J.K. Simmons

I always forget that the first thing I saw him in, in the theatre, even, was years before Spider-Man. It was, in fact, in his first film role, just after he played Benny Southstreet in the ‘92 Nathan Lane revival of Guys and Dolls. Part of this is his excellent skill at blending into the character, admittedly a minor though important one. In 1992, he was Siskel in The Ref, my favourite Christmas movie and one I have a hard time recommending to anyone else given one of its stars. But it’s a good part, and he’s good in it. It’s just that there’s so much going on in that movie that you could easily forget.

You also have to scroll an awfully long way through his IMDb page to get to it. They’re not all memorable; I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of Love Walked In, another Denis Leary vehicle, and possibly even Brendan Fraser has forgotten about The Scout. Even today, there’s the Angel Studios-produced The Brink of War, which I can’t imagine we’ll be discussing in ten years. Or even one. That said, there are quite a lot of classics sprinkled in there, and any list of nearly 250 movies and TV shows will include a stinker or two.

Honestly, I suspect the problem is that not enough people know how to use him. He’s a talented actor; while Siskel is a small role and he just seems to inhabit J. Jonah Jameson, there’s a lot of range in his roles. I’ve probably seen every episode where he portrays Skoda on at least the original Law & Order. I’ve seen a bit of Oz, but not enough to have a feel for Vern Schillinger. And, no, I have not yet gotten around to his Oscar-winning turn in Whiplash, though his speech did make me want to sit him down and explain why some people will not, in fact, be calling their mothers.

I think he only gets one line in my favourite M&Ms commercial (“Switch”), having by that point taken over the role from John Goodman, but he’s been the Peanut M&M for decades now. He was also Martin Smarty on Kim Possible, Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia, and J. Jonah any time they need an animated J. Jonah. He’s done enormous numbers of voice roles, because he’s got a really great voice for it. And the stage. And TV. And the movies.

And look, he’s one of those people it took me a long time to get around to mostly because there are so many people to get around to. And because, again, he just fits beautifully into most parts. We try to celebrate character actors around here, because there are so many great characters actors out there. Simmons is high on that list and has been since I was in high school. He’s a delight, even if the best role ever written for him was created when he was eight years old and may well have still thought he’d be a composer when he grew up.