Mom's Car: Timothy Simons

Summary

Armchair Expert: "Mom's Car" with Timothy Simons

Date: September 30, 2025
Host: Dax Shepard (Tom Papa guest hosting), with Aaron
Guest: Timothy Simons

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Episode Overview

This episode of “Mom’s Car,” a segment of the Armchair Expert podcast, features actor Timothy Simons (best known for his roles on Veep, Handmaid’s Tale, and Nobody Wants This). The conversation, set primarily in a car with hosts Tom Papa and Aaron, covers Timothy’s upbringing in rural Maine, his journey through ADHD diagnosis, family dynamics, substance use, and his untraditional path to a successful acting career. The episode winds through thoughtful, vulnerable stories to irreverent humor, all punctuated by astute observations about being human.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Growing Up in Small-Town Maine

• Timothy’s Maine Roots: Simons describes a childhood filled with woods, lakes, a tiny hometown, and vivid memories of a local Shakespeare theater (01:10–02:45).
• Brush with Celebrity: He fondly recalls meeting David Harbour at the theater as a teenager and being starstruck (01:34–02:25).
• Small School Life: Monmouth Academy, the local high school, would graduate as few as 10–12 students per year. “That makes dating rough,” jokes Tom (02:54–03:02).

2. Family & Community Themes

• Parents as Founders: Both parents helped found the public high school Simons attended (03:16–03:33).
• Comparing Upbringings: The hosts compare regional quirks (driving habits, “camp culture,” Midwest vs. LA) and share stories about learning respect and empathy (04:16–05:04).

3. ADHD, Self-Diagnosis, and Parenting

• Learning about ADHD: Simons was diagnosed in high school at a time when it was relatively novel, following a significant academic decline (06:17–07:19).
  • Quote (Tim, 06:17): “I was diagnosed when it was still a pretty novel thing… had to go to a children’s hospital in Boston.”
• Tests and Experience: Simons describes hours of diagnostic tests, both physical and mental, and how novelty even made it enjoyable (07:59–08:16).
• Comorbidity of ADHD: The trio dives into how a heightened sense of injustice often accompanies ADHD, and how this has affected their lives (05:06–10:47, 09:35–10:54).
  • Quote (Tim, 09:35): "I've really kind of dialed into that… when I feel it happen, the injustice… it's managed to calm me down."
• Genetics vs. Nurture: They debate whether traits like frugality or emotional inflexibility are genetic or learned, drawing on their own experiences as parents (11:02–14:31).

4. Sobriety and Family Dynamics

• Parallel Addictions: Tom and Aaron share their sobriety journeys and how getting sober affected their perspectives on parenting and self-awareness (14:44–16:13).
  • Quote (Aaron, 15:18): “This is like Bob Vila got in there and got down to the studs. This is the biggest turnaround I’ve ever seen in sobriety.”
  • Quote (Aaron, 16:15): "That's why I hate my son—because he's me. I love him now."
• Estrangement & Reconnection: Aaron talks candidly about keeping distance during Tom’s sobriety, and their eventual reconnection (25:29–26:42).

5. ADHD Medication & Self-medicating

• Ritalin Impact: Simons discusses being prescribed Ritalin, how much it helped, and the responsibility of managing medication (18:32–19:13, 27:00–27:30).
  • Quote (Tim, 18:42): “An incredibly positive impact, yeah.”
• Moderation & Addiction: The group’s relationships with addiction and moderation surface regularly, with Simons reflecting on his “annoyingly moderate” father (19:25–20:20).
• Quitting Smoking: Stories are exchanged about quitting cigarettes, signifying transition points in their personal growth (20:49–21:39).

6. Executive Dysfunction and Everyday Life

• Practical Challenges: Simons jokes about ADHD making simple tasks—like planning routes for food delivery—much more complicated (21:56–22:16).

7. Path to Acting Career

• Unconventional Route: Simons details how he moved to LA at age 30 with minimal experience, started running commercial auditions, and parlayed those insights into his big break (31:38–36:12).
  • Quote (Tim, 32:18): "They love people who are 30 with almost no experience."
• Support and Community: He credits supportive environments, long rehearsal periods, and ensemble casts (especially in Veep) for facilitating his career leap (38:23–40:04).

