Oscar Winner J.K. Simmons to Star in Musical LA LA LAND

Variety reports that Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons will reunite with "Whiplash" director Damien Chazelle in the musical LA LA LAND for Lionsgate. The actor joins previosly announced cast members Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone on the film.

LA LA LAND tells the story of a jazz pianist (Gosling) and an aspiring actress (Stone) who fall in love but face difficulties as they become more successful.

Simmons will portray a character named Boss. Jessica Rothe, Sonoya Mizuno and Callie Hernandez also star. Chazelle penned the script. Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt will produce.

Simmons has performed in many regional theatre productions in the Northwest before deciding to head East to New York in the early 1980's. He appeared in a number of Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, perhaps his most famous being in the 1992 revival of GUYS AND DOLLS.

As he started to break into smaller TV roles, he first gathered attention playing White Supremacist, Vern Schillinger, the head of the Aryan Brotherhood on the HBO prison drama, OZ. He next headed over to another New York based legacy, LAW & ORDER and had a recurring role on all incarnations of the show as Dr. Emil Skoda. His latest most recognizable television role as Chief Will Pope in TNT's THE CLOSER which garnered him a SAG nomination for Best Ensemble Cast.

Simmons ventured into the world of voiceover acting and lent his signature tone to such shows as JUSTICE LEAGUE, KIM POSSIBLE, LEGEND OF KORRA and THE ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN. When he dove into the film industry, he made an even bigger splash as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's SPIDERMAN trilogy as well as the father of JUNO in the movie of the same title.