Worlds Apart
I wonder... How is it possible that Christopher Papakaliatis managed to book someone like J.K. Simmons, especially after he won the Oscar.
How cheap must he have been in order for C. P. to be able to afford him?
Two things:
1) It's entirely possible he'd promised to do the movie before he won the Oscar/made Whiplash. Films can take years to get the funding needed.
2) Many actors do bigger more commercial films so they can do smaller passion projects, or projects with friends/people they know or respect. Simmons has a long track record of popping up all over the place (and that's not even counting his voice over work which makes him insanely prolific).