With Sean Thiessen
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Famous actor JK Simmons is gearing up as Santa Claus for his upcoming movie, Red. Starring alongside Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, Simmons tries to give the world the most shredded version of Santa yet. Johnson shared set photos of him and Simmons pumping iron to prepare for their roles in the Christmas action flick, and Simmons seems to be just as much of a fan as Johnson.
The photos reveal a villainous JK Simmons crossing his own torn, bare hands while wearing red tracksuits, promising a very different kind of Santa Red. A second photo shows Johnson spotting Simmons on the bench, and a third captures the two actors laughing in what appears to be at least a partial costume. In the caption, Johnson praised Simmons’ hard work getting into shape for the role and his loving attitude during the process.
Exactly what JK Simmons does as a buff Santa is unknown, as is his plot Red is under cover. Dwayne Johnson began posting about the film in early November, when he shared photos of himself and Chris Evans on set, then a photo of J.J. Mr. Simmons in full Santa attire a few days later. In his captions, Johnson promises a fun, international adventure in what he constantly calls a Christmas “franchise movie.”
For JK Simmons, Red joins a long list of franchise film titles. Simmons gave an iconic performance as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy during the 2000s and returned to the role to compete against Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the Web-Head’s final two outings. He also appeared as Batman’s police ally Commissioner Gordon in 2017 Justice League? Simmons reprized his role as Gordon in the cancelled Bat girl film.
The Oscar-winning actor has had a long, successful career and despite his continued work in big-budget films such as Red, Simmons still lends his talent to independent productions. In 2014, he starred alongside Miles Teller in director Damien Chazelle’s hit. Whipping, and appeared in the recent Indies Palm Springs and the original horror comedy Shuder Glorious.
The recent casting of JK Simmons as Santa for Red, due with the 2023 holiday season, comes alongside the release of another Christmas action film, Violent night. Starring David Harbour, this bloody Christmas killing spree is the latest entry in the relatively sparse action subset of Christmas movies. The release of two high-profile Christmas action movies, both eager to tap into the holiday season for fans, could spark a new trend for the genre.
JK Simmons has been in good form for a while (just watch Whipping), but based on Dwayne Johnson’s posts, Simmons is taking things to the next level Red. Johnson and Evans are a co-star duo of famous men in shape, and earning praise from Johnson in the weight room is no small feat. Whatever they’ve cooked up Red, There’s no doubt that the muscular cast will put its power to action-packed use.