8. Navigating Fame and Recognition

• Comparing Projects: Simons reflects on the way fan recognition differs between Veep and Nobody Wants This (44:52–45:51).
  • Quote (Tim, 45:11): “When I go to the airport, I will be recognized... minimum 10 times.”
• Mistaken Identity: Anecdotes about fans mixing Simons up with the lead from Baby Reindeer highlight the odd, humbling nature of fame (46:41–47:10).
• Actor Comparisons: The trio discusses the universal awkwardness of being told you look like another actor—often unflatteringly (48:33–49:20).
  • Quote (Tom, 49:02): “Anytime I’m told I look like the person, I’m like, Jesus, it’s that bad, man.”

9. Ensemble, Community, and Small-World Stories

• Funny Coincidences: Connections across the theater/TV/film worlds and the serendipity of these relationships underlie the importance of community (43:01–44:49).
  • Quote (Tim, 44:49): “That is that thing that I love about the small world versions of this.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [07:00] Tom Papa (mocking diagnosis delivery): “Flipping through the pages. And I gotta tell you, your brain lit up... every lobe was firing.”

• [10:50] Timothy Simons (on airport lines and injustice): “I would be mad for the whole flight... while, yes, that person should still be executed for doing that. I’m able to just understand it’s gonna take a while to pass that law.”

• [13:35] Tom Papa (on parenting): “I have a very easy time parenting our daughter that’s just like Kristen, and she has a very easy time parenting the one just like me.”

• [16:13] Timothy Simons (to Aaron): “That was you when you were a kid.”
  (Discussing inherited behaviors in their children.)

• [32:18] Timothy Simons (on his LA move): “They love people who are 30 with almost no experience.”

• [39:08] Timothy Simons (on new actor confusion): “Do I have to wear my glasses in the show now?”

• [44:49] Timothy Simons (on meeting Michael Shannon): “Because I went and saw a play when I was a kid, I got to see David Harbour. And just because I showed up in Chicago, I met Michael Shannon.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:45: Timothy’s Maine upbringing & early brush with theater/David Harbour
• 05:06–10:54: ADHD comorbidities, injustice, and day-to-day impact
• 11:02–14:31: Parenting, genetics, and self-recognition in children
• 14:44–16:13: Aaron & Tom on sobriety and familial reflection
• 18:32–21:39: ADHD medication, moderation, and quitting smoking
• 31:38–36:12: Timothy’s journey from commercial auditions to Alison Jones & Veep
• 38:23–40:04: Simons on supportive ensembles and "learning on the job"
• 44:52–46:40: Fame, recognition, and the fan experience
• 48:33–49:20: On being compared to other actors—often poorly

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Conclusion & Tone

This episode is a compelling, meandering drive through the realities of small-town America, the baggage (and gifts) of ADHD, generational quirks, and the humor necessary to survive and thrive in the entertainment industry. Simons is open, self-deprecating, and sharp, with Tom Papa and Aaron prompting both laughter and real insight about what it means to grow—personally and professionally.

Original Tone: Casual, irreverent, vulnerable, and comedic—balancing personal revelations with sharp, dry wit.
Memorable for: Honest reflections on mental health, family, addiction, and the randomness—and community—of show business.

Transcript

[Tom Papa]

Hello, and welcome to Mom's Car. Today we have Timothy Simons. Oh, my God. What a wonderful and tall human being Timothy is. You probably fell in love with him on Veep, as I did. He was also in Handmaid's Tale. And let us not forget, nobody wants this. Tim is a party, he's honest. And, boy, did he teach us a lot about adhd. Please enjoy. Timothy Simons.

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[Timothy Simons]

I grew up in Maine, Central Maine, like woods and lakes rather than ocean.

[Tom Papa]

Okay.

[Timothy Simons]

But I was gonna say that when I was growing up, there was, like, this Shakespeare theater that was in a really amazing building. The actual building is beautiful. The theater is beautiful. So it's kind of a destination for, like, New York Equity actors to come up and do Shakespeare and get out of the city.

[Tom Papa]

What's the other one? There's one in the Berkshires, too. Is it kind of like that?

[Timothy Simons]

Williamstown?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

It's not big like Williamstown.

[Tom Papa]

Okay.

[Timothy Simons]

Williamstown. I feel like big names go and do shows, right? And I think people that are playwrights at Yale will do shows up there. You're like a sort of steadily working equity actor in New York or Boston, and you just get to, like, get out of the city and the pay is kind of shit, and you live with other people in the community. But growing up, one of the people that was always in shows there was David Harbour. So when I was, like, 12 years old.

[Tom Papa]

Is he from Maine? No, he was Brandon.

