10 Actors Who Reinvented Themselves In Unexpected Ways

7. Jonah Hill

Spencer movie
Columbia Pictures

Fans of teen comedies from the noughties will have a special place in their hearts for a certain Jonah Hill.

The star is probably still best known as an awkward teenager in the Seth Rogen-penned Superbad. He would also crop up in other funnies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Invention of Lying, and Get Him to the Greek before taking on a part that would change his career forever.

As baseball executive Peter Brand in the film Moneyball, Hill stunned audiences with a gripping performance that was a thousand miles removed from his usual clowning about. He even got nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, which would have sounded absurd just a few years earlier.

He was recognised by the Academy again for his part in Wolf of Wall Street and even made his directorial debut in 2022 with Stutz, a documentary about his own therapist.

Although he is still mostly a comedic actor, he has veered away from the more childish movies of his younger days.

Well, except Sausage Party, in which he played an animated talking wiener.

Old habits die hard, alright.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.