Actor won't promote his movies due to mental health

Jonah Hill has released an open letter in which he announced that he will no longer promote his own movies for the foreseeable future in order to continue working on his mental health. Hill’s upcoming projects include a new documentary he directed titled “Sputz” and Netflix’s comedy movie “You People,” which Hill co-wrote with director Kenya Barris. Hill stars in the Netflix film opposite Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Molly Gordon, Mike Epps, Nia Long and David Duchovny.

“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,” Hill wrote about debuting the documentary “Sputz” at upcoming fall film festivals. The movie features Hill and his therapist openly discussing his mental health issues.

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“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,” Hill continued. “If I made myself sicker by going out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be acting true to myself or to the film.”

Hill added, “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.”

Hill has been largely out of the spotlight in 2022. His most recent movie, Adam McKay’s star-studded Netflix satire “Don’t Look Up,” opened in theaters and on Netflix last December. Hill directed the second episode of HBO’s drama series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”

Read below Jonah Hill’s full open letter, which was first published by Deadline.

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.

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