Jonah Hill Bio
Jonah Hill Feldstein, known professionally as Jonah Hill, is an American actor and filmmaker born on December 20, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. He first gained recognition for his work in comedies before transitioning to more dramatic roles, earning nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In addition to acting, Hill has built a parallel career as a screenwriter and director, contributing to several major studio films and helming his own projects.
Hill ranked 28th on Forbes’s list of highest-paid actors from June 2014 to June 2015, with earnings of $16 million. Over more than two decades in the entertainment industry, he has appeared in comedies, dramas, animated features, and documentaries. He continues to be recognized as one of the most versatile performers of his generation.
Early Life and Background
Jonah Hill Feldstein was born on December 20, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Sharon Lyn Chalkin, worked as a costume designer and fashion stylist, while his father, Richard Feldstein, worked as a tour accountant for the rock band Guns N’ Roses. Hill grew up alongside a younger sister, actress Beanie Feldstein, and an older brother, Jordan Feldstein, who later became a music manager for artists including Robin Thicke and Maroon 5. The Feldstein family has roots on Long Island, New York, and Hill spent childhood vacations in the Catskill Mountains.
Hill was raised in the affluent Cheviot Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, where he continues to reside. He attended the Center for Early Education, Brentwood School, and Crossroads School in Santa Monica. As a teenager, he worked at the Hot Rod Skateboard Shop on Westwood Boulevard. After graduating from high school in 2002, Hill enrolled at The New School, Bard College, and the University of Colorado Boulder, although he did not earn a degree from any of these institutions. Hill is Jewish and had a bar mitzvah ceremony during his youth.
Path to Acting
While attending college, Hill began writing his own plays and performing them at 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 ambition was to act in films. During this period, Hill befriended Dustin Hoffman’s children, Rebecca and Jake, who introduced him to their father. The elder Hoffman asked him to audition for a role in the film I Heart Huckabees, which marked Hill’s film debut.
Following this initial opportunity, Hill secured a brief appearance in Judd Apatow’s directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. This led to supporting roles in additional comedies, including Grandma’s Boy, Accepted, and Click, in which he played Adam Sandler’s character’s son. He also appeared on television as the dorm resident advisor Guy in the first season of the Oxygen Network sitcom Campus Ladies and guest-starred in an episode of Clark and Michael.
Jonah Hill Career
Early Career (2003-2007)
Hill’s first leading role came in the Apatow-produced comedy Superbad, where he starred alongside Michael Cera in characters based on the teen years of the film’s writers, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Superbad is often cited as the project that launched both Hill’s and Cera’s careers. He followed this success with an uncredited role as Dewey Cox’s brother Nate in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story in December 2007 and hosted Saturday Night Live on March 15, 2008, with musical guest Mariah Carey.
During this period, Hill also sought to develop his skills as a writer. He dreamed of joining the writing teams of The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, and The Larry Sanders Show. He collaborated on a screenplay with close friend and I Heart Huckabees co-star Jason Schwartzman and began developing the comedy Pure Imagination for Sony, although that project remained in development for several years.
Breakthrough (2008-2014)
Hill’s breakthrough as a dramatic actor arrived in 2011 when he starred in Bennett Miller’s feature film Moneyball alongside Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Critics noted his performance as a significant departure from his earlier comedy roles. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, followed in late January 2012 by his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
He built on that momentum by co-starring with Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street in 2012, a comedy that received an 84 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Hill co-wrote the treatment for the film with screenwriter Michael Bacall. In 2013, he appeared in This Is the End as himself and starred in the biographical film The Wolf of Wall Street, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role as Morton Schmidt in the 2014 sequel 22 Jump Street and voiced the Green Lantern in The Lego Movie that same year.
Notable Works and Milestones
Hill’s signature projects include Superbad, Moneyball, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, and The Wolf of Wall Street. He made his directorial debut with the film Mid90s in 2018, which he also wrote and which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He directed and produced the Netflix documentary Stutz in 2022 and starred in the political satire Don’t Look Up in 2021.
Jonah Hill Award Nominations
Hill has earned nominations for two Academy Awards, both for Best Supporting Actor: in 2012 for Moneyball and in 2014 for The Wolf of Wall Street. He has also received nominations for a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards during his career. His nominations reflect his successful transition from comedic roles to more serious dramatic performances.
Jonah Hill Awards Won
Hill’s verified award wins and his broader recognition have positioned him as one of the most respected actors of his generation. While his Academy Award nominations reflect peer acknowledgment, his career impact is also measured by his influence on comedy and his expansion into screenwriting and directing.
Jonah Hill Family
Hill was born to Sharon Lyn Chalkin, a costume designer and fashion stylist, and Richard Feldstein, a tour accountant for Guns N’ Roses. His younger sister, Beanie Feldstein, is an actress known for her work in Booksmart and other projects. His older brother, Jordan Feldstein, was a music manager for Robin Thicke and Maroon 5 until his death in 2017 at age 40 from a pulmonary embolism.
Personal Life
Hill became engaged to Gianna Santos in October 2019, and the couple ended their engagement in October 2020. In 2023, he legally dropped the surname Feldstein from his professional name. He and girlfriend Olivia Millar welcomed their first child together in 2023. During an appearance on SmartLess in April 2026, Hill mentioned that he and Millar were married. Hill is known to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has spoken publicly about the benefits of transcendental meditation and surfing for managing stress and anxiety.