Jonah Hill: ‘Moneyball’ was no sweat, but ’21 Jump Street’ …

Jonah Hill was something of a surprise hit in “Moneyball” as Peter Brand, the statistician of underdogs and the underdog of statisticians. (He’s made almost as much news for his new leaner profile.) The shaggy boy from “Superbad,” “Get Him to the Greek” and “Cyrus” will be 28 next week, but that hasn’t stopped him from acting like a kid in a candy store this award season.

You’ve been making a lot of news for both moving into drama and your weight loss.

Do you think one thing feeds into the other and I’ll get awards for that?

I think it’s actually the haircut. That’s the big story.

I don’t know what it is. I’ve been getting a lot of attention lately. I can feel the difference in my life. I don’t think there are comedic actors and dramatic actors; I think there are comedic movies and dramatic movies. With a lot of people known for comedies who make the transition to drama, oftentimes it doesn’t work because of the choices they make. The only [dramatic] choices I’ve made are “Cyrus” and “Moneyball,” and they’re two movies I really stand by.

Now that “Moneyball” has Brad Pitt in it and tons of people saw it, it was like, “Whoa, I didn’t know that guy could do those kinds of movies.” That’s the kind of response I’ve been getting. For me it’s been overwhelmingly gratifying, because I’m sitting here talking to you for The Envelope, which I’m assuming has to do with awards .... That is, in itself, a completely new element to my career that I didn’t know I would ever get to be part of.

You portray slackers so well it seems as if you sometimes get confused for one.

That always makes me laugh. I was completely driven to be successful. I quit school at 18 to be successful; I wasn’t going to stop. I’ve been lucky enough to work since I was 21 years old without taking a break at all.

You lobbied director Bennett Miller for this role, correct?

Bennett knew I wanted to break out of whatever box I was in. When we met, I told him exactly how I saw the character, and he said, “Do you know about baseball?” And I was like, no. And he said, “Well, how would you play this guy?” I have a very encyclopedic knowledge of film and television, and I think Bennett was always very impressed by that and would ask me trivia. The way I talk about films is the way this guy feels about baseball.

Was that what drew you to the role?

Peter Brand is the opposite of me. The core of this character is a guy who can blend into the wall, which I have never been. What happens when a light gets shined on him for the first time? How does he react? So that was a story Bennett and I were really excited to tell.

You’ve got a slew of other projects going on, “The Sitter,” “Allen Gregory” (an animated Fox show), “21 Jump Street,” which you also co-wrote and produced. What’s next, directing?

Yes. I just directed my first music video, for Sara Bareilles. I woke up the other day and it was on VH1. That was cool.

Did you always want to do it all?

I grew up in this business, around Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, people who weren’t just actors; they were sort of architects. So in comedy, I see myself far more as an architect. What I love about drama is I’m not that. I’m an actor who people hire to portray a character.

So the pressure was off for this one?

It was a total win-win for me. If I were in a comedy or a lead in a drama, I’d feel an enormous amount of pressure. On “21 Jump Street” I probably lost five years of my life. But with this film, between Scott Rudin, Mike De Luca, Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian, Bennett, Brad Pitt, Phil Hoffman, there was no way the heat would come down on me if this movie stunk. Every other movie I’ve done recently, if it was awful, it would come down on me pretty hard.

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the film and the award season, what’s been the wildest experience for you so far?

The craziest moment of my career was at the Toronto film festival. Brad, Bennett and I were sitting next to each other in the front row. The movie ends, they don’t turn the lights on, they shine a spotlight just on the three of us, and we got a standing ovation from over 1,500 people. It was easily the most overwhelming moment of my entire life. Then I walked out, and I saw my family and my best friends, and all of them were crying, and I started crying, and I got really embarrassed, because I didn’t want Brad or Bennett or [Sony chief] Amy Pascal to see me so emotional. It all felt very big and important and fancy and surreal. That is a moment I’ll never forget.

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