Simon Rex

Rex's earliest mainstream exposure came through MTV, where he worked as a VJ in the mid-1990s — the kind of role that gets you recognized in airports without necessarily opening serious dramatic doors (Wikipedia). From there, he transitioned into acting, picking up a recurring presence on the TV series *What I Like About You* and appearing in *National Lampoon's Pledge This!*. His most commercially visible stretch came through the *Scary Movie* franchise, where he appeared in parts 3, 4, and 5, spoofing rapper Eminem across those films (Wikipedia). Broad comedy. Broad audience. Not a lot of room to show range. When that chapter wound down, Rex didn't pivot to prestige television or indie drama — he pivoted to rap. Under the alter ego Dirt Nasty, he released several solo albums and co-founded the hip-hop group Three Loco (Wikipedia). It's an unusual detour for a former MTV face, and one that kept him visible in certain corners of the internet while Hollywood largely moved on without him. The *Red Rocket* years changed everything. Baker's film, which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, cast Rex as Mikey Saber — and the performance that followed earned him the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, a Gotham Award nomination, and placement on what felt like every serious critic's year-end list (Wikipedia). There's a scene early in the film where Mikey, fresh off a Greyhound bus with nothing to his name, starts working a room of people who have every reason to distrust him — and Rex plays it with this grinning, almost delusional confidence that makes you uncomfortable and charmed at the same time. That tension runs through the whole film. Following the critical reception, Rex signed with Range Media Partners and continued building on the momentum with roles in *Tow* (2024) and *Blink Twice* (2024) (Wikipedia).