J.K. Simmons Is A Little Miffed That Audiences Already Know ‘Counterpart’s’ First Big Twist

In Starz’s new thriller Counterpart, J.K. Simmons gets to tear into an actor’s dream. The Academy Award winner gets to play not one, but two versions of the same leading man. The first Howard Silk we meet is a downtrodden worker bee. He’s kind, conscientious, and entirely unremarkable. This Howard’s world is turned upside down by the revelation that there’s an alternate reality running parallel to our own, and in that world, he’s a cunning and vicious alpha.
“What was interesting when you’d have a scene with both of them, and how J.K. would come in and shoot that side of it and then he’d come in and shoot the other side of it,” Simmons’ Counterpart co-star Harry Lloyd told us, explaining how “natural” Simmons was in both roles. “They’re both very finely nuanced. I think people were worried originally…but there’s something about him. Straight away you get it.”
So what went into building two characters who were the same, but, er, so different? We caught up with Simmons in the midst of the hoopla of Winter TCA last week to ask him what it was like getting to work opposite himself.

“My knee-jerk answer is he’s the best actor I’ve ever worked with,” he joked with a finely-tuned line. “It wasn’t really something I was looking to do and it wasn’t even part of the appeal of this show to me. Going in, I read the script without knowing it was this parallel world thing and then when it got to the parallel world, ‘there are two of this guy’ reveal, my mind was blown in a way that I wish audiences would be able to experience, but because oh,” — his voice drops to a whisper — “you people are going to spoil it for them!”

When we fired back that the twist features prominently in the promotional material for the series, he laughed. “No, I had that thought. You know, just sort of going back over it in my mind, I thought, ‘Oh yeah, audiences will never have that moment. Of course, you’ve got to advertise the show!’”

Maybe audiences at home will never experience the same bracing shock that Simmons did when he realized Counterpart‘s biggest twist, but that doesn’t mean that the show doesn’t come fully packed with more jaw-dropping revelations. In fact, the whole show is an elaborately set up puzzle box that keeps you guessing even as it offers up new tidbits of information. However, the best part of the show might be the exquisite performances. Simmons told us that he approached Howard and “Howard Prime” the same way he tackles all his roles. “The differences between the characters to me are psychological and emotional,” he said.

“We talked about how we would physically differentiate. Would I have different teeth as one character? Is there a way I could shoot it where one character has hair longer than the other or whatever? Ultimately all those things went by the wayside and the differences in appearance are only from the outside in, in the way they sort of inhabit their identical bodies,” Simmons went on to explain. And it’s true. The differences are so subtle, and yet so precise. It’s a true masterclass in acting.

“I tried to keep it as organic as possible…which is the way I prefer to work,” Simmons said when we asked him more about the process of building two totally different men, “but there are certainly cases where logistical challenges involved in playing two characters in the same scene. And Harry [Lloyd] and Ulrich [Thomsen], you know, were often along for the ride and facing the same challenges I was, just technically.”
So J.K. Simmons is a master of the acting craft. We get it. But did the star prefer one Howard over the other?

“I always viewed — and still more than 50/50 viewed — the first Howard, the sort of kinder, gentler, meeker Howard as the protagonist because he’s the first one that I met and that audiences meet, but playing the more ‘badass’ Howard, yeah, it was more fun. He’s got first of all, a sardonic sense of humor. Kinder, gentler Howard, his sense of humor, so far at least, is less developed.  I had never really thought of it until you asked that question, but it was more fun to play ‘badass guy’ because, you know, most dudes like to think of themselves more that way than the sad sack that we first meet,” Simmons said.
Counterpart premieres tonight, Sunday, January 21 at 8pm ET/PT on Starz, and the first episode is available to watch now for subscribers on the Starz app.

Where to Stream Counterpart