That's right, J. Jonah Jameson/the Farmers Insurance guy is the bookies favourite to be an Oscar winning actor in a few months time. This flippant intro aside though, J.K. Simmons is an undeniably amazing character actor who has been plugging away in the trenches of show business for some time. From his work in television, to working sporadically with the Coen Brothers, to at least having his voice heard in every single Jason Reitman film (Reitman is, not coincidentally, one of Whiplash's executive producers), Simmons is a workhorse of an actor whose work is always identifiable but never indolent. With the role of the utterly sadistic music instructor Fletcher, he has finally received a part to match his considerable skills. Fletcher is one of the most twisted, soul-crushing mentor/teacher characters to grace the silver screen in some time. A man who will only build you up if he thinks it will let him knock you down even further, Fletcher zones in on his students emotional weaknesses and then mercilessly prays upon them in his quixotic search for greatness. Spewing a torrent of hate-filled speech towards his students, his psychological duel with Miles Teller's Andrew is a memorable showdown that makes Whiplash one of the best films of 2014. As Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds have proved, playing iconic villains in this category is a big plus, and J.K. Simmons' Fletcher is absolutely, if nothing else, an iconic villain for the ages. If Birdman turns out to be the Academy's favorite film since Gone With the Wind, there is a slight chance Edward Norton could pull off the upset and steal the Oscar away from J.K. Simmons, but the chances of this happening are slim to none. This is Simmons' Oscar to lose. Who do you think will be nominated for the 2015 Best Supporting Actor? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
