30 Surprising Facts We Bet You Didn’t Know About J.K. Simmons

Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons, world renowned character actor and voice actor, is famous for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series "Law & Order." He has around fifty accolades to his name including an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA. Here are some interesting facts about the actor:

1. He was born as Jonathan Kimble Simmons on January 9, 1955, to a middle school music teacher Donald William Simmons and Patricia Kimble an administrator in Michigan, Detroit.
2. He made his acting debut in 1986 TV movie “Popeye Doyle” as a patrolman in the park. His movie debut came 8 years later in 1994 movie “The Ref”.
3. Famous comic book writer, editor and publisher Stan Lee had expressed his interest to play J. Jonah Jameson in the movie “Spiderman”. However he praised J.K. Simmons’s portrayal of the character.
4. He won 47 awards for his role in the movie “Whiplash” in 2014. He played a very demanding music conductor who will not stop at anything to push his student towards greatness.
5. In the TV series “OZ” from 1997 to 2003, J.K. Simmons along with other 3 cast members were the only cast members to have appeared in all the episodes.
6. He suffered ribs injury during last two days of shooting for movie “Whiplash” when Teller tackled him. However he went on to complete the shoot with the injury.
7. He used wigs and fake moustaches to portray Jonah Jameson in Spiderman franchises. Even though he is completely bald and clean shaven in real life, people still recognize him immediately as the character.
8. His wife Michelle Schumacher made guest appearance in the TV series “OZ” as Norma Clark. However they don’t share a screen space.
9. In the 2008 movie “Burn after Reading” he plays the character of CIA Superior who ironically never stands during the entire movie.
10. In the 2007 movie “Postal” almost all of his dialogues were ad-libbed.
11. For a slap scene in the movie “Whiplash” Simmons and Miles Teller practiced several times just mimicking the slap. However during the shoot he genuinely slapped Teller that was included in the movie.
12. On the sets of TV series “OZ” a moving camera fell and injured him. Though not serious he was injured on his bald head.
13. Simmons was so impressed with the script of 2007 movie “Juno” that he was ready to play any character just to be part of the cast. He was even ready to play the character of the teacher who did not have any dialogue in the movie.
14. His agent was not willing to cast him in the movie “Postal”. Simmons just wanted to be part of the film and came for the casting against his will.
15. He gained 40+ pounds for his character Stu Kopenhafer in the movie “New in Town” in 2009.
16. During the engagement dinner scene in the 2009 movie “I Love You Man” Simmons’s character is referred to as “OZ”. Simmons had previously acted in the prison TV series “OZ” during 1997 to 2003.
17. In the movie “Up in the Air” when Simmons’s character Bob shows Ryan photos of his children, they are photos of his real life children.
18. In the TV series “Law and Order” Simmons’s character a police psychiatrist was named as Emil Skoda, after the founder of Car manufacturing company Skoda.
19. He lent his voice to the ‘Prison Warden’ during the climax in the animated movie “Megamind” in 2010.
20. Simmons coming from a musical background had played piano previously but he had to take classes again for his role in the movie “Whiplash”.
21. He graduated with a Music Degree from the University of Montana in 1978. His father was the director of School of Music in the University of Montana during that time.
22. He also lent his voice to the character Kai in the animation “Kung Fu Panda 3” and mayor Lionheart in the animation movie “Zootopia”.
23. During the short film “Whiplash” in 2013, Teller was unavailable and Johnny Simmons was cast as a drummer. However for the main feature film Teller was cast since he was an actual drummer and a better known name.
24. In the video game “Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3” he appears as president Howard T Ackerman and uses the slogan “Vote for me if you want to live”.
25. He gave his voice to the video game character Cave Johnson in “Portal 2.” He again reprised his role as Johnson in another video game “Lego Dimensions.”
26. He has two children with his wife Michelle Schumacher: a boy named Joe and a daughter named Olivia.
27. He played the manager of the baseball team Detroit Tigers in the movie “For Love of the Game” in 1999. Ironically he is an avid fan to the team.
28. He also voiced the protagonist’s boss via voicemail in the movie “Young Adult” as well as the voice of the yellow logo of “M&M” in their commercials.
29. He was given a leading role in the movie “Kong: Skull Island”. However he along with Michael Keaton withdrew at the last moment.
30. He has an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Golden Globes Award For Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor, to his name, for his role as Fletcher in the 2014 movie "Whiplash."
31. J.K. Simmons Net Worth: $10 Million