John Simm's career - Radio Times, May 2003

Features

John Simm's career - Radio Times, May 2003

Jane Rackham casts an eye over the State of Play star's past roles.

"Whenever someone is needed to play a troubled soul, a jittery anti-hero or a generally moody so-and-so, John Simm always seems to spring to mind. He's played fish-out-of-water gambler Danny in The Lakes, a loathsome loan shark in Tony Marchant's Never Never and, most overwrought and tormented of all, Raskolnikov in BBC2's Crime and Punishment.

However, while Simm does bring an edgy quality to the character of journalist Cal in State of Play, the role is a slight departure for him. "He's a bit more normal," he says, "and a professional, though a bit crumpled."

The 31-year-old was brought up near Burnley, and wanted to be a musician (an ambition he's realised with his band Magic Alex) rather than an actor, but his chosen career has kept him busy. The longest he's been out of work is three months.

Now a family man (he and his partner, actress Kate McGowan, have a 19-month-old boy), Simm says fatherhood has changed his life, but he jokes he'll show his son the door if he doesn't support Man United when he's older."

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