It’s a stressful world out there, and if you’re able to take steps to improve your mental health, you owe it to yourself to try. Jonah Hill hasn’t kept his struggles with mental health a secret and he announced today that he will be stepping away from promoting any movie he’s involved with, including his upcoming documentary, Stutz.
Appropriately, Stutz features “frank discussions about mental health in general and progressive worsening of anxiety attacks involving the promotion of films that has made a dream job something of a nightmare for Hill.” Jonah Hill directed and stars in Stutz, and making the film helped him understand how media appearances and promotion events have exacerbated his anxiety attacks. In a statement issued to Deadline, Jonah Hill said, “I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety. With this letter and with ‘Stutz,’ I’m hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff. So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly.” Jonah Hill hopes that the work will speak for itself and help to normalized talking about mental health issues. You can read the complete letter below.
I have finished directing my second film, a documentary about me and my therapist which explores mental health in general called “Stutz.” The whole purpose of making this film is to give therapy and the tools I’ve learned in therapy to a wide audience for private use through an entertaining film.
Through this journey of self-discovery within the film, I have come to the understanding that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events.
I am so grateful that the film will make its world premiere at a prestigious film festival this fall, and I can’t wait to share it with audiences around the world in the hope 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 made myself sicker by going out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be acting true to myself or to the film.
I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety. With this letter and with “Stutz,” I’m hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff. So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly.
I hope the work will speak for itself and I’m grateful to my collaborators, my business partners and to all reading this for your understanding and support.
Jonah Hill will next be seen starring in You People, a comedy he also co-wrote with director Kenya Barris. The film also stars Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lauren London, Mike Epps, Sam Jay, Molly Gordon, Mike Epps, Nia Long, Deon Cole, Rhea Perlman, and David Duchovny. The film centers around a new couple and their families who find themselves examining modern love and family dynamics amidst clashing cultures, societal expectations, and generational differences. You People will be released on Netflix later this year. Take care of yourselves out there.