J. K. Simmons Has Way More In Common With His Whiplash Character Than You Think

J.K. Simmons' Oscar-winning performance in Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash" remains one of the greatest of the 21st century, with the actor disappearing into the role of irascible jazz instructor Terence Fletcher. As it turns out, Simmons did, in fact, share quite a lot in common with his character, though thankfully none of those shared attributes had anything to do with his unbridled rage. Instead, Simmons actually holds a music degree with a minor in composing and conducting.

As electrifying a performance as Simmons gives in 2014's "Whiplash," you'd hope the actor didn't share too much in common with his relentlessly cruel conductor character. As Terence Fletcher, Simmons enters that realm of being almost too good at his job, like watching Jack Nicholson swing an axe in "The Shining." His jazz instructor is a ferocious, mercurial, and manipulative beast of a man who browbeats Miles Teller (replacing the star of Chazelle's original "Whiplash" short, Johnny Simmons) as the ambitious drummer, Andrew Neiman, throughout the film's 107-minute runtime to the extent that we, as the audience, feel like we'd all failed to live up to his exacting standards simply by watching the movie.

In reality, of course, Simmons has never pushed someone less than half his age to such extreme lengths that they bleed all over a drum set (as far as we know). He can, however, claim to be somewhat similar to Fletcher in terms of musical ability since he earned his degree in music from the University of Montana, minoring in composing and conducting. In fact, it was his musical ability that eventually led him to acting in the first place and, eventually, to the role of Terrence Fletcher in "Whiplash" (which, evidently, Simmons feels was a work of "genius"). 

"Whiplash" arguably remains Damien Chazelle's best film. With his 2014 psychological thriller, the writer/director manages to grip audiences from the second the movie begins all the way through to the end, though he's helped greatly in that regard by stars Miles Teller and J. K. Simmons. The latter, in particular, received widespread praise and earned Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics' Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance. Whether "Whiplash" is realistic or not doesn't really matter when you have such powerhouse acting holding down an otherwise expertly-crafted film.

One aspect that was fairly accurate, however, was Terrence Fletcher's, or rather Simmons', musical knowledge and experience. The son of a music teacher, Simmons actually graduated from the University of Montana — where his father served as director of the School of Music — in 1978 with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in music. The young performer initially wanted to be a singer and composer and only got his start in acting due to the fact he could hold a tune. As he told ABC News in 2015, he was taken on by the Montana playhouse "just because I could sing" and "they needed someone to be the lead in the musical."

Of course, having a degree in music and a solid set of pipes doesn't make Simmons anything like a real-life Terrence Fletcher, which is a darn good thing. But it is interesting to think that he was drawing on his musical experience while making "Whiplash." As he went on to tell ABC News, "It was great to be able to [...] have that ability to actually learn those scores. And look at something complex like the title tune 'Whiplash' [...] and be able to know what was going on."