J. K. Simmons names his five favourite movies of all time
J. K. Simmons is one of his generation’s most tirelessly active performers, having appeared in over 200 films and TV shows since his debut in 1986. His approach to acting is one of utter diligence and has provided some of the most amazing character studies ever committed to the screen.
Among his most significant roles are J. Jonah Jameson in the original Spider-Man trilogy, father Mac MacGuff in indie classic Juno and bonkers music teacher Terence Fletcher in Whiplash. But how about Simmon’s favourite cinematic works? Well, fortunately, he once revealed them in a feature with Rotten Tomatoes.
First up for Simmons is Robert Mulligan’s 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which had been released the year before. It focuses on Atticus Finch (a lawyer played by Gregory Peck), who is hired to defend a black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman. Mary Badham plays Finch’s daughter Scout.
Simmons said of both the film and the book it was based on, “Obviously, To Kill a Mockingbird is, you know, one of the great novels of the 20th century, and a beautiful film adaptation of that that I think did a great job. Yeah, just a really well-made film with characters that I think are relatable to a really wide range of people, as all great storytelling is, whether it’s a film or a novel or whatever it is. Something that’s accessible for a variety of ages and demographics and is something that speaks to a lot of people.”
Up next for Simmons is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, directed by Stanley Kramer and released in 1967. The romantic comedy-drama was one of the first films to depict an interracial relationship in a positive manner and starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn. Simmons remembers the film “was the first sort of grown-up movie that I remember seeing with my parents, and if I’m not mistaken, I think it was at a drive-in theatre, which half your audience doesn’t even know what that is. And that was like an odd movie for the drive-in.”
Another classic book-to-film adaptation that Simmons admires is Milos Forman’s 1975 picture One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, based on Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name. He said of the Jack Nicholson-starring movie, having already been impressed by the stage version, “Then I saw the movie, and obviously, Forman and the entire cast, down to people that didn’t even speak on camera, that movie was just so wonderfully done.”
The last two films on Simmons’ list are films that he himself has performed in. The first is Juno from 2007, in which he starred as Elliot Page’s father, who himself plays a troubled teenager. The film was a massive success considering its small budget, and Simmons notes that he got the role because he was cheaper than some of his competitors. The producers told director Jason Reitman, “Look, if you want to get this movie made and get the budget that you want to have, these are the kind of guys that you need to play Juno’s dad.” Fortunately, Simmons landed one of his most crucial roles.
Finally, one of Simmons’ most intense performances came in Damien Chazelle’s 2014 film Whiplash, in which he played a brutal music teacher opposite Miles Teller’s drumming student Andrew. Simmons was blown away by Teller’s drumming skills and said, “[Damien] wrote it with Miles Teller in mind from the beginning and didn’t know that Miles had been playing the drums since he was 15 years old.”
J.K. Simmons’ five favourite movies of all time:
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962)
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)
- Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)
- Whiplash (Damien Chazelle, 2014)
