JK Simmons Reveals Secret Origin of How He Became the Yellow M&M

J.K. Simmons has done a handful of Spider-Man movies and a dozen seasons as a regular on TV shows like Oz and The Closer, but in a new interview, he credits his decades-long role as the Yellow M&M as being the gig that really changed his life. Speaking with GQ about the roles that have shaped his career, the veteran actor said that it was working as the yellow M&M (alongside red M&M actor Billy West) that allowed him the financial freedom to pursue better roles, say no to things, and spend more time with his family.

Yes, really. You can see the full video below.

“I had just done New York Undercover, a Dick Wolf cop show where I played a uniformed cop, a New York Cop, fast-talking…bad cop on the take, you know?” Simmons recalled. “I might have been in the middle of shooting that or I’d just finished it, and I showed up at this audition and there are little character descriptions. The red M&M, he’s a fast-talking, wise, blah blah blah, and then the yellow M&M is this slow, sweet, kinda dumb, you know. I’m in Red M&M mode…you go in, Janet Eisenberg is this wonderful casting director, ‘Okay, hi, so you’ll read yellow,’ and I was like, ‘whoa whoa whoa.’ It was like I was talking to Scorsese about something. I said, ‘Nah — I’m Red.’ Red’s fast-talking blah blah blah blah, I gotta be Red.’ And she was like ‘I mean, you absolutely could, you’re a wonderful actor, but I really see you as Yellow.’ We had this ridiculous back-and-forth with her talking me into auditioning for the yellow M&M. Thank you, Janet. Billy West, of course, is cast as the Red M&M, and we’ve been doing it for — is it thirty years? It’s been a long time. As that campaign grew and Billy and I became entrenched as Red and Yellow and the salary went up, that was the first time that I felt like I’m in a position now, financially, where I don’t have to take every single acting job and be away from my family for three weeks in wherever. I can do what I want to do, and I can try to stay home, have a life and career at the same time.”

Simmons has played the role of Yellow in dozens of ads, theater bumpers, and other projects since 1996. That is, as he notes, almost thirty years with a character who doesn’t grow much, but audiences have yet to tire of the campaign, or of Simmons in the role.