J.K. Simmons Joins Cast of Mark Wahlberg’s Marathon Bombing Movie

J.K. Simmons Photo by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons will be joining the cast of Patriots’ Day, the upcoming movie about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

CBS Films and Lionsgate announced on Thursday that the actor will play Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, an integral member of the Watertown police department during the deadly shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers.

“Beyond his considerable talents, J.K. Simmons is a person who respects the solemn trust that these real life heroes are putting in our hands,” director Peter Berg said in a statement. “This is an actor who will represent the role in the best way possible.”

Simmons, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2014 for his role in Whiplash, is set to star in the film opposite Mark Wahlberg. The Dorchester-bred actor will play “a composite Boston Police Department officer who is central to the investigation and manhunt.”

Producers for Patriots’ Day have recently asked Watertown residents for permission to film a shootout scene around Laurel Street, although locals have expressed mixed reactions towards the idea.

Patriots’ Day is set to begin production in Boston next month.