Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
J.K.Simmons has joked it was a natural fit to play a “miserable b******” in The Westies.
The 71-year-old actor portrays Eamon Sweeney, a member of the titular Irish gang, in the upcoming MGM+ series, and he had a lot of “fun” getting to show the many different sides to his character, who he insisted is more than just a “one-dimentional bad guy”.
Asked what attracted him to the role at an exclusive screening of The Westies at Odeon Luxe West End on Wednesday (24.06.26) night, he told BANG Showbiz: “He’s just a miserable b*****! So I felt like a natural fit.
“It was fantastic, as with anything I found myself attracted to, in the writing there’s complexity, there’s layers.
“He’s not a one-dimensional bad guy, he’s trying to swim with the sharks and play the game and be the man and depending on the character I’m interacting with he’s a chameleon. It was fun.”
J.K.thinks his character feels “threatened” by all of the people around him.
Asked if Eamon is threatened by the younger generation, he replied: “I think he’s threatened by pretty much everybody and tries to pretend that he’s not.”
The veteran actor was joined at the screening by series regularsTitus Welliver, Tom Brittney, Jessica Frances Dukes and Hillary McCormack were all in attendance, alongside additional cast members Jeremy Walmsley and Rohan Mead,and co-creators Chris Brancato and Michael Panes.
The Westies debuts on MGM+ on 12 July.
The crime drama is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen provides the Irish-American organised crime gang with a financial windfall.
Despite being outnumbered 50-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.
But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian Mafia.
Announcing the Whiplash actor’s casting, Head of MGM+, Michael Wright previously said: “J.K. Simmons is one of the finest actors working today.
“His authenticity and intensity bring an invaluable quality to this complex and exhilarating story, and we can’t wait to see him bring this unforgettable character to life.”
