In the public's imagination, he may be caught in Spider-Man's web as the gruff ol' newspaper editor J. Johah Jameson, or chained to HBO's prison drama "Oz" as neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger - but J.K. Simmons will now forever be linked to independent film pioneer John Cassavetes.

Simmons, who studied vocal performance at the University of Montana and has long ties to western Montana theaters - including MCT and the Bigfork Summer Playhouse - was given the John Cassavetes Award on Sunday by the Denver Film Society.

"He's a great guy to be mentioned in the same sentence with," said Simmons in a telephone interview.

The New York-born Cassavetes was a pioneer of the "cinema verite" style of filmmaking, an actor and filmmaker who starred in such films as "The Dirty Dozen" and "Rosemary's Baby" and directed "A Woman Under the Influence" and other dark dramas. An alcoholic, he died in 1989 at age 59.

Simmons, 54, is no stranger to independent film.

He's played the bewildered dad of a pregnant teen in "Juno," the foul-mouthed realist CIA boss in Joel and Ethan Coen's "Burn After Reading," plus roles in "Thank You for Smoking," "The Ladykillers" and dozens of other films.

That's not to mention his television and voice-over credits, which include "Law and Order," "Oz," two episodes of "The Simpsons" and as the longstanding yellow M&M in all those animated commercials.

"I have no problem acknowledging that," he said. "In fact, we're getting ready to do a voice-over (with the M&Ms) next week."

For Simmons, any role is a good one that makes an impact and one he can put his heart into.

"I try to do stuff I think I'll be proud of, whether it's TV or a movie for no money or a blockbuster like ‘Spider-Man,' " he said from his California home.

Along with receiving his award Sunday, Simmons appeared at the Denver Film Festival to introduce the yet-to-be-released independent film "The Vicious Kind," a movie by budding filmmaker Lee Toland Krieger that is making festival waves but has yet to get a distribution deal. Simmons plays a small role in that film.

It's exactly the kind of role Simmons likes to take - one in an independent, artistically crafted movie he believes in. Those movies have been around since film began, and Cassavetes was one of their pioneers.

It's important, Simmons said, to acknowledge the artists who brought them to us.

"I think there are so many young people who particularly think that the indie film movement started in 1990," he said with a laugh.

Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com.