J. K. Simmons is a truly great character actor that nearly every movie goer recognizes, but might have trouble recalling his name: the father in Juno, J. Jonah Jameson in the “Spider -Man” films, several Coen Bros. movies and the HBO show, OZ.
How does he explain his good fortune? “Ultimately a lot of it is just right place, right time. Jason Reitman thought of me for his first movie, Thank You For Smoking. Juno came along because after we worked together on that we kind of got to be pals and he really went out on a limb and lobbied for me. The producers wanted movie stars for both that part and for Juno. Ellen Page and I had to do a full on old-fashioned screen test with Jason so he could convince the studio that we were the right actors for those parts.”
Simmons does not attempt to disguise his disappointment with producers decision to reboot “Spider- Man“, instead of moving forward with “Spider- Man 4“.
“There were a lot of levels on which I was disappointed by that, not the least of which was financial because, you know, a sequel is one of the few times that a journeyman like me gets to make a big fat paycheck.” Especially troublesome because the actor just bought a house. Simmons says, “Which I’m now paying for with commercials instead of “Spider-Man 4.”
To read more of the interview, go to: esquire.com
