Jonah Hill is busy promoting his new AppleTV+ movie, Outcome. It’s his first on-screen project after a three-year break from the spotlight. At the time, Jonah was dealing with the fallout from an ex-girlfriend’s accusations of emotional abuse, and his current girlfriend, Olivia Millar, had just welcomed their baby. Jonah has always kept his personal life pretty private, and during self-imposed timeout, he was completely out of the public eye. In an interview with Martin Scorsese that was published earlier this month, Jonah revealed that he and Millar had gotten married and recently welcomed their second child.
As it turns out, Jonah was able to easily disappear because he moved out of Los Angeles completely. During a live taping of the SmartLess podcast, Jonah shared even more about his life outside of Hollywood. He told everyone that after his first child was born, he and Millar moved to San Diego. He loves living there so much because he has awesome neighbors who don’t care that he’s a famous actor.
Jonah Hill is raising his two children away from the Hollywood spotlight.
The Outcome star, 42, revealed during a SiriusXM live taping of the SmartLess podcast on Saturday, April 25 why he and his wife, Olivia Millar, left Los Angeles three years ago to move to “a very small town in San Diego.”
“So real quick, before we go any further, my wife is here. My best friend. Shout-out to my beautiful wife, Liv. Where is she? Oh, what’s up, baby?” the actor said onstage at the Avalon Hollywood alongside SmartLess co-hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.
After his shout-out to his wife, Hill described their living situation.
“So I live in a very small town in San Diego, and it’s amazing, and my neighbors are incredible people,” The Wolf of Wall Street star said. “And when we had our first kid, we moved out there three years ago.”
“I wanted to leave L.A. and raise a family outside of Los Angeles,” Hill continued, adding that he’s been able to travel back and forth for work.
The two-time Oscar nominee emphasized how “cool” his neighbors are.
“They never treat me weird or ask me about my job or anything,” Hill explained. “And my neighbor is one of my great friends, Dr. Sean, he never asked. He’s here tonight. He never bothered me or was like, ‘Oh, what’s this person like?’ ”
Hill, who is currently promoting his Apple TV movie Outcome, also reflected on his own upbringing in L.A. during the SmartLess podcast taping.
“I grew up here. L.A. was such a cool place to grow up in the ’90s because you could go skateboard downtown or you could sneak into a movie premiere or you could go sneak into a comedy club and see Chris Rock or something,” the father of two recalled.
The actor added, “You had access to show business stuff, but you had access to punk and skating and graffiti and all the naughty stuff. And there was no internet. It was just so awesome.”
It sounds like Jonah really is in a much better place now, both literally and figuratively. I may be biased because my husband is from San Diego, but if I had a choice between living there or in LA, I would choose SD in a heartbeat. It’s great that he’s found neighbors that are so nonchalant about his fame. San Diegans are far enough removed from the LA hustle that they are way more chill. I have a friend who grew up in NC but now works as an editor in LA. He’s told us that the first thing that so many people ask in LA is “What do you do?” Having someone size up your worth based on your profession and how you can help them out must be absolutely abhorrent. It is not for the faint of heart.
On that note, in an industry where currency is who you know and what you can do for someone else, it’s pretty obvious that some people handle fame well and some people don’t. I think Jonah is someone who does not handle fame well. It’s probably for the best that he moved out of LA and took a break from the spotlight. If I’m correct in my assessment, I hope he takes another break after the promotion for Outcome is over.
photos credit: Apple TV+ press, JosiahW/Backgrid, Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images
Well he certainly seems less miserable and insecure.
He is a very complicated guy. On one hand I remember those very unpleasant texts his former girlfriend released ( very mean spirited and manipulative) on the other I thought he was brilliant in Moneyball and Wolf of Wallstreet.
I think it’s the classic “great artist but shit human being” trope. I’m crossing my fingers in the hope that marital/parental life will improve his character.
Jonah is desperate to be liked. He’s the classic chubby kid who hung around cool kids then thought he was a cool kid himself – Leo, Brad, etc. but didn’t develop a personality or interests for himself. When he lost weight he got mean. I’m glad he’s in therapy and doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone.