Jimmi Simpson

Currently: Starring on Broadway as Philo T. Farnsworth, the boy-genius inventor of television, opposite Hank Azaria in Aaron Sorkin's new play, The Farnsworth Invention.

Hometown: Hackettstown, New Jersey

Everybody's Got the Right: Despite pursuing a business degree as an undergrad at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, Simpson found himself dubbed the "Assassins guy." As he explains, "In high school I played John Hinckley in Assassins at Country Gate Playhouse in Belvedere, New Jersey, which was pretty much my only legit theater experience. [At college] I took an 'intro to theater' course for fun my sophomore year, and whenever the assignment was to get up and do something, I would choose something from Assassins," he says with a laugh. That loyalty paid off when Simpson, after performing his final scene in class yes, from Assassins, was asked to become a theater major. And with a shot, he was off.

Not a Loser: A master class with comedian Lewis Black during Simpson's stint as an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival led to the start of his professional career. "I cultivated a stand-up bit with Lewis," he says of Black, known for his angry onstage rants, "and his agent happened to see it. About two weeks later, Lewis said, 'I think you're a schmuck, but my agent loves you!' So I called her up and she started sending me out." Simpson landed a gig as a farmhand in the '99 Broadway revival of The Rainmaker with Woody Harrelson, but a week into previews, he got an offer to star opposite Jason Biggs in the Amy Heckerling film Loser. "I went to the director, Scott Ellis, and laid it out. He was like, 'Go! Gooo,'" Simpson recalls with gratitude.

Die Hard or Be Free? Last fall, Simpson found himself in the midst of a struggling actor's dream, winning a plum role in the third Die Hard movie and the lead in the workshop of The Farnsworth Invention. "I had auditioned for the play, and the only hope I had was that I wouldn't look like an asshole in front of Aaron Sorkin," he says of the creator of The West Wing. "Never in my wildest dreams did I expect anything, but about a month later I heard that he'd like me to do it. It timed perfectly with Die Hard, but then about two days into shooting, Bruce Willis wanted to take a vacation that messed up my dates. Fox said, 'You can't do the play,' and I said, 'Uhhh… I think I can't do the movie.'" Dropping out was a risky decision for Simpson, who explains, "TV and film are what I thought I was in for. But it's also my first theater role in five or six years, and you really can't beat it. The script is accessible but so smart, and the role is so challenging."

Finding Philo: As the story goes, Philo T. Farnsworth conceived the idea of television at age 14 while watching a plow make lines in a field. He then dedicated his life to making his theory of transmitting pictures through rows of electricity work. "He was an electrical and mathematic genius at a time when not many people were," Simpson says of his character, who was born in 1906. "But now nobody knows who the hell Philo is!" Catching wind of Farnsworth's breakthroughs, RCA exec David Sarnoff played onstage by Hank Azaria used them to announce the invention of television first. "Once that happened," Simpson explains, "it was a desperate attempt to try to retain any kind of hold on his material." Prepping to play a brilliant inventor meant tons of research. "I thought it would be great to understand the concepts I'm talking about," Simpson says of his scientific dialogue. "I sat down with our fantastic dramaturge and had him explain it step-by-step: 'Ok… so where did the cathode tube fit in?'"

Perfect Match: The easygoing Simpson has an extra reason to smile these days: He's a newlywed. Married since April to actress Melanie Lynskey, he describes their relationship as "perfect." Unfortunately, they're about to be separated for work. "She's heading off to New Zealand for two months to do a film," he says. "It will be the longest time we've been away from each other, but we're going to set up iChat and work it out that way!" Simpson also has two movies on the way: Good Intentions, a southern romantic comedy in which he plays LeAnn Rimes' "tobaccy-spitting" fiancé, and Patriotville, in which he plays a creepy detective. "I'm often cast as gross, weird, off-putting people," he jokes. But on Broadway this fall, he's the hero. "It's never going to be a role where you can go through the motions," Simpson says of Philo Farnsworth. "There's no way I can do this without immersing myself every night, so I don't feel like going out much. But I'm very, very happy!"