J.K. Simmons

Born

January 9, 1955 (70 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He has been cited as one of the greatest contemporary character actors, and has appeared in over 200 film and television roles since his debut in 1986. He is an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics Choice Award winner, among other accolades.

His film roles include J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), tobacco industry executive B.R. in Thank You for Smoking (2005), Mac MacGuff in Juno (2007), music instructor Terence Fletcher in Whiplash (2014), Bill in La La Land (2016), William Frawley in Being the Ricardos (2021), and Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Extended Universe films Justice League (2017), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), and Batgirl (2022). He reprised his role as Jameson in various Marvel media unrelated to the Sam Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated series and the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Sony's Spider-Man Universe films Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (both 2021), and the web series TheDailyBugle.net (2019; 2021).

On television, he is known for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order, white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz, and Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on TNT's The Closer. From 2017 to 2019, he starred as Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart. He has also appeared in a series of commercials for Farmers Insurance and starred in the third season of the IFC comedy series Brockmire. In 2020, he had recurring roles on the miniseries Defending Jacob and The Stand.

As a voice artist, he is known for voicing Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2 (2011), Tenzin in The Legend of Korra (2012–2014), Stanford “Ford” Pines in Gravity Falls (2015–2016), Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), Mayor Leodore Lionheart in Zootopia (2016), the titular character in Klaus (2019), Pig Baby in Season 4 of the HBO Max animated series Infinity Train (2021), and Nolan “Omni-Man” Grayson in the Amazon Prime action animated series Invincible (2021). He has been the voice of the Yellow M&M since 1996.

Known For

7.9

Spider-Man: Far From Home

The Accountant²

Ray King

7.2

2025

Red One

Nick

7.0

2024

Juror #2

Harold

6.8

2024

Saturday Night

Milton Berle

6.7

2024

The Union

Tom Brennan

6.2

2024

You Can't Run Forever

Wade

5.7

2024

The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart

Ben (voice)

7.3

2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

J. Jonah Jameson (voice)

8.3

2023

Rally Road Racers

Gnash (voice)

6.6

2023

Little Brother

Warren Duffy

1.0

2023

One Day as a Lion

Walter Boggs

5.7

2023

Rivals: Ohio State vs. Michigan

Narrator

0.0

2022

Prophets of Change

Narrator

0.0

2022

Glorious

Ghat (voice)

5.8

2022

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Captain Putty (voice)

7.0

2022

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

Self (archive footage)

6.8

2022

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Ivo Shandor

7.3

2021

Seal Team

Claggart (voice)

6.9

2021

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

J. Jonah Jameson (uncredited)

6.8

2021

Fanboy

J.K. / Frank Perry

0.0

2019

The Front Runner

Bill Dixon

5.9

2018

A Boy Called Sailboat

Ernest

6.6

2018

Father Figures

Ronald Hunt

5.8

2017

I'm Not Here

Steve

5.9

2017

Justice League

Commissioner James Gordon

6.1

2017

The Bachelors

Bill Palet

7.1

2017

The Snowman

Arve Støp

5.2

2017

Renegades

Levin

5.6

2017

The Black Ghiandola

Ralph Aceto

7.0

2017

All Nighter

Mr. Gallo

5.7

2017

Punching Henry

Jay Warren

5.9

2017

Patriots Day

Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese

7.1

2016

La La Land

Bill

7.9

2016

The Accountant

Ray King

7.1

2016

The Late Bloomer

James Newmans

5.5

2016

Rock Dog

Khampa (voice)

6.2

2016

The Meddler

Randall Zipper

6.0

2016

Zootopia

Mayor Leodore Lionheart (voice)

7.7

2016

Kung Fu Panda 3

Kai (voice)

6.9

2016

Worlds Apart

Sebastian

6.6

2015

O.W.C.A. Files

Napoleon / Additional Voices (voice)

7.8

2015

Terminator Genisys

O'Brien

5.9

2015

Men, Women & Children

Allison's Dad

6.5

2014

Whiplash

Fletcher

8.4

2014

Ava & Lala

General Tiger (voice)

8.0

2014

The Boxcar Children

Dr. Moore (voice)

