Jonah Hill has filed a petition to legally change his name to be called, simply, Jonah Hill.
Confused? Yeah, well turns out that the name the star has gone by for years isn’t actually his full name. He was born Jonah Hill Feldstein back in 1983, but has gone by just Jonah Hill for years as his stage name.
But now, it seems Hill wants to make it official, as he has filed papers to drop Feldstein from his legal name. This move would make his former middle name, Hill, now his surname.
TMZ first reported the news when they obtained documents that revealed he filed a petition in LA to make the change earlier this week. It comes after he deleted his Instagram account back in August earlier this year after he revealed that he has battled anxiety attacks for twenty years. He opened up about his experience in the documentary titled Stutz.
The 21 Jump Street star has one famous sibling, fellow actor Beanie Feldstein. Her first names are actually Elizabeth Greer. She is known for her work on movies such as Booksmart and Lady Bird, as well as being the original cast as Fanny Brice in the 2022 Broadway revival of Funny Girl.
Hill himself has been around Hollywood for a long time now. His career began with a role in the star-studded movie I Heart Huckabees, and from there his career blossomed.
Hits included Knocked Up and Superbad, before he found more critical acclaim later on in his journey. Hill has been nominated for 2 Academy Awards during his time, firstly for Moneyball alongside acting great Brad Pitt, and then for his iconic role in The Wolf of Wall Street.
The news of Hill’s name change comes just weeks after another celeb’s decision to do the same.
Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul filed a similar petition to change his name. Paul was looking for a comparable outcome, as he sought to change his legal surname from Sturtevant to his stage surname of Paul.
However, in Paul’s case, he was looking to do the same for his wife too. As well as wanting to legally conform to his stage name, the star explained that they wanted to keep the family name consistent.
He did go one step further though, in that he was also seeking to change his son’s first name too. The Need For Speed actor filed to change his 7-month-old son’s first name from Casper Emerson to Ryden Caspian. Turns out, their son’s surname was already registered at Paul though, so at least that’s one piece of paperwork that didn’t need filing!
As always, the internet has had a lot to say on the matter…
One fan wrote: “Never knew him or Aaron had different last names. Good for them for finally making it legal.”
Another said: “Why he has a beautiful name.”
A third joked: “Is he changing it to mountain?”
We bet he’s not heard that one before!
However, not everyone was totally supportive. One said: “Lord have mercy! There is no need to do this! Professional actors are known by their stage names. They don’t go around changing their legal names.”
