NEW YORK, July 12 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning Whiplash, Oz and Spider-man actor J.K. Simmons says he sees Eamon Sweeney, the gang leader he plays in The Westies, as having "mentor-protege" relationships with the young criminals who work for him.
"He expects loyalty from everybody and grants loyalty to precious few," Simmons, 71, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
Set in the 1980s in the Manhattan neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, The Westies follows members of the titular Irish-American gang as they compete with the Gambino family of Italian mobsters over turf that includes the lucrative construction of the Javits Center.
Tom Brittney, Titus Welliver, Stanley Morgan, Sarah Bolger, Jessica Frances Dukes, Hamish Allan-Headley, Vincent Walsh, Allen Leech and Hillary McCormack co-star.
Premiering Sunday on MGM+, the series explores not only the clash between cultures in New York City during this era, but also the tension between the older and younger generations.
