He’s the face of those Farmers insurance ads, and also doctor Emile Skoda in all the different variations of the Law and Order franchise. To those who cannot forget Oz, the show that ran in HBO for six seasons, he will always be the dangerous leader of the Aryan brotherhood in prison. And to many kids that are now grown ups, his face will evoke memories of watching Spider-Man movies in the theater with their families, just because he was perfect as J. Jonah Jameson, the always impatient boss of Peter Parker, when Tobey Maguire played him. With so many unforgettable characters and a long career that started in theater, and then took him to film and television, J.K. Simmons is a very recognizable actor, even if not too many people would remember his name. That changed forever after Whiplash, the film that this year took the Audience and the Grand Jury Awards at the Sundance Film Festival, started to impress everyone who watched it. In the film, directed by newcomer Damien Chazelle, Simmons plays Terence Fletcher, an obsessive music teacher who’ll stop at nothing to entice greatness from his students. When he discovers in his class the potential of Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a drum player as obsessive as he is, he will give him what he thinks is the ultimate dream, a chance to play with the best of the best in the school. Over the tense 107 minutes of the film, Fletcher will challenge Neiman in any way he can, because he’s sure the young and ambitious student will give his sweat, his blood and his sleep trying to become the best drummer since Buddy Rich, the astonishing jazz drummer of great fame during the 40s and 50s. In person, J.K. (the initials that mean Jonathan Kimble) couldn’t be more laid back: “I’m more interested in achieving goodness than achieving greatness”, he told the HFPA back in September, when the movie was one of the best received at the Toronto Film Festival, to which he added: “Having said that, hard work pays dividends, and I think anything worth having, is worth working for. But there’s a difference to me between working hard and being obsessive to the point of forsaking the good parts of life”. Still, Simmons filmed Whiplash over the course of 19 very intense days, but he was delighted to accept the suggestions of Chazelle, who instructed his two key players to relax between takes, so they could put all their intensity at work only when the camera was rolling. The veteran actor, who will turn 60 this January 9, just two days before attending the Golden Globes as a nominee for the first time ever, was very familiar with Fletcher for several reasons, one of them was the fact that he played him in a short film of the same title that the young director prepared to attract investors for the $3.3 million feature, which also became a sensation on the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The other big one was his own relationship with music, having a father that was a composer, a choir conductor and a music teacher, and having himself tried to become himself a musician in his youth. After singing in choirs he decided to study conducting and composition in college where he majored in music – until he was bitten by the acting bug and went to perform in musicals on Broadway. The rest, as they say, is history. Probably one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, Simmons never stopped to rest on his laurels after playing one of his best roles. His profile shows he added at least 20 credits after he finished Whiplash, including parts in several independent films as well as in the upcoming Terminator Genisys, but also in Men, Women and Children, the latest from Jason Reitman, a director who has called him for every one of the films he has made so far. Gabriel Lerman With so many unforgettable characters and a long career that started in theater, and then took him to film and television, J.K. Simmons is a very recognizable actor, even if not too many people would remember his name. That changed forever after Whiplash, the film that this year took the Audience and the Grand Jury Awards at the Sundance Film Festival, started to impress everyone who watched it. In the film, directed by newcomer Damien Chazelle, Simmons plays Terence Fletcher, an obsessive music teacher who’ll stop at nothing to entice greatness from his students. When he discovers in his class the potential of Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a drum player as obsessive as he is, he will give him what he thinks is the ultimate dream, a chance to play with the best of the best in the school. Over the tense 107 minutes of the film, Fletcher will challenge Neiman in any way he can, because he’s sure the young and ambitious student will give his sweat, his blood and his sleep trying to become the best drummer since Buddy Rich, the astonishing jazz drummer of great fame during the 40s and 50s. In person, J.K. (the initials that mean Jonathan Kimble) couldn’t be more laid back: “I’m more interested in achieving goodness than achieving greatness”, he told the HFPA back in September, when the movie was one of the best received at the Toronto Film Festival, to which he added: “Having said that, hard work pays dividends, and I think anything worth having, is worth working for. But there’s a difference to me between working hard and being obsessive to the point of forsaking the good parts of life”. Still, Simmons filmed Whiplash over the course of 19 very intense days, but he was delighted to accept the suggestions of Chazelle, who instructed his two key players to relax between takes, so they could put all their intensity at work only when the camera was rolling. The veteran actor, who will turn 60 this January 9, just two days before attending the Golden Globes as a nominee for the first time ever, was very familiar with Fletcher for several reasons, one of them was the fact that he played him in a short film of the same title that the young director prepared to attract investors for the $3.3 million feature, which also became a sensation on the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The other big one was his own relationship with music, having a father that was a composer, a choir conductor and a music teacher, and having himself tried to become himself a musician in his youth. After singing in choirs he decided to study conducting and composition in college where he majored in music – until he was bitten by the acting bug and went to perform in musicals on Broadway. The rest, as they say, is history. Probably one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, Simmons never stopped to rest on his laurels after playing one of his best roles. His profile shows he added at least 20 credits after he finished Whiplash, including parts in several independent films as well as in the upcoming Terminator Genisys, but also in Men, Women and Children, the latest from Jason Reitman, a director who has called him for every one of the films he has made so far. Gabriel Lerman