Jonah Hill has opened up about his new movie, Outcome.
Jonah Hill’s new movie explores the “loneliness of life”.
The 42-year-old actor wrote and directed Outcome, his new black comedy film, which stars Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz, and Jonah has explained what drew him to the project.
He told People at the film’s New York premiere: “Essentially, we all are guilty of looking for validation from people we don’t know instead of putting the most time and effort in with the people that hold us down and that we really love. So I wanted to explore that.”
Outcome follows beloved Hollywood star Reef Hawk, who discovers he is being blackmailed over a bizarre video from his past and embarks on a journey to make amends with anyone he could have wronged in order to find the culprit.
To play Ira, Reef’s crisis lawyer, Jonah shaved his head and grew a bushy grey beard. The transformation left his co-stars stunned, and Cameron admitted that she had no idea what to expect when she arrived on set.
The actress told The Hollywood Reporter: “I looked at him and I was like, ‘Is this…?’ And he’s like, ‘It’s Ira.’ And I was like, ‘Oh God’. The grey beard and the bald head, it was outrageous, and I could not have imagined how outrageous it was until I saw a cut of the movie. And then it all made sense.”
Jonah also revealed that he had a hands-on role in his transformation.
The award-winning star said: “Whenever I’m playing a character I just find lots of references, a lot from docs and reality TV and books, photography books.
“Ira’s look came pretty quickly. Because I wrote it, I have the luxury of living with the character for a pretty long time before anyone else is even invited in.”
Meanwhile, Jonah previously revealed he’s thankful he’s been given the freedom to “blossom”.
The actor – who made his directorial debut with Mid90s in 2018 – is grateful to his friends and family for allowing him to openly discuss his own vulnerabilities.
He explained to NPR: “As I’ve grown up as a human being, and have had the emotional maturity and confidence to become a filmmaker, [I’ve reflected on] how I learned to communicate as a man and why that was problematic.
“I was taught and maybe culturally we were taught at that time, if you’re a man and you express your feelings or you express that something hurts you, then you should be made fun of. And that kind of repression leads to anger, and anger leads to bad behaviour.”
Jonah Hill’s Outcome ‘explores the loneliness of life’
