Looking at the kind of work J.K. Simmons has done in the past it’s almost comical to compare his earlier work with the things he’s done recently. But then again he’s been a comical guy for a while and is capable of swinging back and forth between comedy and drama pretty regularly. Looking at him you really wouldn’t think that he would be made for anything resembling comedy since he’s got a very serious-looking face and the kind of stare that would be able to back down a rampaging grizzly if he really meant business. But overall Simmons seems like the kind of guy that you’d love to sit and listen to when he gets to talking on his favorite subjects, largely because he has such a pleasing voice and because he has the kind of demeanor that can be very settling unless he decides to go savage on you.
And yes, he can go absolutely savage if you notice how his evolution throughout film and TV has gone. His earlier works were a good indication of just how good of an actor he really is and his later stuff has only affirmed it. As an actor in films, TV, and commercials he’s shown that he has multiple sides that can be used in very different ways between the many roles he’s taken on. It would seem as though he’s a guy you don’t want to cross if you can avoid it, but he’s also been the kind of person that you would really love to sit and talk with about anything of interest.
Her are just a few times during his earlier works when he was at his very best.
The Ref
His part in this film is pretty small in comparison to his costars but it’s one that you don’t readily forget since it involves a very serious matter. He’s the commanding officer of the son of two of the main characters and is being blackmailed at the time. For all intents and purposes it seems as though Siskel would love to see young Jesse suffer just a bit for what he’s doing, but that would mean that his own misconduct would be brought to light and he’d likely lose his career. Near the end of the movie however Siskel finds that living with his own conscience is more important and decides to reveal just what Jesse has been doing in favor being able to sleep at night versus paying out to a kid to keep his secret. His character is comical this time around but he’s also pressed with a moral dilemma that makes him a bit more serious and less apt to cut up as he’s done in other roles.
Spider-Man
After reading the comics for so many years any fan would know that J. Jonah Jameson is more than just the jerk he seems to be on the pages. He’s actually been a decent human being at times but more often than not he’s an aggressive and very angry person that has a serious hate-on for Spider-Man and will do anything to discredit the wallcrawler that he can. The only trouble is that Jonah is kind of a comical character since his anger makes him this way. He’s so focused on getting the dirt on Spider-Man that he suffers from a various number of conditions that can be linked back to his anger issues. This is proven in Spider-Man 2 when he’s attempting to figure out which meds he needs to take in order to avoid worsening any of those conditions. That’s just how funny this guy is, he tears himself down in an attempt to get after the one person that he can’t seem to stand at all. And all the while if a super-villain is on the loose he’s thinking about which way to point the camera for the best angle.
Whiplash
This is where Simmons gets absolutely savage. Some teachers want the absolute best they can get out of their students and will say and do anything they can to get it. In Whiplash this involves crossing lines that many teachers won’t willingly cross but it does get results at the risk of sending Andrew down a very self-destructive path that would be difficult to impossible to come back from. And all the while Fletcher is trying to get the best out of Andrew he’s also antagonizing him to see if he has what it takes to push through and unlock the talent that he supposedly has to become the best that he could ever be. That kind of dedication to being the jerk in a movie is a scary thought but it’s one that Simmons has managed to do repeatedly and with such zeal that it makes you wonder just where he pulls that aggression from.
It’s what makes him one of the greats, but it’s also something that edges close to a fine line when it comes to who a person really is.
Follow Us