[Timothy Simons]

He's a New York guy, but he was up there for, like, four or five summers. So I saw him do a bunch of Moliere plays and two Gentlemen of Verona. And I worked at the video store, and he would come into the video store, and I treated him like I was meeting Brando. Brando. I was like, oh, my God, man. How's it going? Like.

[Tom Papa]

And he had secret copies of anything.

[Timothy Simons]

I would, like, try to do a cool video store. I mean, I was probably 14. Oh, my God. And I'd be like, I. I got recommendations for you if you need them. And he was probably like, yeah, man. I kind of know I'm an artist. I'm an artist. Yeah. But I always kind of love seeing him around.

[Tom Papa]

That's really fun. I imagine it's a small town.

[Timothy Simons]

Very. My hometown was really small. It was like 2,000 people. And the town that that theater was in was even smaller. Like, we made fun of it for how small it was.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, really?

[Timothy Simons]

Their high school, Monmouth Academy, they had literally like 10 to 12 people per graduating class. Oh, wow.

[Tom Papa]

Wow. That makes dating rough.

[Timothy Simons]

Yes. I was on a basketball team in high school and it was always the only team that we could beat.

[Aaron]

They didn't have enough players?

[Timothy Simons]

Basically. Yes. They were like, we got nine subs. We have the only nine guys possibly do this.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. What did your mom and dad do.

[Timothy Simons]

For a living when they first moved to Maine? They actually were two of the founding teachers of the high school that I ended up going to.

[Tom Papa]

Was it a private school?

[Timothy Simons]

No, it was a little public school.

[Tom Papa]

Okay.

[Timothy Simons]

And it drew from like four towns. They were like founding members of that school.

[Tom Papa]

Look at that. Do you like that? Oh, no. That's how I know it's a good.

[Aaron]

This is why Karan was like. Dax and I grew up being very aggressive.

[Tom Papa]

Well, we worked for gm.

[Aaron]

Yeah. So we have just been driving like fucking maniacs our entire life. And Karan, he doesn't do. Interested in it. Yeah, he doesn't drive.

[Timothy Simons]

I remember when we got a puppy, the dog walker was like, you gotta introduce him to older dogs. The older dogs can roll. That was the phrase she used. You gotta roll em. Oh, okay. So that they understand you were kinda rolling that guy. Like, he's gotta understand.

[Tom Papa]

He's like, you're blowing this red light.

[Timothy Simons]

Yes.

[Tom Papa]

And I'm letting you know I know.

[Timothy Simons]

You blew this red light.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. I fight my instinct to be a sheriff, but it comes out. Sometimes I regret that you saw that side of me.

[Timothy Simons]

I kinda like. I feel like there has to be a little more of that. Like, we should all be understanding.

[Tom Papa]

I know. I have this thing. Okay. This is really great. Cause regionally, I was gonna say Michigan, we didn't have the camp culture. Right. That was a very New York thing. I guess. Additionally, you have agents. I feel like it's very specific to agents. You have agents driving around LA in 9 11s, and they're 5 foot 5 and they're screaming fuck you and cutting people off. And I'm like, you cannot get away with that in Detroit. Someone's pulling you out of your car. You gotta be able to back that up. And there's something that just feels Crazy to me about la, that. That goes on.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

And then the same guy yells at the fucking hostess, and he's just a bully, but he does not.

[Aaron]

The stature cannot back it up.

[Tom Papa]

That really sets me off.

[Timothy Simons]

Can I ask you a quick question?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

Because I only found this out very recently, and this sounds like a big phrase, but a comorbidity of ADHD is a heightened sense of injustice or a heightened sensitivity to injustice in that way of, like, this is an injustice. And so I'm gonna ask, are you an ADHD person?

[Tom Papa]

Okay, so two things. I interviewed Gabor Mate, who is an expert on adhd. After the interview, I'm walking him out of the. Just randomly. He goes, have you ever been tested for adhd? It's like a intake counselor at a rehab asking if you've ever done the Questionnaire for Addiction. I was like, oh, I think maybe you just evaluated me and that's your conclusion. And then I had another ADHD expert say that to me as well. But I'm fighting against. It's so popular on Instagram.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Like, is your feed just endless ADHD people do this. I saw one the other day. I was like, have multiple drinks. I always have four or five different drinks going. And I'm like, oh, yeah. But then I said that out loud, and Monica looked it up and was like, no, that's not really a symptom. So people are, like, piling on symptoms. I think there might just be humanness. I don't know.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

So I think I probably am adhd, but I'm also having a reservation. How about you?

