Jimmi Simpsonhas played many roles in his career, from his acclaimed performances in the sci-fi seriesWestworldand the belovedBlack Mirrorepisode, “U.S.S. Callister,” to being hilariously unhinged inIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiaand deeply emotionally affecting in The Starling Girl. Now, he’s playing many roles in just one title, the excellent new Apple TV+ show,Dark Matter. Simpson plays Ryan, the brilliant friend ofJason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) inDark Matter, excelling in the science that Jason was arguably better at before choosing to have a family and taking a job as a physics professor.
Simpson also plays his angry acquaintance in an alternate reality where Jason didn’t choose to have a family and instead became a rich scientist himself. Oh, and he’s also a garage attendant whose bright future was cut short after a DUI. That’s the nature ofDark Matter, a series that explores parallel worlds after Jason is taken from his reality and thrust into a very different one. In his Odyssean quest to get home to his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and son (Oakes Fegley), Jason meets several different versions of himself and everyone in his orbit, including Ryan.Simpson spoke with MovieWeb aboutDark Matterand his roles in the show.
Jimmi Simpson Breaks Down the Three Ryans of Dark Matter
Dark Matter
“I think that’s Ryan 2 you’re talking about, and that was my favorite exploration,” explained Simpson. “You know,the reality of these three men is, their souls are the same. They were the same soul until 18 for Ryan 3, and until maybe 24 for Ryan 2. And so, I’m able to inhabit the best friend character who’s always had this kind of goal and has won a lot, able to play that confidence, maybe a little more confidence than I have. And to be able to play the same man who hasn’t gotten the break — has the same drive, but keeps getting broken. And so he’s struggling with a little bit of bitterness, but he’s still the same caretaker.”
Ryan 3 is perhaps an even more tragic character, almost the embodiment of wasted potential. He has the soul of a brilliant man, but after his glowing academic career was halted by a stupid decision and dumb luck. Simpson explained:
“And then the third [Ryan] was the hardest because he wasn’t even able to develop the drive. And so he’s the most lost and most different from me, stuck completely by his situation and the circumstances. And it’s reflected more on his appearance and on his clinging to the Chicagoan accent a little bit more, because he’s had no reason to step outside and to grow.It was such a pleasure to connect them and to divide them at the same time.”
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It almost seems like an avant-garde acting exercise, to take one character but then remove significant choices from their lives, and to see how they modulate, how their days dance differently. “It’s like a nuance that I’ve never really been asked to — I played different versions of characters before, it’s just the nature of doing sci-fi, but these were different,” said Simpson, Adding:
“The thing withDark Matteris that [creator] Blake Crouchhas touched on this universal human daydreamer fear, depending on how you look at it, of like, ‘What if I had made this other call? How would I be? How would I have been rewarded, how would I have been punished, and how would it have changed me?And we all think these thoughts at some point, at least everyone that I know has. And there’s a fear that comes with it. Because what if it’s better than where I am now?”
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“And Blake just unpacked all of it with such articulation and such relatability, and then also so much entertainment,” continued Simpson, who commented on how, ultimately,Dark Matterconfronts these themes and reminds us to be present and grateful for the now. He said of Crouch and the show:
He just, to me, almost doused the flames of the fear a little bit by saying, ‘No, no, here’s the exploration, but truly, you are where you should be. And everything does happen for a reason, which is, in my take, just a truth and a philosophy on how to be happy in this life.
Here’s a man with a truth, erudite and poetic in equal measure. Listen to Jimmi Simpson.Dark Matterpremiered August 24, 2025, with the first two episodes on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly through July 29, 2025. you may watch it through the link below:
