Image: I Don’t Like You in That Way 

BY CHRISTY LEWIS

In an attempt to become a more well-rounded actor...Jonah Hill sheds his well-rounded figure. And his transformation has critics talking...On the 2011 VMA’s Jonah addressed the issue on stage with a joke.

HILL: ..now that I’ve lost weight people keep saying--now that you’ve lost weight, you probably aren’t funny anymore.”
MINAJ: That’s not true. You are probably just as funny as you were before. Tell us a joke right now.
HILL: Why did the chicken cross the road?”
MINAJ: “I don’t know why?”
HILL: “I’ll tell you why he did it. He did it for fitness.”
MINAJ: “That’s not really a good joke.”
HILL: “No? It’s not funny? It’s not funny that the chicken wanted to change his lifestyle a little bit and become a little healthier? Is it funny instead that instead of getting a pat on the back, the chicken gets a bunch of jerks tweeting that he’s not funny anymore?...He’s the same chicken Nicki! He’s just healthier!

 So he definitely doesn’t look like the same chicken. And because of that - Hill has been harassed for his hefty weight loss for a couple months now. But more recently, during a promotion for his newest movie “Moneyball” he confessed he’s losing something else! The whole--’I can only play a funny guy’ thing. He tells the Chicago Sun Times:

“...I want to try different things. ...But when a comedic actor, somebody who’s known for comedy, tries to do drama, they have to choose so wisely. That transition is not an easy one...I don’t think it hurts in trying for different roles. When you’re overweight, you can’t play someone who’s not overweight.”


(Video: Columbia Pictures)
His most recent debut on the big screen was filmed when Jonah was still a big guy. In ‘Moneyball’ he plays a Yale-educated number-cruncher, a change in roles for Hill, but as he tells TCU 360, it’s something he hopes his fans enjoy.

“Hill has grown up in front of the world, but has hopes that everyone will accept his desire and action to do both drama and comedy, he said...On paper, the idea of “Moneyball” is “baseball statistics,” but it is actually “exciting, remarkable, moving, intense, sad, funny, honest and dark all at the same time,” Hill said.”

Sticking with his new slim, serious self--Jonah went on to film another drama.

“Jonah just finished shooting the 21 Jumpstreet remake which features a cameo from none other than Johnny Depp...better look your best next to that guy.”

You can check out his acting chops in ‘Moneyball’ out September 23rd and 21 Jumpstreet hits theatres next year.