[Timothy Simons]

I am. I was diagnosed when it was still a pretty novel thing. I had to, like, go to a children's hospital in Boston. I was never, like, an amazing student, but I had fallen off a cliff in the 10th grade to the point where they were like, something larger is going on. Sure.

[Tom Papa]

He's either gotten a substance issue or closeted homosexuality. Something big is happening.

[Timothy Simons]

And I went to the doctor, and they were like, you're a closeted homosexual. I'm not ready to face that yet. So, like, what else you got in.

[Tom Papa]

The Hot Kills that'll distract me until I'm old enough to pursue this. You're a closeted doctor said that to you with a clipboard. And he's got test results. Your labs are in.

[Timothy Simons]

Flipping through the pages. And I gotta tell you, your brain lit up. I don't know why. We showed you pictures of men in swimsuits, but every lobe was firing.

[Tom Papa]

We rarely see the occipital catch fire the way it did. This will not come as a surprise to you, but you are closer to.

[Timothy Simons]

That doesn't sound right. I remember it being. My local doctors were either unable or maybe didn't have the training to be able to give the diagnosis, which meant my mom, my dad, had to, like, take a day off from work. We drove down to Boston. I had tests all the next day, and then we drove back.

[Tom Papa]

Do you remember what the tests were?

[Timothy Simons]

I mean, it was everything from written tests to physical. I do very clearly remember. They were like, okay, now you have to hop on one foot for 30 seconds.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, really?

[Timothy Simons]

And then you have to hop on the other foot for 30 seconds. It was like a battery of written, verbal and ultrasound.

[Tom Papa]

How long was it?

[Aaron]

Was it a half a day?

[Timothy Simons]

Full day? Like, I was in there for probably.

[Tom Papa]

Six hours, which sounds like the worst thing for an ADHD person to be stuck. Or was things moving so quick? You were stimulated?

[Timothy Simons]

Things were moving fast. And also I got to leave school for the day, go to the city. Sure, sure. So I was like, I'll fucking hop on one foot all day if it means I get to, like, actually see a building that's more than a stone.

[Tom Papa]

If I can pop over to Bull. What's the Cheers location? Did you go poop that, like, bullfinch and something like.

[Timothy Simons]

We probably did Boston Common. They probably pointed it out to me, but they were like, you can't go in there.

[Tom Papa]

You're too adhd. Yeah, you'll fucking drink everything in the house. Comorbidity, we'll just explain that really quick for anyone who doesn'. Anytime there's a condition that has a high likelihood that you'll have another. It's a very common overlap. Say the given population has a 5% chance of being narcissistic. Right. People with BPD might actually be 30% likely, and that would be a comorbidity. Those aren't real examples, but that could be a thing like that.

[Timothy Simons]

So it was a friend of mine whose wife. Oh, shit. Who I actually met. I ended up working at that Shakespeare theater that David Harbour worked for. But when I was 21, 22, and there was a woman who is now a costume designer out here when she was, like, 19. It was like her first job. We got to be friends. And we still see them out here. They live out in Northridge. They came over to the house for dinner. They have two kids now, and she is very adhd. And so he's a great husband. He does all the reading of the adhd books. And then tells her, sums it up for her.

[Tom Papa]

He's her doctor. Yes. Yeah. That's very generous. That's a sweet person.

[Timothy Simons]

And that was one of the things that came up. I've really kind of dialed into that when I feel it happened, the injustice. It has both managed to calm me down when I am feeling that way and has also explained a lot of stuff up to this point.

[Tom Papa]

Just being able to look at the feeling you're having going, right, you have an exaggerated sense of this. So just keep that in mind.

[Timothy Simons]

Keep that in mind. And then it also kind of says like, okay, so is this really as big as my head is making it out to be? It makes you just look at it again. And sometimes it is, no, actually, this is a big deal.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

But has allowed me to then pull back from things that aren't.

[Aaron]

Does the awareness seem impossible or you just are constantly aware now?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. Like how long will you be in the emotion of, let's say, rage towards injustice before it clicks? Oh, this is that thing.

[Timothy Simons]

Well, recently. It hasn't been very long. Cause I only found this out, like, less than a month ago.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, okay.

[Timothy Simons]

And I have noticed a huge shift in how long I spent stay in that sort of spinning thought where it used to, like, ruin an entire day. Somebody that like, ducks under the little barrier at the airport. You know what I mean? And it's like, no, they set up the fucking lanes and I'm using the lanes, but you went under. I would be mad for the whole flight.

