Veteran actor J.K. Simmons, known for his roles in Whiplash, Invincible, and Spider-Man, has revealed that he does not play video games, despite lending his voice to several titles. In a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Simmons stated that he finds controllers difficult to handle and has no interest in gaming.
Despite his lack of personal engagement with the medium, Simmons holds a particular fondness for Portal 2. He described the script for the 2011 puzzle-adventure game as "hilarious" and expressed that he could have easily adapted his performance for a feature film or stage play based on its quality. Simmons voiced Cave Johnson, the founder of Aperture Science, in Portal 2 and reprised the role for the 2022 Steam Deck tie-in game, Aperture Desk Job. Portal 2 writer Eric Wolpaw also returned to pen the script for Desk Job.
Simmons recounted a recent interaction where he was sent a video of his Baldur's Gate 3 character being killed in-game, a game he has not played. He noted that while his "twentysomething kids" and wife play games, he himself "cannot" engage with them.
This contrasts with some of his industry peers, who have varying levels of involvement with gaming. Actors like Elias Toufexis, who has voiced characters in Deus Ex, Marathon, and Starfield, are deeply immersed in gaming, while others, such as Konatsu Kato from Silent Hill f, have streamed their playthroughs. In contrast, Steven Ogg, known for his role in Grand Theft Auto 5, has suggested prioritizing literature over video games.