A new Starz series will have J.K. Simmons exploring a parallel universe

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

More and more feature film actors are making the jump to television and who can blame them, television has become the place where actors and actresses can stretch their creative muscles in interesting long-form storytelling that isn't as prevalent as it once was in the world of feature film. J.K. Simmons, who is no stranger to television, will be following up his Academy Award winning turn in WHIPLASH by taking the lead in a very interesting sounding series from Starz which goes by the name of Counterpoint.

Counterpoint is being described as an espionage thriller with a metaphysical twist which tells the story of Howard Silk, "a lowly cog in a bureaucratic UN agency who is turning the last corner of a life filled with regret, when he discovers the agency he works for is guarding a secret: a crossing to a parallel dimension. Through Howard and his “Counterpart” on the other side, Prime, the show will navigate themes of identity, idealism, what ifs, and lost love." I'm getting flashes of Fringe in that description.

The series was created and will be written by Justin Marks, who is the writer of Jon Favreau's THE JUNGLE BOOK, and has nabbed Morten Tyldum, director of THE IMITATION GAME, to direct the first two episodes of the series. There is no word on the size of the series order but apparently the intention is to pick it up for two seasons right off the bat. While Starz isn't quite in the same league as HBO, they're steadily improving with their ability to pick interesting projects and I have hope that this will be a success. As a huge fan of J.K. Simmons I know I'll be checking it out regardless, but that brief description is definitely drawing me in as it sounds like the series could present us with a side (or sides) of Simmons that we've yet to see.

Simmons is currently filming THE ACCOUNTANT with Ben Affleck but we can expect to see Simmons pop up in TERMINATOR: GENISYS on July 1, 2015.