Is Mid90s a True Story? Is Stevie Based on Jonah Hill?

Directed by Jonah Hill, ‘Mid90s’ is a coming-of-age drama that follows the story of Stevie, who finds acceptance in a group of skateboarders. The story focuses on the boy’s struggle to connect with the people around him, especially his abusive elder brother, and the happiness he feels when he meets the people who feel like home to him. On the surface, the film moves around Stevie’s life in instances that barely add to a minimal plot. However, there is a rawness and a depth to the film that makes it more familiar than expected. The reason behind this tone is the personal connection that the writer-director has to it.

Mid90s is Fictional But Informed by Jonah Hill’s Childhood Experience

‘Mid90s’ is an entirely fictional film with the characters made up by Jonah Hill. The writer-director has clarified that the story is not autobiographical. However, it has his personal touch because he looked back at his childhood, growing up in the skateboarding culture of 90s LA, and infused the fictional story and characters with all that experience and nostalgia. The Academy Award-nominated actor revealed that when he was young, he felt the lack of connection that Stevie feels at the beginning of the film. He couldn’t find that connection within his family, so he had to look outside, and it led him to the skateboarding scene, where he learned a lot about life and people, and all the other things that have stayed with him through the years.

Hill had always thought about becoming a director. So after more than fifteen years of working as an actor, when he decided to go behind the lens, he chose to tell a story that was not only familiar to him but would also break him out of the typecast as a comedy actor doing comedy things. While he wanted the story to be funny, he also wanted to be visceral and realistic, and looking into his own life, skateboarding seemed like the thing he wanted to focus on. He noted that the sport hasn’t been properly portrayed in movies, with the exception of 1995’s ‘Kids,’ and he wanted to rectify that situation.

The actor revealed that he spent several years of his life being a part of the skateboarding crowd, and it educated him about a lot of things. But at the same time, it was also about finding a community that stands by you no matter what. So, he created Stevie’s character to take him on this journey that would test him and give him things he would cherish for the rest of his life. Hill wanted to show him as a “young cub” navigating his way through the “animal kingdom” and how he finds his pack, which defines some very important moments of his life.

Jonah Hill Did Not Shy Away from the Darkness of the Characters

One of the things that Jonah Hill made a point of while writing ‘Mid90s’ was to empathise with the characters no matter what they did and not to villainise or glorify them to serve the audience a lesson on a silver platter. He wanted to keep things as realistic as possible, so the conversations between Stevie and his friends had to be the kind of stuff that he and his friends would talk about back then. This is why he decided not to cut down on stuff that comes across as racist, homophobic, or misogynistic. Through every word in the dialogue, he wished to convey not just the authenticity of the times but also the conflicts of the characters.

Considering that it is about a group of boys, the story also touches upon toxic masculinity and how it frames a young person’s perspective in their formative years. So, the drinking, the smoking, and even the first sexual experience had to feel natural, even if it felt entirely uncomfortable to the audience. The lack of intimacy and the inability to share their feelings also form an important part of the characters and the way they act out because of it. It was to explore this side of childhood that Hill decided to stick with the 90s setting, because he didn’t want phones and social media to factor into the equation.

When it came to casting for the roles, particularly Stevie, he decided to find the actors among skateboarders. Almost all actors in the movie are skateboarders first, which adds another level of authenticity to the story. The filmmaker was also influenced by movies like ‘This is England’ and ‘Kids’ to portray a more unfiltered side of childhood. At the end of the day, Hill was focused on telling a story that is close to his heart. He infused it with personal things like his love for skating, his taste in hip-music, and his young years on the streets of Los Angeles, and it is this love and connection that ripples through the film and reaches the audience, making ‘Mid90s’ and its characters seem incredibly realistic when they are fictional.