Jonah Hill Says He’s Exploring ‘Loneliness’ and the Effects of Social Media in His New Comedy “Outcome” (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Jonah Hill tells PEOPLE that he intended to explore “the loneliness of life” and effects of social media in his new comedy Outcome

• Outcome, Hill’s first effort as a director since his 2022 documentary Stutz, stars him with Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer

• Outcome begins streaming on Apple TV April 10

Jonah Hill wanted to explore “the loneliness of life” in Outcome, the first movie he has directed in four years.

Hill, 42, tells PEOPLE that his new comedy Outcome, which stars Keanu Reeves as a Hollywood star navigating an extortion attempt against him, “really is a metaphor for social media” when he, Reeves and costars Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer stopped on the red carpet at the movie’s Monday, April 6, premiere in New York City.

“Essentially, we all are guilty of looking for validation from people we don’t know instead of putting the most time and effort in with the people that hold us down and that we really love,” Hill says, during a group interview with Reeves, 61, Diaz, 53, and Bomer, 48. “So I wanted to explore that. Did you guys feel that?”

“It made me grateful that I have friends and family who will call me on my s—,” Bomer adds.

In Outcome, Reeves’ Hollywood actor Reef Hawk learns of an extortion attempt against him from his crisis lawyer Ira, whom Hill portrays.

Reef, his lawyer and his closest friends from childhood, portrayed by Diaz and Bomer, put their heads together to identify figures from Reef’s past who may hold a grudge against him, all while Reef worries that negative stories about him will appear on the internet.

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“I was trying to just make a comment about how I was relating what I was seeing with my nephews on social media to the paranoia I felt as a famous person,” Hill additionally told the Associated Press in a red carpet interview.

“Meaning that a 14-year-old is more concerned with public perception of people they don’t even know or are in their broader community than the people they spend their hours around, and they pace around looking at their phones waiting for likes or comments or something,” he continues

“I was like ‘Wow, that’s what I’ve seen certain elements of fame be like,’ ” Hill added to the AP. “I wanted to explore that in a movie, you know, and I thought — who is the person you least want to see get in trouble ’cause they’re so beloved, and Keanu Reeves was the first person I thought of.”

Outcome begins streaming on Apple TV April 10.

Read the original article on People