His unorthodox guidepost?J.K.
Simmonsover the phone for the occasion.
Collider: A lot of our readers might not know that you are a musician.
You have a history of singing, of being in Broadway musicals.
How would you characterize your history with music, and how did that affect your decision to be inWhiplash?
J.K. SIMMONS: Well, music was my first love.
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
And even when I bumped up against my limitations as a musician, I continued to follow it.
One of my downfalls as a musician was that my hands just don’t really connect to my brain.
So I was never really competent on any instrument.
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
But it was originally a feature script.
And immediately said, “I’ll do it.
I’ll do the short, I’ll do the whatever.”
Image via Sony Pictures
Obviously there was no money involved.
And I did a fair amount of study as a conductor, as well.
I mean, more classical.
Image via Neon/Hulu
And I really, really, really wanted to do it.
And so, we made the short film with Johnny Simmons.
I think it was a three-day shoot over a weekend in a crappy, free location.
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
You mentioned something I wanted to touch on, the conducting sequences.
[laughter]
I know.
SIMMONS: Well, I think there’s a vast range of styles of jazz conducting.
And most jazz conductors barely conduct at all.
Well, I shouldn’t say most, because again, my research wasn’t all that…
I was never really a jazz guy.
I appreciated it from a distance.
Whereas, with jazz there is, like I said, just a much wider range.
Which gave me the freedom to do what you ended up seeing on camera.
Or were the two of you willing to push past what you would normally do in a performance setting?
So, Miles and I always had freedom to paraphrase and improvise.
The vibe on set between Miles and me, really for everybody, was surprisingly fun and laid back.
This is not the first iconically yelling, angry character we’ve seen you play.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention J. Jonah Jameson.
How did that process of revisiting this character come about?
SIMMONS: Yeah,Far from Home.
And then, also as a potential to be an ongoing thing again.
And those movies with Sam Raimi were great highlights of my life and career.
And yeah, I’d always hoped that there would be another opportunity.
It ended up happening very quickly after we met.
I was very attached to what I had done previously for a variety of reasons.
So I guess the compromise ended up being no hair.
We got to shoot him tomorrow in the office."
I don’t know, you pick.
But yes, I’m very optimistic that I’ll have some more J.J.J.
Shifting gears a little bit, you mentioned Jason Reitman already.
I love your collaborations together.
I’m curious if there was ever any discussion in you showing up in his newGhostbustersfilm.
I really lovedPalm Springs: the whole film, the script, your performance in it.
Your character’s big moment is to “Find your Irvine.”
Which my son was especially thrilled about, since he’s this little idiot watering dog doo.
Especially the “not my tempo, rushing/dragging” sequence.
Did it ever become a little tiresome to keep revisiting that moment and making fun of it?
Or were you always down to clown?
It was such a pleasure to be hyping something that you honestly never had to exaggerate or over-hype.
So it was great to not have to spin anything that whole time.
So, no, I didn’t mind at all.
What do you think Fletcher would think of the Farmers Insurance jingle?
SIMMONS: Well, I think it’s impeccably done.
And it’s catchy.
So I think he would be dismissive of it, but not disapproving.
Thanks so much for your time, J.K., it was great chatting with you.
So, you know.
You heard the man:Whiplashis available on 4K Blu-ray right now.
