The Oscar-winning actor stars in the upcoming Starz series about espionage across parallel universes, bowing in winter 2018.


After his Oscar-winning turn in Whiplash, J.K. Simmons is hopping back into television with a new starring role — or starring roles, plural, to be more precise.Simmons takes the leads on Counterpart, a new Starz series debuting next year. The espionage thriller follows a man named Howard Silk (Simmons), a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based UN spy agency. When Howard discovers that his organization safeguards the secret of a crossing into a parallel dimension, he is thrust into a shadow world of intrigue, danger and double cross. The only man he can trust is "Prime," also played by Simmons, Howard's near-identical counterpart from this parallel world.
Watch the tense first teaser for the new series in the video above.
In addition to Whiplash, Simmons is also known for his multiple appearances in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy as the frequently infuriated newsman J. Jonah Jameson (a performance so iconic that two subsequent Spider-Man franchises have stayed away from JJJ entirely). He's set to appear in Justice League as Commissioner Gordon, the first actor to play the role since Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
In terms of his TV credits, Simmons starred as neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger on HBO's Oz, among the most harrowing performances in a show absolutely brimming with harrowing performances. He also appeared in numerous episodes of the Law & Order franchise as psychiatrist Emil Skoda. For his next act, Counterpart, it would seem that Simmons is playing a set of roles caught somewhere between the spectrum of Homeland and Fringe — a very intriguing prospect indeed for fans of his work.
Simmons also serves as a producer on Counterpart, which is created and written by Justin Marks (The Jungle Book). Executive producers include Marks, Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), Gary Gilbert (La La Land), Jordan Horowitz (La La Land), Keith Redmon (The Revenant) and Bard Dorros (Spotlight). MRC, Anonymous Content and Gilbert Films are also producing.
Counterpart premieres on Starz in early 2018.


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