Mt. Rushmore- J.K. Simmons
One of the most underrated actors of the 21st century, J.K. Simmons has defined himself as a versatile character and voice actor for two decades. He has starred in big budget films, indie projects, & TV shows, excelling in all aspects. His honorable mentions include some of the toughest cuts I’ve had to make thus far, and I honestly considered making him two separate Rushmores, one for animation and one for live action. But I stopped and put them all here and will know honorably mention some other roles. Those are: William Frawley in ‘Being the Ricardos,’ James Gordon in ‘Justice League,’ Mac MacGuff in ‘Juno,’ Stanford Pines in ‘Gravity Falls,’ Klaus in ‘Klaus,’ & Tenzin in ‘The Legend of Korra.’
Terence Fletcher in ‘Whiplash’- The merciless jazz instructor at Shaffer Conservatory who bullies and mentally abuses Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), as well as the other students who study under him. This role won Simmons the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2015. Simmons displays a more brutal side, but in a psychological since, not a physical one.
J. Jonah Jameson in ‘Spider-Man’- Few actors have become as synonymous with a comic book role as Simmons & JJJ. First playing a supporting role in Sam Raimi’s Tobey Maguire led trilogy, Simmons has reprised the role in live action in various forms. He has appeared in two of the MCU Tom Holland led films, had a cameo in two of Sony’s films (‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ & a deleted cameo in ‘Morbius’), and appeared in a 12 episode web series entitled ‘The Daily Bugle.’ As a voice actor he has played the role in one of the Spider-Verse films, and the TV series, ‘The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,’ ‘Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload,’ ‘Avengers Assemble,’ ‘Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.,’ & ‘Ultimate Spider-Man,’ and in two Spider-Man video games. He has made himself the go-to actor for Jameson, in any medium.
Yellow M&M- This may be a crazy take to some. Many of you probably didn’t realize this peanut flavored candy was the Oscar winner. But I think this is one of his most prominent voice roles. From ‘95-’96 the character was voiced in commercials by John Goodman, but Simmons took over in ‘96 and has voiced the character ever since. I would guess (literally no stats behind this), that Simmons has reached more people and airtime with this role than any other. The red & yellow M&M are two of the most iconic brand mascots there are.
Omni-Man in ‘Invincible’- I mean come on. I strongly believe Simmon’s best voice role is that of the Viltrumite Nolan Greyson, known as the superhero Omni-Man. He plays a different take on the Superman mold of character is a great foil to his son, Invincible (Steven Yeun). He plays a cold, cruel, but utterly powerful character that is one of the greatest animated villains in recent history.
