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J.K. Simmons hasn't played many real-life characters, but the person he portrays in "Patriots Day" was worth making an exception.
"I did sort of feel the onus of wanting to represent, to portray Jeff as well as I could," Simmons said in a recent phone interview.
"Patriots Day," opening locally Friday, depicts the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt to find the men responsible. Simmons plays Sgt. Jeff Pugliese, a policeman in the sleepy Boston suburb of Watertown. Pugliese's normal police routine turned into a dangerous shootout when the bombers, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were tracked down in Watertown.
Pugliese, who was on leave because of shoulder surgery, was on the set during filming of those sequences in the film, Simmons said.
"He kind of became an onset adviser for the whole Watertown sequence," Simmons said, adding that Pugliese also took the actor on a ride-along and to the shooting range. "Jeff became an absolutely invaluable resource for me and for Pete [Peter Berg, the film's director]."
Simmons — known for his Oscar-winning role in "Whiplash" and all those Farmers Insurance commercials — is one of several actors in "Patriots Day" playing real-life people. The cast includes John Goodman as Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Kevin Bacon as FBI agent Richard DesLauriers and Michael Beach as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Pugliese had served 34 years as a police officer when the bombers' path crossed into his town. "Ninety-nine percent of guys would have been retired by that time," Simmons said.
"Watertown is a sleepy little town," Simmons said — 9 square miles in area, about 9 miles west of Boston. "It's urban, but it does have a little 'Mayberry RFD' kind of feel to it."
The key to playing a real person is "not trying to do an impression, but I was trying to convey who the guy is," Simmons said.
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