Hi everyone and thank you for tuning in to the 400th episode of Awards Chatter, the Hollywood

Reporters Awards podcast.

I'm the host Scott Feinberg and my guest today is a show business character unlike any

other.

Quite by accident he has worked as a male model, an MTV VJ, a rapper and an actor.

He was the star of an ex-rated tape before just about any other celebrity.

He partied with Paris and Lindsay during the height of the Hollywood paparazzi era.

He opened under the name Dirt Nasty for bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 70,000

seat stadiums all around the world.

And now after years of middleing parts on TV shows like 2005's Cuts in which he starred

opposite one Megan Markle and in films including three installments of the scary movie franchise,

he is against all odds, a best actor Oscar contender for his portrayal of a has been porn

star who returns to his hometown in Sean Baker's Red Rocket.

I'm talking of course about Simon Rex.

Over the course of our conversation the 47 year old and I discussed how he handled the

sudden fame that came to him in his early 20s when he landed his MTV gig in the mid 1990s,

how a disastrous audition for Goodwill Hunting led to a more serious pursuit of enacting

career, what it means to him after years of toiling in mostly obscure lightweight projects

to be the star of an A24 film that premiered at Cannes and has brought him rave reviews

from critics and actors alike, plus much more.

And so without further ado, let's go to that conversation.

Simon, thank you so much for doing podcast great to have you.

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