Simon Rex Takes a Bite Out of Stardom with “Red Rocket” . . . and Then Some

How would Simon Rex — the actor (several Scary Movies), rapper (as Dirt Nasty), comedian, former model and ex-MTV VJ — describe his character, Mikey, in Sean (The Florida Project) Baker’s Red Rocket, a role for which he’s just been nominated as Best Actor for by the Chicago Film Critics Association? He settles for “a sociopathic, narcissistic, self-involved, unaware douchebag.”

Yes, in a season bristling with charismatic yet tastelessly nasty male characters portrayed by the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog and Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley, Rex’s portrayal of an aging porn star heading for Skid Row is the one that will make you most want to shower, at least after the first viewing. After the second, you can just sit back and admire Rex’s perfect comic timing, his bonkers energy, and his no-holds-barred on-screen sexuality. He has more lines than Hamlet here, and he has to say them twice as fast, often with far less clothing.

He has more lines than Hamlet , and he has to say them twice as fast, often with far less clothing.