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Jonah Hill recently premiered his highly-anticipated directorial debut, “mid90s” at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film, which centers on a young boy who finds himself joining a group of skateboarders, is being compared to seminal films like “Kids.” In a recent interview with Collider, Hill discusses how his first time behind the camera became about telling the story of a 12-year-old skater. Apparently, we have Spike Jonze to thank.

READ MORE: Jonah Hill’s Directorial Debut ‘mid90s’ Skates In The Shadow Of Similar Films [TIFF Review]

Hill has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, from Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen to Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. However, he lists Jonze as a huge influence on “mid90s,” as a great friend and mentor.

“Originally the movie was about something completely different but it kept flashing back to the main character when he was with his friends when he was twelve,” Hill stated. “And Spike said to me, you look less enthused when you’re talking about the ‘A’ story, and you light up like a Christmas tree when you’re talking about the other stuff.”

He went on to say, “You need mentors, you need friends, you need other writers to go, ‘Ah you’re shying away of what is actually painful to write about,’ and that’s really your job as a filmmaker to other filmmakers is to go, ‘Oh you’re being scared right now and avoiding the thing that’s hard for you to write about and that’s the best part of your story,’ and its just being called out, and that’s the beauty of collaboration.”

Starring Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Na-Kel Smith, and Olan Prenatt, “mid90s” will officially be released on October 19.