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If someone, 25 years ago, had appeared in the skate park in Los Angeles where Jonah Hill (1983) tried to skate with more sorrow than glory to tell him that when he grew up his dream of making films would be fulfilled, the now actor and director, twice nominated for an Oscar for his roles in The Wolf of Wall Street and Moneyball , he wouldn't have been completely surprised. If that imaginary messenger from the future had added that Hill would also become a style icon, that self-conscious overweight teenager would probably have laughed.

But the truth is that, together with his reputation as a performer and his incipient facet as a producer and director, Hill has carved out an entity as much or more recognizable as a prescriber of trends. His photos hunted on the street with a coffee in his hand, the mobile in the other and a plausible clothing for elegant, bizarre or both reasons at the same time, are for years a precious material for stylists, coolhunters, fashion commentators and clothing fans. Whether embracing the rigorous sobriety of his favorite streetwear brands, playing with daring designer pieces, or diving into the colorful Californian style of bowling shirts and tie-dye T-shirts he's embraced since moving to Malibu and surfing daily, Jonah Hill is trend-setting.

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Cinema.

Quentin Tarantino: "Since I saw that movie at nine years old I have not been the same"

  • Editor: QUENTIN TARANTINO

Quentin Tarantino: "Since I saw that movie at nine years old I have not been the same"

Cinema.

Nepo-babies: Hollywood's most plugged-in generation of actors

  • Editor: PABLO SCARPELLINI Los Angeles

Nepo-babies: Hollywood's most plugged-in generation of actors

What does this actor of character, far from the physical canon of the idols of the screen that monopolize the covers and campaigns of the big firms, have to arouse such interest without the corresponding chiseled torso? "His secret seems to be that he cares enough about being groomed, but he never forgets to have fun," wrote Noah Johnson, global director of Style at GQ, the men's header that has followed Hill's clothing evolution more and better, and who dedicated his special Autumn-Winter 2017 Style to him.

"He's also not afraid to try new things," Johnson added. "His looks for the red carpet always include small details that prevent us from thinking that he has been given a suit and told to wear it," adopting an individualistic attitude towards the opulent and professional attractiveness that conventional stars with hired stylists usually cultivate, or the maximalism of trendsetters like Jared Leto. "Jonah always plays Jonah, and there are legions of men who aspire to dress like him."

Watching the Lakers with Lisa Rinna a few weeks ago. Getty

Let's look back on its trajectory in search of more keys to understand this unique phenomenon. In the harsh ecosystem of urban culture to which over the years he paid tribute in his directorial debut, In the 90s (2018), and where abuse and mockery were commonplace, the young Hill survived not by tricks on the skateboard, but by falling off it and making jokes and jokes, almost always at the expense of himself. With that same identity of 'chubby funny' he made the leap to the cinema by the hand of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen. The success of films like 'Supersalidos' offered him an easy but also risky route, through which many before him, from Roscoe Arbuckle to John Belushi, traveled to end up falling off Hollywood hills below.

A decade ago, Hill redirected his career towards more demanding roles and with an eye on developing his own projects. In 2017, while preparing his first feature film, he took his time thinking and designing the life he wanted to have. He went on a diet and began to train and meditate. The practice of jiu-jitsu gave him enough confidence to dare to surf, introduced by Spike Jonze and Mike Diamond, of Beastie Boys; To dare to be, in some way, the cool guy who had not been a teenager, and take advantage of the intangible capital acquired then, that good taste of sneakers and sweatshirt that today is universal.

Jonah Hill at the 2019 Berlinale.Manuel RomanoNurPhoto

"Being fat and doing comedy isn't supposed to interest you in fashion, but I always liked it, even though the clothes aren't made for overweight people to have style," Hill said. However, the actor says that it was not so much the physical change – he lost 30 kilos – as the mental one, the improvement of his self-esteem and his confidence, which allowed him to start having fun publicly with clothes. "If you're really interested in fashion, you should show it, don't turn it down. Be yourself," he said to himself.

It was then that Hill's street photos began to multiply in blogs, websites and social networks, while his favorite brands made him get home all his news. He made ads for streetwear firms such as Labor or Palace, and in 2020 he decided to make the leap to design in collaboration with Adidas: he made a limited series of the Superstar model and above all a complete collection around the Samba, his favorite sneakers of the German brand.

Not even when he left social media last summer has the hashtag #jonahhill lost steam. A fan account on Instagram, @jonahfits, has helped maintain interest when the actor decided to get out of the way for a season to deal with his anxiety issues. Giving up even the promotion of projects such as the film You people or Stutz, the documentary he has directed about his therapist -both can be seen on Netflix-.

Therefore, many were surprised when, earlier this month, Hill went with a striking afro wig to a Lakers game accompanied by Lisa Rinna, the second-rate actress turned charismatic global influencer thanks to her participation in the reality Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Both wore litmus cycling goggles and a set of sweatshirt and pants with the slogan "Meaningful Existence". It was the informal and surprising act of presentation of Hill's clothing firm, for which he has adopted the ironic identity of a spiritual leader, the prophet Ezekiel Profit, whose only recipe for a full existence is to spend the more money the better in his online store, where at the moment you can buy T-shirts.

Parodying the Californian spiritual paraphernalia of cults and mindfulness beach bars, and joking in some way with his own mood problems, Jonah Hill gives a new twist to his status as a fashion guru. A significant gesture now that luxury firms fish their creative directors – Louis Vuitton with Pharrell – in the fishing grounds of show business.

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