You may have seen the news a few days ago that beloved character actor J.K. Simmons - known for his roles in movies like the original Spider-Man trilogy, Burn After Reading, and his Oscar-winning performance in Whiplash - was spotted hanging out at the ZACC in Missoula. It wasn't really clear what he was doing in town, although it's actually not that strange - he did graduate from the University of Montana back in the '70s, and his father was actually the director of the UM School of Music. He's one of several notable celebrities who spent at least some time in Missoula over the years.

Turns out, he's not just here in town for a visit - he's actually been filming a movie in Missoula over the past couple of days! And it's not just him, it's a whole family affair: his daughter, Olivia Simmons, is also starring in the movie, and his wife, Michelle Schumacher, is the film's director.

The movie is currently titled The Woods and was filming on Greenough Drive in Missoula this past weekend. Filming for that portion of the movie is done for now, but production plans to return to Missoula in October for a few days of filming on Alvina Drive.

Montana has become an increasingly popular spot for film productions over the last few years - we just recently got word that Nicolas Cage was coming down to film two westerns back-to-back. Did you see J.K. Simmons or any of the film production while they were here?

What's your favorite J.K. Simmons performance? Mine is J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies (a performance so good they had no choice but to bring him back for the new ones), but I really enjoyed his role in Palm Springs last year, too.

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