J.K. Simmons connects with intense character in ‘Whiplash,’ hopes to stir debate

By Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – As J.K Simmons hurled furniture, roared with displeasure and drew tears from young men in his role as a formidable jazz instructor in “Whiplash,” there was something about the character the veteran actor instantly connected with.

The idea of pushing performers to their limits and beyond in order to create astounding art was a notion the 59-year-old was eager to explore — and he hopes audiences will feel the same way.

“That’s the main thing to me with any character, whether it’s perceived as a bad guy or a good guy or whatever — do I connect with where it comes from and in this case it was very clear to me,” Simmons said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Does the end justify the means — that’s the debate that I hope we inspire.”

The gripping drama from American writer-director Damien Chazelle follows Andrew, a 19-year-old jazz drummer played by Miles Teller who aspires to be “one of the greats” and sees a shot at attaining his dream with Simmons’s character, Terence Fletcher, a feared and revered conductor at an elite music conservatory.

Simmons’s towering performance will likely have audiences shrinking in their seats as Teller’s character is pushed to extremes that literally draw blood, sweat and tears, but the young musician in the film also allows himself to be driven that far.

The push and pull that develops on screen could lead some to wonder just whose character is truly more unhinged, and that’s what Simmons loved about the film.

“When I first sat down with Damien after reading the script for the first time, it was like, there’s an ambivalence there,” Simmons said.

“I asked him, ‘where are you coming down here,’ because I wanted to be sure that he did want to create that debate.”

That debate, Simmons explained, delves into the occasionally shocking amount of sacrifice and pain — physical and mental — that goes into producing amazing music.

“Is it worth sacrificing that much of your humanity in order to achieve what you perceive as greatness and what you hope the world will perceive as greatness? I love that the movie inspires debate,” Simmons said.

“I can certainly see both sides of the issue.”

The movie started out as a short film by the same name that won an award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. It was subsequently developed into a full-length feature, with Simmons being a part of both versions.

“It was something I immediately felt I could lift off the page and bring to life,” Simmons said of his character. “I’m not saying I justify what Fletcher does, but I understood where it came from.”

Despite the tension that develops between Simmons’ and Teller’s characters on screen, the pair reverted to a comfortable camaraderie once the cameras stopped rolling.

“You certainly work with a lot of actors who really want to stay in it and maintain some kind of intensity but on this film it just happened that Miles and I just settled into a rhythm of just being goof balls,” Simmons said with a chuckle.

“We would finish a take and just goof around and give each other a hard time, like a couple of sophomores on the football team.”

That ease also translated into some improvisation on set that made it into the movie, Simmons added, noting that Chazelle was a collaborative director.

“It’s awesome to have a director, a writer-director especially, and a young writer-director even more especially, who doesn’t get his feelings hurt or get his ego bent out of shape and who understands that we’re all here to make the best movie we can,” said Simmons.

“It was the ideal combination of having a really, really great script and these really well defined characters, but then within that framework still having the freedom to bring our own stuff.”

“Whiplash” opens in Toronto and Vancouver on Friday before expanding to cities across Canada through the fall.

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