… the terrific young actor who plays Philo in The Farnsworth Invention on Broadway:
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.’"
A good choice, in my estimation. He fills the role quite nicely, and is a truly commanding presence on the stage.