Jonah Hill Says He's Ready to Be 'Funny Again' After Finding Love and Having Kids: 'I Wasn't Happy'

Jonah Hill recently revealed that he married his longtime love Olivia Millar and that the couple welcomed their second child together; they live in San Diego

NEED TO KNOW

• Jonah Hill said that he “wasn’t that happy” in recent years before he and wife Olivia Millar welcomed their two children in a SiriusXM-hosted live taping of the SmartLess podcast on April 25
• Hill and Millar began dating in 2022; the actor and filmmaker revealed in a new interview that they were married and recently welcomed their second child
• Hill’s most recent movie Outcome is streaming on Apple TV; his next film, Cut Off, is in theaters July 17

Jonah Hill is ready to step back into the spotlight as a comedic actor.

Hill, 42, sat down with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes for a SiriusXM-hosted live taping of their podcast SmartLess at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 25. During their conversation, Hill referenced his relative disappearance from comedy movies — he's only appeared in three movies since 2020 — since he made his first movie as a director in 2018, Mid90s.

"I've been gone for a while, so I'm kind of coming back and I'm excited because I got all serious for a while and I wasn't that happy," Hill said. "I wasn't happy. And then I had my family and I got happy, and now all I want to do is be funny again."

"That's why I said yes [to a live podcast taping]," the Wolf of Wall Street star added, " 'Cause I'm like 'I want to go f—ing be funny in front of a crowd, that'd be awesome.' "

Hill recently revealed that he married his partner Olivia Millar, whom he appeared to begin dating in 2022, during an Interview magazine conversation with Martin Scorsese that was published on April 9. The couple welcomed their first child together in 2023, and in that Interview piece, Hill noted that they have quietly welcomed a second child into their family.

When Bateman, 56, asked Hill if he believes his sense of humor is "coming from a more substantial place now," Hill quipped, "Speak for me, that's fine," sparking laughter from the audience.

"It's more like if you're bummed, you don't feel like being that funny," he added. "And if you're happy, the first thing I thought about when I had my kids and was so stoked, it was like I connected to back when I was just like 12 and I was just being funny for fun. And I was like, 'That's the thing I fell in love with my whole life.' "

During the event, Hill shouted out his wife Millar, who was in the room during the live podcast taping. He also said that he and Millar moved out of Los Angeles to "a very small town in San Diego" three years ago to "raise a family outside of Los Angeles."

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Hill has maintained a relatively low profile in Hollywood in recent years. After making his directorial debut with the well-reviewed Mid90s in 2018, he directed a 2022 documentary titled Stutz, which gave audiences a look at his own experience in therapy with his therapist Phil Stutz.

Before the release of his latest movie as an actor, writer and director, Outcome, Stutz was the last movie Hill made as a filmmaker. He appeared in the 2021 comedy Don't Look Up and the 2023 movie You People, but otherwise has not starred on the big screen since 2019's The Beach Bum.

Outcome, which Hill costarred in with Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer, is streaming on Apple TV.

Hill's next movie Cut Off — a comedy that he cowrote, directed and stars in with Kristen Wiig — is in theaters July 17.

Hill's appearance on SmartLess will release May 7 wherever podcasts are available, and the show is hosting a live episode at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 17.

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