JK Simmons could have died young 'like James Dean'
Hollywood actor JK Simmons is convinced he would have died young "like James Dean" if he'd shot to fame in his 20s.
JK Simmons is convinced he would have died young "like James Dean" if he'd shot to fame in his 20s.
The 71-year-old actor spent years working in Hollywood before raising his profile with a role in the Spider-Man movies in the 2000s and finding critical acclaim in his late 50s when he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in 2014 drama Whiplash.
However, Simmons is glad he wasn't thrust into the spotlight at a young age because he's convinced it would have ended in tragedy - much like the death of Rebel Without a Cause star Dean, who died in a car crash in 1955 at the age of 24. He told The Telegraph newspaper: "It was a very slow [rise to fame], and thank God.
"If I had become a well-known actor when I was 24 years old – first of all, I wasn’t very good – but if I had been really in the public eye when I was really young and stupid, I don’t know what kind of disaster it might have been. I could have ended up like James Dean."
He added of his Hollywood career: "My kids have mocked me [about the parts I play] since they were little: 'You’re always the boss or the dad'.
"But by the time I was doing anything on camera, I was 40 years old, and I’m a bald white guy with a low voice, so I’m going to play a lot of cops, leaders of the bad guys, teachers, dads, etc."
He added: "I’m always the old guy on set now. Even back on [TV show] Oz, I was 42 and there were literal teenagers [in the cast].
"So I’m used to being the paterfamilias. Now I am occasionally number one on the call sheet, I try to do my part to make it comfortable."
Simmons previously revealed how one of the lowest points in his career "led to the best thing" in his life.
The actor quit as the understudy for the role of the Colonel in the Broadway version of A Few Good Men after being overlooked for the main role, and he was subsequently cast as Captain Hook in a touring revival of Peter Pan, where he met his now-wife, actress Michelle Schumacher.
Simmons - who has a daughter called Olivia and a son called Joe with Michelle - told the Guardian newspaper: "There was nobody on the planet, no other actor, that was more the right guy for that role at that production.
"It's still to this day one of the five best parts I ever had that were the right marriage at the right time, right up there with Whiplash.
"I still get emotional about it; how could the universe be so unfair?"
But, ultimately, the decision proved to be a stroke of good fortune for the actor, who married Michelle in 1996.
He added: "A pivotal moment, this devastating, horrible thing happened that led to the best thing in my life - that led to my life, my family. If the right thing had happened in that scenario, I wouldn't have kids."
