Actor J. K. Simmons recently opened up about working with Seth Rogen in Prime Video’s Invincible Season 3, saying that despite them not being able to record together in the studio, he found joy in responding to the latter’s pre-recorded lines.
Highlighting the depth of his character Omni-Man’s dynamics with Rogen’s character Allen the Alien, Simmons said in a statement, “Well, it’s unexpected, I hope. And I’m always loath to even get close to any spoilers, but I loved the whole season, the whole third season, and exploring the relationship between Omni-Man and Allen the Alien that, you know, based on the first two seasons, you know, there was a continuing surprise to me. And also getting to play scenes with Seth Rogen was, you know, even though we were never in the room at the same time, I did get to respond to what Seth had already laid down a few times.”
Simmons further said, “Well, it’s that inner turmoil, right? There’s the alpha, the Viltrumite, the Omni-Man, and then he’s sort of reluctantly feeling these tinges of humanity invading his being. And then, he spends a significant amount of time, basically in a very intimate one-on-one situation with Allen the Alien, of all beings. It was a really fun season to continue to explore what that brings out in Omni-Man/Nolan.”
Elaborating more on his experience, the Whiplash actor said, “Well, you're in a room with Allen the Alien/Seth Rogen. You either have to just listen to him never shutting up, or you have to get chatty in return. I love the way that, first of all, the plot brought us to that point and we really got to just kind of wallow in it, and see more, hear more, of Omni-Man philosophizing and justifying and arguing and even being funny from time to time.”
Simmons also reflected on Rogen’s character Allen the Alien. “He continues to sort of chink away at the armor, that Viltrumite armor, and Allen is a smart alien. He's just continuing to do that because he senses that there is a tinge of humanity there and that he's not talking to a brick wall that you usually are when you're talking to a Viltrumite.”
“So, yeah, again, I think it's one of those really nice — I'm surprised, I guess, to use the word subtle, because it's an animated show about superheroes, but there is a lot of really interesting subtlety in the characters and the relationships, and that continues to be one of the things that makes it an interesting job to continue with when you do this kind of long-form storytelling, whether it's animated or live-action. It's nice not to feel like your character ever stagnates,” he added.
Developed by Robert Kirkman, Invincible Season 3 features a stellar voice cast, including Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons and Sandra Oh. The eight-episode animated adventurous drama, based on Robert Kirkman’s award-winning comic book series, follows 17-year-old Mark Grayson, as he inherits his father’s superpowers and embarks on a journey to become Earth’s greatest defender.
The first three episodes of Invincible Season 3 are now streaming on Prime Video in English and Hindi, with new episodes dropping weekly on Thursdays.