Jonah Hill has published an open letter announcing that he will no longer be promoting his own films for the foreseeable future in order to continue working on his mental health. Hill’s upcoming projects include a new documentary he directed called “Sputz” and the Netflix comedy “You People,” which Hill co-wrote with director Kenya Barris. Hill stars in the Netflix film alongside Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Molly Gordon, Mike Epps, Nia Long and David Duchovny.
“Through this journey of self-discovery within the film, I realized that I have spent almost 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, exacerbated by media appearances and public events,” Hill wrote about his debut documentary “Sputz ». at the upcoming fall film festivals. The film features Hill and his therapist openly discussing his mental health issues.
“You won’t see me out there promoting this movie or any of my upcoming movies while I take this important step to protect myself,” Hill continued. “If I got sicker going out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be true to myself or the film.”
Hill added, “I usually cringe at letters or statements like this, but I understand that I’m one of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I will not lose my job while working on my anxiety. With this letter and with ‘Stutz’, I hope to make it more normal for people to talk and act about these things. So they can take steps to feel better and so that the people in their lives understand their problems more clearly.”
Hill has been largely out of the spotlight in 2022. His most recent film, Adam McKay’s buzzy Netflix satire “Don’t Look Up,” premiered in theaters and on Netflix last December. Hill directed the second episode of the HBO drama series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”
Read Jonah Hill’s full open letter below, first published by Deadline.
I finished directing my second film, a documentary about me and my therapist exploring mental health in general called ‘Stutz’. The whole purpose of making this film is to give the healing and tools I have learned in healing to a wide audience for private use through an entertaining film.
Through this journey of self-discovery through film, I have come to understand that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, exacerbated by media appearances and public events.
I am so grateful that the film will have its world premiere at a prestigious film festival this fall and look forward to sharing it with audiences around the world in hopes that it will help those struggling. However, you won’t see me out there promoting this film or any of my upcoming films while I take this important step to protect myself. If I got sicker getting out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be true to myself or the film.
I usually cringe at letters or statements like this, but I understand that I am one of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I will not lose my job while working on my anxiety. With this letter and with ‘Stutz’, I hope to make it more normal for people to talk and act about these things. So they can take steps to feel better and so that the people in their lives can understand their problems more clearly.
I hope the paper will speak for itself and I am grateful to my colleagues, business partners and everyone reading this for your understanding and support.
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