How Whiplash turned JK Simmons into an Oscar winner

A decade ago, a 29-year-old filmmaker called Damien Chazelle announced himself as one of the most exciting directors in the world with his exceptional thriller Whiplash. The film follows the antagonistic relationship between an eager young drummer played by Miles Teller and his aggressive, abusive instructor — JK Simmons, in an Oscar-winning performance.

Simmons, who had been a terrific character actor for decades, found a slice of gold in the role of the ogre-like Fletcher — ruthless conductor of the Shaffer Conservatory Studio Band. He delivered a grotesque and intense performance that showed the full range of his acting prowess.

It's no wonder that the Academy saw fit to hand him the Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars ceremony in 2015, beating out the likes of Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo, and screen icon Robert Duvall. That award was richly deserved.

Simmons' performance is a triumph of control above anything else. The most famous images of Fletcher are those of him yelling verbose, profane insults into the faces of unfortunate musicians, but the joy is in how Simmons modulates his fury. His quiet, near-whispered refrain that Teller's character is playing at "not quite my tempo" over and over again is a limb-by-limb evisceration of the young man, who is desperate for Fletcher's approval.

Teller's character in the film, Andrew, yearns for musical success. He sees Fletcher as the embodiment of that success, less as a result of his career — after all, he's an instructor rather than an A-list jazz star — than due to his macho confidence. Fletcher is visually stripped-back — shaven head, plain black t-shirt — and Andrew covets his base-level confidence immensely.

Read more: Pivotal Whiplash scene's extras were actually just chairs with white T-shirts, producer says (Entertainment Weekly)

One of the most impressive elements of Simmons' performance is the mercurial nature of Fletcher's relationship with Andrew. Is he being evil in an attempt to drag something special out of Andrew, or does he simply take a sadistic glee in taking starry-eyed youngsters down a few pegs?

All of this was an interesting move for Simmons, who was most famous prior to that for either his cartoonish role as newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson in the noughties Spider-Man trilogy or his all-time great movie dad in Juno. It would be easy to compare Fletcher and Jameson, but really they're two very different kinds of evil — one absurd and theatrical, another chilling in his very real malevolence.

Simmons is unpredictable as Fletcher — a firecracker capable of sparking into an inferno at any given time. Every conversation with him is a rickety ride down a mountain road, always at risk of plunging into emotional chaos and verbal violence. The performance exists firmly on the edge, while remaining in absolute control. That's what makes Fletcher so terrifying.

Read more: Miles Teller talks drumming practice for Whiplash movie (ITN)

But also, we shouldn't discount the pure catharsis of the scenes in which Simmons enters full flow and starts yelling in people's faces. There's a joy to any viciously insulting movie character, from Peter Capaldi's foul mouth throughout In the Loop to the late, great R. Lee Ermey as the psychotic drill instructor pushing recruits too far in Full Metal Jacket. Fletcher fits squarely into that pantheon.

Whiplash took Simmons from being a beloved, under-the-radar character actor — and, bizarrely, the voice of the yellow M&M in various adverts — to the stage of the Dolby Theater. Since then, he's done a lot more voice work, including in the superhero TV series Invincible, as well as securing a role as police chief Commissioner Gordon in the DC Universe. He's even gone back to Jameson in the MCU.

Read more: J.K. Simmons Recalls Stan Lee Was “Jealous” He Wasn’t Asked To Play ‘Spider-Man’ Role (Deadline)

But Whiplash stands as firmly the best performance of his career. If you needed any evidence, simply watch that bravura final sequence in which Teller and Simmons beautifully convey the shifting relationship between the two characters without saying more than a few words to each other. The music and their faces are left to do the talking.

For all of the screaming and swearing in the movie, it's the narrowing and widening of Simmons' eyes that lingers in the memory. It's a performance for the ages.

Whiplash is available to stream in the UK via Netflix, Sky, and NOW.