Jonah Hill Will No Longer Promote His Movies Because Of Anxiety Attacks
Jonah Hill has released a statement that he will no longer be actively promoting his films, for mental health reason.
Jonah Hill has announced that he will be ceasing to do promotion for his upcoming film projects for the foreseeable future. Per Deadline, the actor has said that through therapy, he has come to realize that he has been experiencing anxiety attacks due to the nature of his work and its press. Jonah Hill released a lengthy statement explaining his reasons and motivations for refusing to promote his work, saying that he had decided to take “this important step to protect [himself].” Jonah Hill’s latest project that he will not be doing press for is his second directorial film, a documentary titled Stutz.
According to reports, Stutz is a film directed by Jonah Hill, following the actor as he goes to therapy to investigate his mental health issues. In his statement, he describes the film as a“journey of self-discovery” and that the purpose of making Stutz is “to give therapy and the tools I’ve learned in therapy to a wide audience for private use through an entertaining film.” Jonah Hill also goes on to say that he normally finds statements of the kind he is making to be cringe-worthy when they are made by other people. Additionally, he says he understands the level of privilege that he has that allows him to voluntarily decide not to perform a commonly undertaken aspect of his job without it having significant financial or career consequences. While Jonah Hill acknowledges his experience is far from that of most individuals, he also hopes making a film about himself will inspire others in different situations to undertake therapy.
Per the American Psychological Association, the number of people seeking mental health therapy is actually at an all-time high. It also has been increasingly de-stigmatized in the last several decades, with younger generations of Americans being far more likely to pursue therapy and be familiar with its benefits. It will remain to be seen whether the experiences of Jonah Hill as documented in Stutz will help the forward momentum of mental healthcare in America, but it certainly cannot hurt for a celebrity to through their own life into the mix and the fall film festival circuit.
Jonah Hill began acting in college and is a graduate of the prestigious private Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, which is best known for acting as a talent incubator for the children of the rich and famous. He first broke out to audiences alongside Michael Cera and Emma Stone in the 2007 comedy Superbad, and reunited with Emma Stone in the psychological drama thriller series Maniac in 2018. Jonah Hill has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice; first for the sports drama Moneyball in 2011 and for the Martin Scorsese biopic The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013. His next upcoming project is the Kenya Barris comedy You People, in which he will star alongside Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Jonah Hill has said he will not be doing promotion for that film.
