What You Never Knew About J.K. Simmons

Jonathan Kimble Simmons was born in the Detroit area, but spent much of his early life in Ohio, according to Men's Health. He shortened his name to "J.K." before launching his film career, per The Guardian. In high school, he sported long blonde hair and played JV football. At John Worthington High, you had three choices – be a jock, a nerd, or "a weird hippie freak. You cannot cross these lines," he explained. After ending up on a team with the motto, "It's gotta hurt!," he was sorry he did.

In 2015, he told Esquire his abusive coaches made his life a living hell, screaming at players and denying them water. "I literally got kicked in the a** repeatedly and called all kinds of names," he said. So, the young athlete traded in his cleats and team jersey for sandals and tie-dyed t-shirts. "I went from being a jock to a hippie," he said. "Quickly, I was back in the pine trees with the hippies, listening to my Jimi Hendrix and my Janis Joplin and turning on, tuning in and dropping out."

But there's more to this story. He questioned if being a football player was worth his time, since he thought the hippie girls were prettier than the jock girls. He also was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease, a common affliction in adolescents, which causes knee pain. That, unfortunately, put an end to his football career once and for all.

J.K. Simmons paid his dues on and off-Broadway and in regional theater, and as many actors do, he dealt with a lot of rejection, per Variety. He appeared on Broadway in "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," "Guys and Dolls," as Benny Southstreet, and he played Captain Hook in "Peter Pan." Odd jobs helped to pay the bills, and you might find one of his go-to gigs particularly odd.

As the "La La Land" actor explained on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," "The main thing I was doing was the tutu-grams," he said. "It was dudes with beards and otherwise sort of mountainy-looking dudes with tutus. It was my main source of both income and embarrassment." Another money-making side hustle was selling beer for $1 a can to guys playing ball in Central Park on hot summer days, per Men's Health. Still, it was tough to make ends meet.

Along with his theater gigs at the time, which only paid about $40 a day, Simmons hardly had enough to pay for his expenses and what he described as "some s****hole sublet in Hell's Kitchen" he used as a crash pad. But don't call him a struggling actor. "I don't use the word 'struggle," he said. "Struggle is people who have three kids and are trying to keep a roof over their heads. I was just a single, dumba** guy with no responsibilities other than getting a slice of pizza."

Back in the mid-90s, as J.K. Simmons' screen career was starting to pick up steam, there was one big setback for the rising star, per The Guardian. After understudying the role of the Colonel in "A Few Good Men" on Broadway numerous times, Simmons thought he would finally get his shot. Ron Perlman, who had been playing the role, left the show, and producers ended up casting a more famous actor instead to replace him.

"There was nobody on the planet, no other actor, that was more the right guy for that role at that production," he said. That slap in the face really stung, even years later. "I still get emotional about it; how could the universe be so unfair?," he asked. Simmons quit the show altogether and joined a touring company of "Peter Pan." A few months later, an actor named Michelle Schumacher joined the cast, and the pair were married in 1996, per AP.

"This devastating, horrible thing happened that led to the best thing in my life — that led to my life, my family," he said. Schumacher began her career as a triple-threat on Broadway, and she also appeared in "Oz." Looking back on losing that role, Simmons tries to stay focused on the bright side. "If the right thing had happened in that scenario, I wouldn't have kids," he said. Simmons shares two children with Schumacher.

In the 2014 film "Whiplash," J.K. Simmons plays Terence Fletcher, a music conservatory instructor, who subjects his student Andrew, a talented jazz drummer, played by Miles Teller, to a relentless regimen of verbal and physical abuse, per The Guardian. Simmons said releasing all that rage in the role that earned him an Academy Award felt good. "Even if it did involve slapping Miles Teller repeatedly," he quipped in a 2015 interview with Esquire. "But seriously, who doesn't want to slap a 27-year-old movie star?"

But what happened next was nothing to joke about. After getting a smackdown, per The Guardian, Teller's character Andrew wanted payback, and he tackled his teacher, leaving Simmons with a serious injury. "JK cracked a rib," the "Top Gun: Maverick" star said, adding that he took no pride in what he did. After being slapped around for weeks, Teller explained, "I always dug that scene because he just finally snaps."

