In this golden age of superhero movies, the abundance of muscle-bound, square-jawed white male actors named Chris quickly became a meme. But for the actors who aren’t buff enough, handsome enough, or Chris enough to join their ranks, JK Simmons has just created a new goal to aim for.
In an interview with PeopleTV, as reported by EW, JK Simmons discussed the Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob, in which he played Chris Evan’s father. Leaning into the Chris meme, he said that his new career goal was to play the father of every Hollywood Chris–which would seem like a stretch, if he didn’t also recently film The Tomorrow War as Chris Pratt’s father.
“My career plan now is to play the father of every handsome, blue-eyed movie star stud named Chris,” he told PeopleTV’s Lola Ogunnaike. “So I checked off my Chris Evans box, and I just finished a film with Chris Pratt where I play his father, so that’s number two. So if you’re casting out there I’m looking. Chris Pine, I’m available, and Chris Hemsworth, in either order, I mean we don’t have to go alphabetical.”
Simmons was starring in superhero movies before any of the Chrises, of course, appearing as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s early 2000s Spiderman trilogy–and then reprising the role in the MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Simmons is also part of the DC universe after appearing as Commissioner James Gordon in Justice League, and has also done a number of voice roles, including The Legend Of Korra’s Tenzin, and Cave Johnson in Portal 2.
