Jonah Hill is a verified fashion icon — but it wasn’t always that way.
In fact, the “Wolf of Wall Street” actor, 36, gained attention in the fashion world in 2018, when he started sporting trippy tie-dye T-shirts, highly coveted streetwear brands and sleek sunglasses for an overall enviable look.
Now, on the precipice of launching a collaboration with Adidas that includes a monochromatic makeover of the popular Samba shoe as well as basketball shorts and puffer jackets, the actor/director is opening up about how his body image and public perception shaped his fashion sense for too long.
“I think the biggest shift in my personal style was that I always had an interest in personal style and fashion, but I was always a bigger guy. It’s really hard when you’re overweight to dress a certain way, because clothes aren’t made for people who are overweight to have style. So, I think it surprises people,” Hill told GQ.
“Even now, I’ll overhear someone discussing my place in the fashion world or whatever, and people are like, ‘That guy? The schlubby guy from “Superbad?”‘”
He explained that at a certain point, he stopped caring about what others thought of him and embraced his lifelong love of fashion. “The idea was realizing, whether I was big or small, that I really can define my own personal style.”
Hill added that he felt fashion was off-limits to him for years. “I think I was conditioned for [criticism] based on my acting career. Because, (A) being overweight and (B) comedy, you’re not supposed to be into fashion on either of those sides. When I was coming up in comedy, you would get made fun of if you cared about fashion, but I always did,” he said.
Continued the star, “And then I’m just like: Wait, how many times do I have to tell myself I can’t do something? I’ve done all these things that I was told that I couldn’t do. Just keep going, just go on the journey of being into the s—t you’re into.”