For Simmons, that on-set injury paled in comparison to another one he received years earlier. "On 'Oz' one day, I got a chunk of a camera embedded in my head and I was passed out on the floor geysering blood while the set medic stood over me," he said. "The Closer" alum, who wound up having nine "Frankenstein stitches" in his head, said the medic was "freaking out. No help whatsoever." When filming his part resumed, he added, "they shot me from the other side for the day. That's hardcore."

J.K. Simmons has a reputation for playing some less-than-noble characters, per The New York Times, So, what makes this accomplished actor so good at being bad? He said it starts with figuring out how the character would define the word "bad." "Certainly Terence Fletcher doesn't perceive himself as a bad guy or even Vernon Schillinger [the brutal neo-Nazi inmate on HBO's "Oz"]," he said. Simmons added that he would like to think everyone's actions ultimately come from "a place of love."

In the role of Colonel Jessep in "A Few Good Men" on Broadway, Simmons said he looked past the fact that Jessup was "an egomaniac and a power freak" and embraced "his love for the Marine Corps, his love for his country, his love for God." Speaking to NPR, Simmons explained he tries to analyze what drives each character to act the way they do.

"Very few people who we view as bad guys get out of bed and think what evil, terrible thing am I going to do today? Most people see their motivations as justified — as, you know, justifying whatever they do." For Simmons, unleashing his temper on-camera can come with benefits, as he explained about his character on "Whiplash" on NPR's "All Things Considered" in 2014. "It was 100 percent cathartic," he said, adding, "and, you know, occasionally painful. Screaming is hard after a while."

In 2016, some photos of the bearded actor at the gym had the internet buzzing, according to Men's Health. J.K. Simmons refers to it as his "shredded Santa" look. Per People, the actor was reportedly training hard with celebrity trainer Aaron Williamson for months to develop his ripped biceps and toned shoulders. The fitness pro was impressed with the senior citizen's stamina, writing on Instagram, "Every time we train together I forget he's 61 years old."

In another post, the former Marine wrote about his client, "He's making me look bad." But Simmons' new workout routine wasn't in preparation for any particular role. It was more of a long-term effort to improve his health. In a 2016 interview with Insider, the star explained that he first gained weight and was "not in good shape at all" while shooting "Oz." To truly embody that character, he thought, "I have to get my a** to the gym and be a believable hard-a**.'"

In 2009, he had ballooned to 250 pounds, and started working on a new health and fitness regimen. After what he described as the second time he "got hugely fat," Simmons said, "I pretty much decided that I was going to stay in decent shape for the rest of my life." In an interview with Senior Planet, Simmons said he enjoys physical activity every day, whether he's at the gym, riding a bike or playing baseball. "I've tried to keep fit and keep my energy up," he said.

J. K. Simmons received a second Oscar nomination for his role in the 2021 film, "Being the Ricardos," which stars Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. But when he first learned about the project, written and directed by Oscar-winner Aaron Sorkin, he was hesitant, per Variety. "I wasn't all that interested, despite Aaron's involvement," he said, explaining, "I've always been reluctant to portray real people." The director assured him they weren't looking for imitation, they wanted to explore "who these people are."

He said that researching his role as William Frawley, the actor who portrayed Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy," was different from his usual process. He discovered that after the table read, Frawley would throw away pages of the script that didn't include him. "I found that to be a gem of insight into him," said Simmons, who did the same thing with his script in the film. "It was an interesting exercise in helping to create my own connective tissue between all of my scenes."

Simmons first caught Sorkin's attention in 1990, when he was understudying a role in Sorkin's Broadway play, "A Few Good Men," and had a chance to fill in. A colleague encouraged Sorkin to check out the actor's performance, and the playwright gave it two thumbs up. Sorkin says he wants Simmons in all of his movies. The "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" actor might be fine with that. He said, "I hope this is the first of many times we get to work together."