Sunny Suljic’s Five Favorite Films
The rising star of Mid90s reveals his taste for modern horror, and obsession with an animated classic.

(Photo by Jeremychanphotography / Contributor / Getty Images)
Sunny Suljic’s discovery story is one straight out of Hollywood fantasy. Suljic, now 13, was skating at his local skate park, Stoner Skate Plaza in Los Angeles, when Jonah Hill plucked him out from the crowd to chat to him about his directorial debut, Mid90s, the story of a young California teen who finds real friendship in a group of older skaters. Hill was there with Mid90s co-star Lucas Hedges, scouting for talent for the lead role of Stevie, and saw something instantly in the pint-size Angeleno. “He had the exact quality I was looking for which was someone who was very young for their age but who was 10-feet-tall inside,” Hill told the AP. As luck would have it, Suljic was actually already in the acting game, having starred in a number of small films and alongside Nicole Kidman in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer. He had the “it” factor and, it turned out, the experience.
Suljic spotted something in Hill, too: authenticity. Talking with Rotten Tomatoes, Suljic said, “Jonah’s been skating his whole life, not too many people know that.” The young actor said that experience helped in putting the film together. “You have to be a skater to actually make a skateboarding film. I don’t know anything about basketball, and I can’t make a basketball film or it’s gonna be corny. I think the same thing with skating, and a lot of people mess that up. Jonah did a great job [on the film]. It was really realistic.”
Ahead of Mid90s’ wide release this Friday, Suljic told Rotten Tomatoes about his Five Favorite Films – none of which involve skateboarding.
Mid90s is currently in limited release. It is in theaters everywhere October 26.

