J.K. Simmons Talks Differences Of James Gordon & J. Jonah Jameson
J.K. Simmons says there might be some crossover, but his portrayal of GCPD Commissioner James Gordon will be decidedly different from Daily Bugle Editor J. Jonah Jameson
There probably couldn’t be two more different characters than Commissioner James Gordon and Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. While both kind of serve as gruff old mentors to their respective heroes, James Gordon is an incredible stand up guy who is a friend and hero to Batman and a father figure in many ways. And J. Jonah Jameson, while super good at his job, successful and probably teaching Peter Parker more than he’ll ever realize about journalism, hates Spider-Man to the point of ludicrousness.
Yet one actor is about to have the experience of playing each character. Veteran actor J.K. Simmons got rave reviews for his portrayal of J, Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, and is about to take on the role of iconic James Gordon in the upcoming Justice League film. Simmons talked about how he is preparing for the role and comparisons to previous actors in the role and his performance as Jameson:
"Well, to read the comics, yes, absolutely. I’m still a couple of months out from doing that and I have two other films before then, so I haven’t gotten started on that. Obviously, a lot of really wonderful actors have played that character previously, and most of them I saw at the time the movies came out, never imagining that I would be doing the same thing. So, I can’t say that I don’t have some impression of that character in my head that’s based on what I saw, but I’m not planning on going back and watching any of the other films. I’m just planning on learning as much as I can about him through the comics and getting my feet wet in the first movie, and then hopefully continuing on from there.I take this from my days doing theater. If I was doing a musical, I would never listen to the cast album because I wanted to do my version of something. I’m sure there will be differences and similarities with what Gary Oldman or Pat Hingle have done before, but I’m just going to try to do my take on it and be as informed as I can about the rich history of the Batman universe, going into it.There are easy comparisons to make. I wasn’t a big comic book reading kid, so I did a fair amount of reading when I was playing Jameson, who was very much the comic relief in those movies. Even in the comics, he was a blowhard who was all bark and very rarely bite. My understanding, from what I’ve learned so far about Commissioner Gordon, is that he’s the older guy with the mustache who relates with our hero in a certain way. Other than that, it’s a vastly different character and much more of a stronger, impactful character in the DC universe."
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It makes a lot of sense that Simmons is approaching the role of James Gordon very differently from that of J. Jonah Jameson. But I would’ve gotten a kick out of Simmons looking and acting exactly the same as he did in the Spider-Man films. Not as antagonistic, but looking the same with the same mannerisms. And then reprise the role of Jameson in the upcoming Spider-Man movie (and any future ones). It would be awesome. Justice League: Part One is filming right now and due out for release November 17th, 2017.
h/t Collider