Jonah Hill has a message for anyone who still thinks of him as the awkward teenager from Superbad: try him.
Appearing on a recent podcast, with hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, the 42-year-old actor and filmmaker opened up about his passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu and made clear that the martial art has given him a confidence that goes well beyond the gym.
When the conversation turned to hobbies, Hill was quick to bring up jiu-jitsu, though he admitted his body is not exactly thanking him for it.
“I love Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” he said. “Except my body is begging me to not love it. My wife is often like, ‘You’re not going to become like a professional figh ter. You know that, right? Like you’re a comedian.'”
Hill was not about to back down from a hypothetical challenge. When Bateman jokingly asked what would happen if the two of them got into it, Hill did not hesitate.
“I would f*** you up,” he said. “I would f*** all three of you, right?”
Then came the real message, directed squarely at anyone still clinging to a certain image of him.
“My favorite thing is people are like, ‘Oh, Jonah Hill, f*** fat guy from Superbad.’ And I’m like, ‘I would f***ing annihilate you, dude. I’m not kidding you. Every fight. Try it. If you see me, try it, dude.'”
Hill, who now lives in San Diego with his wife and two young sons, is a long way removed from the version of himself that audiences first embraced in 2007. He has since earned two Oscar nominations, collaborated with directors including Martin Scorsese and Bennett Miller, and co-founded his own production company.
But for all of that, the jiu-jitsu mat appears to be where he has found a particular kind of grounded satisfaction.
