J.K. Simmons has joined the cast of “La La Land,” a musical from Summit Entertainment that will reteam him with writer-director Damien Chazelle. Their last collaboration, “Whiplash,” resulted in a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Simmons earlier this year.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star in “La La Land,” which follows a jazz pianist who falls for a young actress in Los Angeles. Simmons will play a character called “Boss” in the film, which also stars Jessica Rothe, Sonoya Mizuno and Callie Hernandez, sources close to the project told TheWrap.
Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt are producing the film, which Summit plans to release on July 15, 2016.
Simmons won the Academy Award for his role as an abusive music instructor in the drama “Whiplash,” from Sierra/Affinity, Bold Films and Blumhouse Productions. Miles Teller starred as a first-year jazz student in the Sony Pictures Classics release, which Chazelle also wrote.