Spider-Man: JK Simmons Reveals Hilarious Story of How He Learned He’d Been Cast

In the digital age, news can spread in the blink of an eye. Nobody understands that better than JK Simmons, who once found out he’d been cast in one of his largest roles all thanks to a Spider-Man fansite publishing scoops around the turn of the century. In one recent interview, the Spider-Man star said he was about to do some voiceover work when an employee at the office stopped him to congratulate him on the role.

“Getting the call itself was an interesting thing. I was at a voiceover audition at Grey Advertising, and—you know—doing that thing that journeyman actors do a lot,” Simmons said in an interview with The Ringer. “You’re doing your gig here, you’re doing your gig there, you’re auditioning for this or that. You sit in the waiting room, you wait your turn, you chat with the other guys, then someone comes to check our name off the list, ‘JK, come on back to the recording booth.’ Going back to the recording booth, you weave through some of the cubicles at Grey Advertising, one of the biggest advertising agencies in New York.”

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Once weaving through the rows of cubicles, Simmons said one of the employees slid—in their chair even—out of their cubicle to congratulate him on getting the role.

“I’m walking and following this person through the cubicles and this desk chair comes flying out in front of me backwards with some kid who was probably 28, and he goes, ‘Oh my God! JK, congratulations!’ And I go, ‘Thank you! For what?’ And he goes, ‘Are you kidding me? Spider-Man! I can’t believe it. J. Jonah Jameson! That’s so cool,’ and I was like, ‘I did not know that,’” the actor added. “I found out I got that part because of some kid who was so connected to the internet fan sites, that they had that information on a Spider-Man website before my agent called me to tell me I got the job. He called me like three hours later.”

Simmons is reprising that very role later this month in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is set for release on December 17th. What other Spidey-family characters do you think will end up appearing in the upcoming feature? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!