Jonah Hill

Hill argued that audiences love Scorsese's films because a director's work reflects their worldview and people love Scorsese himself.

“A director's work is like their worldview. So the reason you love Marty's work is because you love him”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 58:08

Hill credited Judd Apatow with teaching him how to make comedy films, knowledge he now uses at his own production company.

“what he really did was he put me through Harvard education of directing comedy movies”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 39:19

Hill rejected the nepo baby label but acknowledged attending Crossroads, where classmates' parents worked in entertainment, gave him a leg up.

“So that was a huge leg up for me to just not be like show business is abstract and far away, right?”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 27:04

Hill said he regards himself primarily as a comedy writer, with most of his work being writing films.

“But most of my job is writing comedy movies. That's like mostly what I do”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 24:11

Hill said that after years of serious work while unhappy, having a family made him happy and eager to be funny again.

“And then I met I had my family and I got happy. And now all I want to do is be funny again”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 21:13

Hill said he moved away from Los Angeles to raise his family outside the entertainment industry.

“I wanted to leave LA and raise a family outside of Los Angeles and away from entertainment”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 17:08

Hill said Cut Off will be released theatrically as part of an effort to bring comedy films back to cinemas.

“And we are trying to bring comedy movies back to the movies”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:10:18

Hill said Martin Scorsese told him Outcome was a giant leap forward, which meant a lot to him despite critics disagreeing.

“he's like this is a giant leap forward and i love this movie and that meant a lot to me”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 56:46

Hill said choosing Cyrus over The Hangover changed his life because he wanted to do both dramatic and comedic work, leading to Moneyball.

“But it changed my life because I wanted to do dramatic movies and comedic movies”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 53:41

Hill said he retreated from the pressure of fame by working as a staff writer on Sacha Baron Cohen's Brüno.

“I was like arguably more famous than Sasha was at that time. And I was like a pimply writer in his writers' room for like six months”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 51:10

Hill said the sudden fame after Superbad inevitably made him self-obsessed for a period.

“It just is like, it's impossible not to become like a weird douche for like a year”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 49:00

Hill argued AI cannot replace comedy writers because it lacks the human experiences that make comedy funny.

“But they won't have the human experience that allows comedy to be funny because you've got to get dumped to write a funny movie about getting dumped, right?”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 42:24

Hill called The Simpsons the most influential thing in his life.

“I think The Simpsons is like the number one thing in the entire world”

SmartLess: "Jonah Hill LIVE" (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 23:38