J.K. Simmons' top five performances

5. Being the Ricardos (2021)

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's rather bland behind-the-scenes portrayal of the 1950s series I Love Lucy is not a film I intend to watch many more times than once, but that doesn't change the fact that J.K. Simmons gives a brilliant interpretation of actor William Frawley. There is a kind of cluelessness and resignation in the way Simmons portrays Frawley's more unrefined way of communicating that gives the role weight, and life.

4. Thank You for Smoking (2005)

This wonderful satire by Juno director Jason Reitman is painfully forgotten and in addition to really good acting by Aaron Eckhart and Maria Bello, among others, it is Simmons' interpretation of the character BR that stands out most. Here Simmons manages to play a cold-blooded ruthless boss with enormous demands on his followers without feeling exaggerated or unbelievable. There is a humanity in his blunt rhetoric that I have always appreciated.

3. Spider-Man (2002)

Sure, Simmons' interpretation of Stan Lee's burly editor-in-chief is deliberately over-the-top and cartoonishly weird. He roars, growls in a bass voice, judges, scolds and issues more ultimatums than can be counted - but it's also that in contrast to Tobey Maguire's more believably human, level-headed centre of character that Simmons' acting works so well here, as it does.

2. Juno (2007)

Cody Diablo's script laid the groundwork for what I would call the best written dad in cinema history. Simmons' version of the casually handsome, constantly ironic and self-aware dad Mac MacGuff is of course just one of many highlights of this wonderful film but it's a role that stays with you and lingers. Simmons portrays Mac with a lot of humanity and a kind of naturalness rarely seen on film.

1. Whiplash (2014)

There are certain acting performances that go above and beyond. Those roles that echo in film history, that are so superior to anything else from that particular time or in that genre that it becomes downright silly. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in The Godfather II. Denzel Washington in Training Day. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia and J.K. Simmons in Whiplash.

The classically trained composer who switched careers to become an actor received a script in his letterbox in which one of the roles was spelt out as a psychotic music teacher and the rest, as we all know, is... history. Simmons portrays Fletcher with such furious intensity that his unpleasant personality fills every frame. Pure, concentrated brilliance.