J.K. Simmons
The Whiplash star is our Hero.
‘I’ll continue to go where I think the great writing is’
He stole the show in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, melted hearts as Juno’s super-cool pop and scared the bejesus out of us as volcanic jazz conductor Terence Fletcher in Whiplash – winning several awards in the process. Now, the 60-year-old actor is taking on Skynet alongside Arnie in Terminator Genisys. Just don’t call it a reboot…
Congrats on the Oscar. Awards season must have been a rollercoaster… It has indeed. Not even a rollercoaster, because from the very beginning everyone was telling me, ‘You’re going to win all of these awards.’ I was like, ‘OK.’ So it was just a ride.
Was it cool for you seeing the trajectory of Whiplash, from Sundance all the way to the Oscars?
Absolutely. I’ve had a long career and have very gradually come more into the limelight. For a movie like that to be the one that got me that level of attention was really gratifying. At first, there was a lot of attention coming my way. But I was like, ‘What about Damien [ Chazelle, director]? What about Miles [ Teller]? What about our editor and our musicians?’ So it’s nice to see the movie getting a lot of attention.
Next up is Terminator Genisys... Can you tell us about your character? We meet him as a rookie cop in 1984; fast-forward to 2017 and I’m playing a much older version of the character.
Presumably the role is a bit less intense than Terence Fletcher...
Yeah, well a big part of the joy of what I get to do is doing different kinds of things. This character was fun. Because he witnessed certain things in 1984 and nobody believes him, he’s perceived as a crackpot. He’s a guy whose life has been on hold because he’s obsessed with what he saw: robots, aliens… what the hell was it? So when our heroes – all the characters that we know from the first two films – reappear in 2017, he’s like, ‘I told you!’ He gets a little redemption.
How did they pitch this reboot to you?
‘Reset’ is the word we’re using. Not a ‘prequel’, not a ‘sequel’, not a ‘reboot’. Logically, because the timeline has been reset, that’s the term that makes the most sense. My agent told me they were interested in me for a new Terminator movie. I hadn’t seen the third and fourth ones. You know, you sort of hear mixed things about those, so I didn’t know. I was a little sceptical going in. But ultimately, as is usually the case with me, it was the script that sold me on it. It was so funny and smart and really covered all the bases. Alan Taylor and I had worked together years ago on [ TV show] Oz, so I knew we’d be in good hands, director-wise. It’s a very small part in this film, but with an opportunity to flesh the character out more in sequels.
How was it working with Arnie?
When he walks in the room, he’s impressive. He’s obviously a physical specimen, but he’s also really charismatic. When we were on set, I discovered he’s much more on top of a lot of conversation topics than I am! I can sit around all day talking about my wife and kids, baseball and cars, but when you get into international policy, Arnold is a really well-informed, smart guy.
You’re known for mixing these big blockbusters with small, independent films. Is it important for you to support both sides of the industry?
It absolutely is. Going forward, that’s a priority – to continue to find that balance. I’ll continue to go where I think the great writing is. I’m trying to stay as varied as I can in terms of the characters I’m playing.
ETA | 3 July Terminator Genisys opens this summer.