidified into a hard-charging, crash-landing obsessive who would say anything for a laugh.

He has since left roles like that (largely) behind, and has been doing plenty of press for his directorial debut, Mid90s.

You know he’s serious because he now wears suit jackets and hipster shades:

It’s worth reading the whole interview, where Jonah speaks about carefully choosing his roles to move away from an unwanted reputation, but this bit stands out:

“Nothing is black and white,” says Hill. “As an actor, some moments I’m joking around and really silly; some moments I’m serious. If I deny that, then I’ll go crazy, because then I’m just playing a character.”

For now, Hill wants the right to be the whole rainbow. “I know I’m a director and that’s what I’m here to do,” he says. But he’s not finished with acting. Is he gunning for a third Oscar nomination? “The people I know who won Oscars, it didn’t change their inner peace at all,” says Hill. His next ambition is to be directed by a woman. Though it says less about him and more about who gets hired for big studio comedies and Oscar films. “It’s insane that my perspective as an actor has only been a male’s vision. And I didn’t make this movie to win Oscars!” laughs Hill of Mid90s.

He realises that audiences are just starting to accept who he’s always been. Fellow skateboarder-turned-director Spike Jonze even gave him an ego-check. “Spike said to me that I’m carrying the baggage of 15 years of people thinking they understand who I am as an actor – and I have to make a great movie to get to zero,” says Hill. “When he saw the film, he was like, ‘You’re at zero now.’”

A little humblebrag to finish, Jonah.

Here’s the trailer for Mid90s:

[source:guardian]