7.7

2014

The Rewrite

Dr. Hal Lerner

6.0

2014

Murder of a Cat

Sheriff Frank Hoyle

5.0

2014

Break Point

Jack

5.8

2014

Barefoot

Dr. Bertleman

6.6

2014

Labor Day

Mr. Jervis

7.0

2013

Jobs

Arthur Rock

6.1

2013

3 Geezers!

J. Kimball

3.9

2013

The Magic Bracelet

Off the Map

George

6.5

2003

Disposal

Older Hunter

0.0

2003

Spider-Man

J. Jonah Jameson

7.3

2002

The Mexican

Ted Slocum

5.9

2001

Starwater

0.0

2001

Autumn in New York

Dr. Tom Grandy

6.1

2000

The Gift

Sheriff Pearl Johnson

6.5

2000

The Cider House Rules

Ray Kendall

7.1

1999

For Love of the Game

Frank Perry

6.5

1999

Hit and Runway

Ray Tilman

4.6

1999

Crossing Fields

Guy

0.0

1998

Above Freezing

Hoyd

7.0

1998

Celebrity

Souvenir Hawker

6.0

1998

Anastasia

Ensemble and Character Vocals (voice)

7.6

1997

Face Down

Herb Aames

3.0

1997

The Jackal

FBI Agent T. I. Witherspoon

6.4

1997

Love Walked In

Mr. Shulman

4.0

1997

Extreme Measures

Dr. Mingus

6.0

1996

The Ref

Siskel

6.5

1994

Hypergalactic

(voice)

0.0

The Prince

0.0

The Scout

Assistant Coach

5.2

1994

Popeye Doyle

Patrolman in Park

4.5

1986

Spaceman

0.0

The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery

Narrator

5.5

2025

Hopper: An American Love Story

Edward Hopper (voice)

6.9

2022

Night Sky

Franklin York · (8 episodes)

6.9

2022

Marmaduke

Zeus (voice)

4.9

2022

Spider-Man: No Way Home

J. Jonah Jameson

7.9

2021

Being the Ricardos

William Frawley

6.5

2021

National Champions

Coach James Lazor

6.4

2021

The Tomorrow War

James Forester

7.5

2021

Ride the Eagle

Carl

6.3

2021

Rushing or Dragging

Terrence Fletcher (Archive Audio)

9.0

2021

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Commissioner Gordon

8.1

2021

The Great North

Tusk Johnson (voice) · (2 episodes)

6.9

2021

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Orville

0.0

2020

Palm Springs

Roy

7.3

2020

Klaus

Klaus (voice)

8.2

2019

21 Bridges

Captain Matt McKenna

6.8

2019

3 Days with Dad

Joey

5.1

2019

Spider-Man: Far From Home

J. Jonah Jameson

7.4

2019

Drug$

Narrator

9.2

2018

Detroit: Comeback City

Himself - Narrator

8.0

2018

The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island

Dr. Moore (voice)

6.2

2018

Robert Kirkman's Secret History of Comics

Self · (1 episode)

7.4

2017

Growing Up Fisher

Mel Fisher · (13 episodes)

6.5

2014

Family Tools

(10 episodes)

5.1

2013

Men At Work

P.J. Jordan · (5 episodes)

6.6

2012

The Legend of Korra

Tenzin (voice) · (52 episodes)

8.2

2012

Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man

J. Jonah Jameson (voice) · (103 episodes)

7.7

2012

Ben 10 - Generator Rex: Heroes United

White Knight (voice)

7.1

2011

Extract: Mike Judge's Secret Recipe

Self

3.0

2009

Party Down

Leonard Stiltskin · (2 episodes)

7.5

2009

Walt Whitman

Narrator (voice)

5.0

2008

The Closer

Will Pope · (109 episodes)

7.9

2005

American Dad!

Judge (voice) · (1 episode)

7.0

2005

Broadway's Lost Treasures II

Benny Southstreet (segment "Guys & Dolls")

8.0

2004

Jack & Bobby

(1 episode)

7.0

2004

Justice League Unlimited

Eiling (voice) · (1 episode)

8.3

2004

Justice League Unlimited

General Eiling (voice) · (4 episodes)

8.3

2004

The Jury

(1 episode)

7.0

2004

The D.A.

