JK Simmons went through 'ridiculous' audition before being cast as Yellow M&M
JK Simmons has played all sorts of unforgettable roles from a ruthless music teacher in Whiplash to Peter Parker's famously shouty newspaper editor J.Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man.
But perhaps one of the most unexpected auditions of his career was for the voice of Yellow M&M.
That’s right. If you hadn’t clocked it already, Simmons, 71, has been the voice for the slow-witted peanut-flavoured M&M since 1996.
Marking 30 years of playing the animated yellow chocolate, the Oscar-winning actor has opened up about what he described as a ‘ridiculous’ audition in order to land the role.
Advert
Speaking to TODAY while promoting his new drama The Westies, the actor recalled: “It was like The Actor’s Studio… we had this long discussion. I was like, ‘So I’m going to read for Red M&M and [casting director] Janet Eisenberg, she was like, ‘Oh no no no, J, I think you’re more of a Yellow M&M’.”
Looking back, Simmons couldn't help but laugh at how seriously the conversation was taken. Rather than simply reading a few lines, he says he and Eisenberg spent ages discussing which role suited his voice.
He recalled: “We really went back and forth like we were talking about am I going to play Mitch or Stanley in Streetcar [Named Desire].”
After a lot of debate, Simmons says 'finally I went, "Okay, yeah, whatever you think".'
Lo and behold, his casting director was right.
Simmons has been so successful in voicing the Yellow M&M that it has become his longest-running role.
“Then now, 30 years later, thank you, Janet Eisenberg,” he joked.
Over the years, Yellow has become known as the kind-hearted but slightly clueless member of the M&M gang, often playing the straight man to Red's more confident and sarcastic personality.
Before Simmons, the Yellow M&M was voiced by John Goodman (Sully in Monsters Inc., Pacha in The Emperor’s New Groove).
Meanwhile, the smart-aleck Red M&M was voiced by Jon Lovitz (Artie Ziff in The Simpsons, Jay Sherman in The Critic) up until 1996, and has been played by Billy West (Bugs Bunny in Space Jam, Fry in Futurama) ever since.
Simmons is no stranger to voice acting either.
His iconic voice has been featured in video games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Portal 2, animated films like Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda 3, and series like Gravity Falls and Invincible.
But, the actor recently told Virgin Radio UK that playing Yellow M&M is hands down ‘the sweetest job,’ adding ‘the yellow peanut M&Ms are by far the superior M&M.’
Ali Condon