You would think that if an actor were to receive an Academy Award they would treat it as a prize unlike any other. One can imagine an individual locking the trophy away in a clear Lucite case with a 40 number pin, while also prominently displaying it on a mantle in the showiest room of their home. Initially, however, J.K. Simmons didn't necessarily see it like that, and after winning an Oscar last month for Whiplash, he actually planted the award on top of the minifridge in the bathroom.
The Academy Award-winning star made this revelation while recently doing an interview with USA Today about his life post-Oscar win. At one point, the conversation evidently turned to the location the prize was being stored, and it was then that Simmons revealed his temporary bathroom storage for his Whiplash award. He has since moved it so that it's in a"place of distinction" on his bookshelf, but evidently it was next to his bathtub for long enough to include the factoid in his response.
So why did the Oscar wind up being placed in the bathroom? Well, J.K. Simmons didn't explicitly explain, but one does gain a little understanding from his descriptions of his feelings towards the trophy. He told the interviewer,
It's a lovely little statue. It's still kind of surreal when I walk past it. It's like, 'There's my Oscar.' I don't know it will ever become commonplace.
So what's the best way to largely avoid walking past it? Putting it in the bathroom, I guess.
What may really surprise you is the fact that J.K. Simmons is very far from the first person to think of putting his Academy Award in his water closet. As reported by The Guardian last year, Jennifer Lawrence may keep her Oscar on her parents' piano, and Russell Crowe may put his in a chicken coop, but the roster of individuals who keep their trophy in the bathroom includes Emma Thompson, Susan Sarandon, Lionel Richie, Sean Connery, and Kate Winslet. Jodie Foster was evidently once part of this group, but his since moved her Taxi Driver prize to a more traditional trophy case.
Truthfully, J.K. Simmons shouldn't have much time to think about his Oscar in the coming months, as he has a pretty full slate of work ahead of him. This summer he will likely find himself on the promotional tour for Terminator Genisys, but he's also working on Gavin O'Connor's action drama The Accountant, Ash Brannon's animated Rock Dog, the Lorene Scafaria-directed dramedy The Medler, and Steven Quale's thriller The Lake. He'll also soon be heading back into the blockbuster world as one of the primary players in Jordan Vogt-Roberts' King Kong reboot Kong: Skull Island.