Dep. Dist. Atty. Joe Carter · (4 episodes)

0.0

2004

Arrested Development

General Anderson · (1 episode)

7.9

2003

Nip/Tuck

(1 episode)

7.2

2003

Without a Trace

Mark Wilson · (1 episode)

7.2

2002

John Doe

(1 episode)

7.2

2002

Everwood

Phil Drebbles · (1 episode)

7.5

2002

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Emil Skoda · (1 episode)

7.6

2001

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Dr. Emil Skoda · (6 episodes)

7.9

1999

The First Wives Club

Federal Marshall

6.7

1996

Guys and Dolls: Off the Record

Himself / Benny Southstreet

10.0

1992

The Tomorrow War 2

Slade

0.0

109 Billion Followers

0.0

Reykjavik

George Shultz

0.0

Heart of the Beast

0.0

Ren & Stimpy

Lint (voice) · (1 episode)

0.0

2024

INVINCIBLE

Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man (voice) · (24 episodes)

8.6

2021

The Stand

General Starkey · (1 episode)

6.9

2020

Die Hart

Jackson Pepper · (7 episodes)

6.2

2020

Home Movie: The Princess Bride

The Grandfather · (1 episode)

7.5

2020

Coronavirus, Explained

Self - Narrator · (1 episode)

6.9

2020

Defending Jacob

Billy Barber · (8 episodes)

8.3

2020

The Kelly Clarkson Show

Self · (2 episodes)

6.5

2019

Explained

Narrator (voice) · (1 episode)

7.5

2018

Counterpart

Howard Silk · (20 episodes)

7.4

2017

No Activity

Leo · (4 episodes)

6.8

2017

Brockmire

Matt "The Bat" Hardesty · (8 episodes)

6.8

2017

Goliath

George Zax · (8 episodes)

7.6

2016

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

Self · (1 episode)

5.7

2015

Major Lazer

President Whitewall (voice) · (11 episodes)

6.6

2015

What Lives Inside

Benjamin 'Pops' Delaney · (4 episodes)

7.4

2015

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

Self · (2 episodes)

5.0

2014

BoJack Horseman

Lenny Turtletaub (voice) · (13 episodes)

8.5

2014

Wild Hawaii

Narrator (voice) · (2 episodes)

6.8

2014

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Voice Over (voice) · (1 episode)

7.9

2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Self · (3 episodes)

5.9

2014

LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes: Maximum Overload

J. Jonah Jameson (voice) · (5 episodes)

6.6

2013

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Frank Dillman · (1 episode)

8.2

2013

Gravity Falls

Stanford Pines (voice) · (8 episodes)

8.6

2012

Best Friends Forever

Don · (1 episode)

3.0

2012

NTSF:SD:SUV::

Frank Forrest · (1 episode)

6.8

2011

Desert Car Kings

Himself - Narrator · (10 episodes)

0.0

2011

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

J. Jonah Jameson (voice) · (2 episodes)

8.2

2010

The Talk

Self - Guest · (1 episode)

3.4

2010

Pound Puppies

7.9

2007

Phineas and Ferb

J.B. (voice) · (1 episode)

7.9

2007

American Dad!

Dean of CIA Academy (voice) · (1 episode)

7.0

2005

American Dad!

Gene (voice) · (1 episode)

7.0

2005

American Dad!

Jed Farnsworth (voice) · (1 episode)

7.0

2005

Veronica Mars

Clyde Pickett · (7 episodes)

7.8

2004

Kim Possible

Martin Smarty (voice) · (1 episode)

7.5

2002

Kim Possible

Martin Smarty / Additional voices (voice) · (1 episode)

7.5

2002

Third Watch

Frank Hagedorn · (1 episode)

7.9

1999

The West Wing

Harry Ravitch · (1 episode)

8.3

1999

Oz

Vernon Schillinger · (56 episodes)

8.0

1997

Spin City

Kevin · (1 episode)

7.1

1996

Remember WENN

'Captain Amazon' · (1 episode)

8.0

1996

New York News

(1 episode)

0.0

1995

ER

Gus Loomer · (1 episode)

7.8

1994

New York Undercover

(1 episode)

7.1

1994

Homicide: Life on the Street

Alexander Rausch · (1 episode)

8.0

1993

Law & Order

Emil Skoda · (45 episodes)

7.4

1990

Law & Order

Jerry Luppin · (1 episode)

7.4

1990

The Simpsons

Victor Kleskow (voice) · (1 episode)

8.0

1989

The Simpsons

Tabloid Editor (voice) · (1 episode)

8.0

1989

The Simpsons

J. Jonah Jameson (voice) · (1 episode)

8.0

1989

The Simpsons

JJ Gruff (voice) · (1 episode)

8.0

1989

The Simpsons

Dr. Jessup (voice) · (1 episode)

8.0

1989

American Masters

Edward Hopper · (1 episode)

7.4

1986

Saturday Night Live

Self - Host · (1 episode)

7.0

1975

Saturday Night Live

Self - Cameo (uncredited) · (1 episode)

7.0

1975

The Oscars

Self · (1 episode)

7.1

1953

The Westies

Eamon Sweeney · (1 episode)

0.0