Simmons was in Damien Chazelle’s original WHIPLASH short before winning an Oscar for his spellbinding turn in the eventual feature film. Now, he’ll be reuniting with Chazelle for his next film, LA LA LAND.
The film, an old-school Hollywood musical, stars GANGSTER SQUAD/CRAZY STUPID LOVE co-stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a pair of showbusiness types who fall in love in contemporary L.A. All we know about Simmons’ character is that his name is “Boss.” Which is awesome.
Though I think the hype surrounding his performance overshadowed Miles Teller’s equally driven, physical performance, there’s no doubt that it was one of the most powerful turns of his 20-year-plus career, and landed him a massive, but earned increase in street cred. It’s not surprising that he wants to get his hands dirty with Chazelle again, particularly for what sounds on the surface to be another showy, take-no-shit role.
And yes, I know, J. Jonah Jameson will be working alongside Gwen Stacy, this fact is not lost on me. I’m just tired of holding out hope that the MCU brings him back into the fold as the character. Damn, he was perfect, wasn’t he?
