John Simm in Never Never - Radio Times, November 2000

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John Simm in Never Never - Radio Times, November 2000

A disgruntled hotel worker, a student struggling with his homosexual friends' jealous attentions, an amnesiac lorry driver, a raver worried about his sexual performance, a father-to-be who bolts. In the TV dramas The Lakes, Clocking Off and Forgive and Forget, and the films Human Traffic and Wonderland, John Simm has played anti-heroes whose charisma, despite the characters' cruel streaks, confusion or neuroticism, has shone through.

Now the 30-year-old has a lead as a true villain for our times. In the two-part Never Never he is the chillingly charming loan shark John Parlour: "He's just the kind of character I enjoy playing - dark with an edge. The only difficult thing was trying to make people like him."

The tale is arguably writer Tony Marchant's (Holding On, Kid in the Corner, Great Expectations) darkest drama to date, and he describes it as about: "Poverty, debt, the things people do in desperation and how they come to regret it; what interests me are people's moral journeys."

Which is exactly what drew Simm to the role: "I want to do stuff that challenges me and that's got something to say. Tony Marchant knows what he's talking about, he's never condescending and his language is fantastic - he tells it like it is in a very serious way."

Straight down the line is the way Simm is, too. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he keeps his feet on the ground thanks to parents up North who won't put up with any "airy fairy" nonsense, and he has an alternative career playing guitar in a band.

"I don't want to be a celebrity," he says. "I don't particularly enjoy being recognised, because I get embarrassed. But if it means I've touched someone in some way, it's good - that's why I do what I do."

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