Johnny Simmons

Early life

Simmons grew up in Dallas, Texas.

Career

Simmons landed his first feature film role in the 2007 comedy Evan Almighty. He portrayed Dylan Baxter, the oldest of the three sons of Steve Carell's Evan Baxter and Lauren Graham's Joan Baxter. He then starred in a number of films, including the 2009 children's comedy Hotel for Dogs, opposite Jake T. Austin and Emma Roberts. Also in 2009, Simmons starred in the black comedy horror film Jennifer's Body as Chip Dove, the boyfriend of Amanda Seyfried's character, Anita "Needy" Lesnicki. In 2010, he starred in the comedy film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, portraying Young Neil, a 20-year-old bass guitarist and fan of the fictional band Sex Bob-omb. In 2011, he was cast in a supporting role for the Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum led comedy 21 Jump Street (2012).

Also in 2012, Simmons co-starred as the closeted quarterback Brad Hayes, alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller, in the teen drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The film is an adaptation of the Stephen Chbosky novel of the same name. In February 2013, he was cast in The CW's television drama film Blink. In 2013, he made a cameo appearance in the music video for Drake's single "Hold On, We're Going Home". That same year, Simmons joined the comedy film Frank and Cindy as GJ Erchternkamp, alongside Rene Russo and Oliver Platt. Also that same year, he starred in the short film Whiplash, excerpted from a screenplay by Damien Chazelle, the complete version of which became an Academy Award-winning feature-length film of the same name. In 2014, he starred as Jack London in the Discovery Channel miniseries Klondike, the channel's first scripted series, which detailed the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. In 2015, he co-starred as Jeff Jansen in the thriller film The Stanford Prison Experiment, and in 2016, had the lead role in four films, the border-set thriller Transpecos, the comedy-musical Dreamland, the baseball drama The Phenom, and Kevin Pollak's comedy The Late Bloomer.

On March 30, 2023, it was announced that Simmons would reprise his role as Young Neil in the Netflix series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

After a six-year hiatus, Simmons returned to live-action performance with a small role in the 2023 drama film Sing Sing. Simmons played an unnamed inmate who was scammed out of five hundred dollars by Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin. He also appeared as a local deputy in the action-comedy film Bad Man.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. Valentini, Valentina. (2016-10-06). "Johnny Simmons Finds His Footing".
2. Perry, Byron. (March 5, 2008). "Johnny Simmons Lands Lead Role in 'Jennifer's Body'".
3. Bettinger, Brendan. (April 25, 2011). "Johnny Simmons Cast in 21 Jump Street and The Perks of Being a Wallflower".
4. Ng, Philiana. (February 26, 2013). "'Perks of Being a Wallflower' Actor to Co-Star in CW's 'Blink'".
5. (September 24, 2013). "Rating the Acting in Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home" Video".
6. Ford, Rebecca. (August 19, 2013). "Oliver Platt, Jane Levy, Marc Maron, Johnny Simmons Join Indie 'Frank and Cindy' (Exclusive)".
7. (August 23, 2019). "Whiplash (2013) - IMDb".
8. Goldberg, Lesley. (January 22, 2014). "'Klondike's' Abbie Cornish, Johnny Simmons on Finding Gold in History".
9. (August 25, 2015). "Johnny Simmons Starring in Kevin Pollak's 'The Late Bloomer'".
10. (March 30, 2023). "'Scott Pilgrim' Netflix Anime Series Reunites Film's Cast, from Michael Cera to Chris Evans".
11. "Sing Sing: A Film by A24 and Rehabilitation Through the Arts".
12. (February 15, 2024). "Seann William Scott, Rob Riggle, Chance Perdomo & Lovi Poe Among Cast For 'Bad Man', The Syndicate & UTA Independent Film Group Launching Sales For EFM".