Jimmi Simpson

Jimmi Simpson is an American actor who has worked extensively across film, television, and theater. Over his career, he has earned nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He gained wide recognition for television roles in series such as Westworld, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, House of Cards, Black Mirror, and Unsolved, alongside stage performances and feature film appearances.

Simpson was born on November 21, 1975, in Hackettstown, New Jersey, where he grew up with two older brothers. He took his first acting class at Hackettstown High School. After graduating from Bloomsburg University with a Bachelor of Arts in theater, he performed for four seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

In 2000, Simpson made his film debut in the teen comedy Loser. He followed with a role in the miniseries Rose Red (2002) and guest appearances on shows including 24, NYPD Blue, Cold Case, and Carnivàle. Beginning in 2005, he took on the recurring role of Liam McPoyle on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, appearing through 2023. His early film work included Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), Seraphim Falls (2006), and David Fincher's Zodiac (2007), in which he portrayed survivor Mike Mageau.

Simpson played Philo Farnsworth in the 2007–2008 Broadway show The Farnsworth Invention, winning a Theatre World Award. He then appeared regularly as Lyle on The Late Show with David Letterman through 2009. In addition to guest roles on Psych, CSI, and House, M.D., he starred on the crime drama Breakout Kings (2011–2012) and portrayed Gavin Orsay in House of Cards (2014–2015), receiving two ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Film roles during this span included Date Night (2010), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), and White House Down (2013).

In 2016, Simpson appeared in Hap and Leonard and debuted as William on the HBO series Westworld. His work on Westworld earned him an ensemble Screen Actors Guild nomination in 2017 and a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2018. He also played Walton in the 2017 Black Mirror episode "USS Callister," garnering a BAFTA nomination, and starred as Detective Russell Poole in the 2018 miniseries Unsolved.

His subsequent screen work includes the films Under the Silver Lake (2018), Unhinged (2020), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021), and The Starling Girl (2023). On television, he starred in Perpetual Grace, LTD (2019), The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022), Pachinko (2022), and Dark Matter (2024), while voicing Doctor Royce Hemlock in Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2023–2024). Simpson also authored the horror comedy film Slay.

Simpson has been married twice. He met actress Melanie Lynskey while filming Rose Red in 2001; they married in 2007 and divorced in 2014. He married actress Sophia Del Pizzo in 2019, and filed for divorce after they separated in 2021.