Jonah Hill had incredibly awkward reaction when asked about his surname

One thing we should all probably avoid doing is asking Jonah Hill about his real surname.

The Academy Award nominee, 38, has graced our screens in some of the most culturally defining comedies - and a few dramas - for almost two decades, but few people know his real name.

In case you didn't know already, ‘Jonah Hill’ is essentially a stage name and while his first name really is 'Jonah', his legal surname is not 'Hill'.

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This isn't unusual in Hollywood, but an interview with Hill for the Guardian in 2014 took an awkward turn when journalist Hadley Freeman asked the 22 Jump Street actor about an interesting detail regarding his name on his IMDb page.

On the internet movie database, Hill is listed by his full birth name - Jonah Hill Feldstein - and Freeman wanted to fact check, which led to a question about why he decided to drop his surname.

"This is when everything goes weird and his palpable self-control breaks down," Freeman said in her write-up.

"For a full 15 seconds Hill is silent aside from his breathing: it's so heavy, I think at first he's having an asthma attack."

The actor and producer eventually responded, but the situation only became more awkward.

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Freeman wrote: "'Can we just not?' he whispers.

"'Just … don't," he hisses'."

Unfortunately we don't find out why the Superbad star feels his real surname is such a sticky subject.

Superbad had a hilarious alternative title in Spain. Watch Hill speak about the bizarre way the film was marketed in the country below:

Earlier this week, court documents emerged showing that Hill intends to officially remove 'Feldstein' as his surname.

Hill has filed a petition in LA to drop ‘Feldstein’ from his name, according to documents obtained by TMZ.

Interestingly, Hill's family work in showbiz and still use the Feldstein name including his dad, Richard Feldstein, who is a tour accountant for Guns N' Roses.

Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo.

He has a younger sister, actress Beanie (real name Elizabeth) Feldstein, who is best known for her acclaimed roles in the comedy-drama films Lady Bird (2017) and Booksmart (2019).

Last year she portrayed former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in Ryan Murphy's Impeachment: American Crime Story series.

She also starred in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl as Fanny Brice between April and July this year.

Hill's late older brother Jordan Feldstein was a music manager for Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke up until his sudden death at age 40 from a DVT/pulmonary embolism in 2017.