Any fan of J.K. Simmons can tell you that the man has been tearing it up for years, whether it be on HBO's Oz, in films, or even on stage. Karma has finally come around, awarding him a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his fantastic work in WHIPLASH. Last week Simmons sat down with Howard Stern to talk about his latest. Inevitably the topic of Spider-Man came up and Stern rightfully praised his work as the cutthroat editor J. Jonah Jameson. He took it a step further and asked if he would ever return to the role. You can jump to the 55:30 mark of the interview to hear the man himself say it, but I've included the exact quote for you below.
J.K. Simmons on playing J. Jonah Jameson again:
I just heard we . . . that that's a possibility.
I love this quote because if you listen to it, it sounds like Simmons is going to dive into something before taking a moment and delivering a PC answer. Now, that may not be the case at all, but when asked straight up by Stern if he would do it, Simmons simply responded with, "Absolutely." Okay, so that's far from a confirmation but if Sony does take the Spider-Man franchise in a slightly different direction, like we're all hoping they do after the wreck that was THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, then I don't think bringing Simmons back is too far-fetched. The man seems like he had a ton of fun in that role and audiences loved him for it. That, my friends, puts a big smile on my face!
WHIPLASH is now playing in select theaters.