J. K. Simmons

Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most eminent character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award. His film roles include J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), tobacco industry executive B.R. in Thank You for Smoking (2006), Mac MacGuff in Juno (2007), music instructor Terence Fletcher in Whiplash (2014), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Bill in La La Land (2016), Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Extended Universe film Justice League (2017), and William Frawley in Being the Ricardos (2021), for which he received another nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role as Jameson in various Marvel media unrelated to the Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), the web series The Daily Bugle (2019-2023), and the Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). On television, he is known for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order, white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz, and Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on TNT's The Closer. From 2017 to 2019, he starred as Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart. He has also appeared in a series of commercials for Farmers Insurance and starred in the third season of the IFC comedy series Brockmire. In 2020, he had recurring roles on the miniseries Defending Jacob and The Stand. In 2022, he played the lead role in the Amazon Prime Video science fiction series Night Sky.