Quietly emerging as one of the leading contenders for the supporting actor Oscar, J.K. Simmons has revealed that with Whiplash he has been enjoying the publicity circus that the actor has shied away from on his previous films.
“I’ve had some experiences in the last few years where my reticence to be involved in the publicity has not been helpful,” he told The Guardian in an interview published Thursday. “It’s so nice to be doing this as part of a film that I can be unreservedly glowing about and not feel like I have to spin anything. I can be 100 percent honest and I don’t have to bullshit.”
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While Simmons’ own personality might be far from the terrifying, black-shirted bandleader in Damien Chazelle’s highly-praised jazz drama, he claims that he does identify with his character’s philosophy about “good job” being the two most harmful words in the English language.
“There’s a kind of numbness, a sameness, a lack of motivation in ‘good job’ culture,” he says. “We’re raising a generation of kids who are being overly praised for incredibly minor accomplishments. I think it’s counter-productive.”