[Tom Papa]

You ruined your vacation.

[Aaron]

Possibly a week maybe.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah. And so I have noticed in the last month, while, yes, that person should still be executed for doing that. I'm able to just understand that it's gonna take a while to pass that law.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, well, look, I have that really bad. But it's always interesting. Also, when you have kids, they force you to confront whether this story you have about yourself is real or if it's just your fucking genetics. Right.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Do you have that with your kids? So my story was, oh, my dad filed bankruptcy three times. Money was really, really tight. And that's why I'm so frugal and responsible with money. But then Lincoln, our oldest, she has saved every penny she's ever been given. She's grown up in abundance. And then the little one, look at that. We got one.

[Aaron]

Oh, that's on your.

[Tom Papa]

Good luck and a big ride.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, Oh.

[Tom Papa]

I was like, should we just sit in front of rice barbecue? Because we've had an inordinate amount of Deliveries from rice and barbecue.

[Aaron]

It looks like this is a two banger trip. Two restaurants. Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[Timothy Simons]

Salt and straw is the first. Salt and straw.

[Tom Papa]

Is that it? That's ice cream, right?

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

While they're doing a full thing, they're doing dessert and maybe a main.

[Aaron]

I hope they get some dry ice in this bag.

[Tom Papa]

So my story about my injustice thing is like, oh, I had stepdads. They were bullies. I'll never stand for bullying. I won't stand for injustice. But I might just genetically be that way because, like, ADHD is definitely genetic, Right. It's not a nurture situation.

[Timothy Simons]

I don't think so. I definitely noticed. And I guess maybe I wonder, is it genetic or is it nurturing that, Like, I see behaviors that I don't like in myself, in my kids. Yes. And those get heightened and sometimes your own, like, oh, now I'm mad at my kid, but I'm not really mad at them.

[Tom Papa]

I'm mad at myself.

[Timothy Simons]

I'm mad at myself for allowing that to continue. And that can be rough.

[Tom Papa]

Yes. I have a very easy time parenting our daughter. That's just like Kristen, and she has a very easy time parenting the one just like me. My oldest and I set each other off so much. I hate if a plan has changed, and I really don't like any plans that I didn't come up with. I hate to admit that so much of it is arrogance. I'm like, I just am very inefficient thinker. I'll know where we should stop. Right? It's just arrogance. But fuck, she's the same way. And they'll be being very stubborn and inflexible, and I'll be like, just fucking go along with the plan.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

You got a whole family here. You're not the only person with a vote. It's me, and it's hard.

[Timothy Simons]

It is funny when you're saying that. And you're also like, I'm never gonna take that advice for myself.

[Tom Papa]

And I'm enforcing my plan, which is like, we're a democracy, you know, whatever the fucking thing it is. And Kristen's just like, yeah, I've been dealing with this for 18 years, and I'm used to it. I know how to outwit you and outmaneuver you and distract you. And similarly, the little one drives Kristen nuts. And they're the same person like, Kristen will be actively yelling at for leaving stuff in the sink while half the shit in the sink is Kristen's. And I just stay out of It. I'm like, oh, my God, this is so funny and ironic. Yeah, the sink is full with both y' all's shit, and Lincoln and I don't ever do that.

[Timothy Simons]

That's so funny. Have you ever checked? Did you do a count?

[Tom Papa]

How do you know which ones are hers and which ones are yours? That would be my sarcastic way to bring that up without fully committing to addressing it.

[Timothy Simons]

There are always days where it's like, is this the day that I make the joke?

[Tom Papa]

What's her mood? What's her temperament? Is this a good day to be a puss and fucking frame this as a joke instead of just being direct about it?

[Timothy Simons]

I will also say, like, I know that my fucking moods cause Annie to be like, well, how am I gonna attack Tim's bullshit today? Mm. Oh, man.

[Aaron]

The hardest part, especially since we've been out already today. I'm really hungry now. I could fucking kill that whole ice cream section there.

[Tom Papa]

Well, maybe you should just get a little to go.

[Aaron]

That will slow us down.

[Tom Papa]

Or we could run through a drive through. No. Okay, wait, I wanna hear Aaron, your inj.

[Aaron]

Oh, well, just the whole genetics, it reminded me of. And Tim, I know we don't know each other, but I got sober five and a half years ago, and it was like a thank you. And it was a whole emotional, mental, physical.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. To bring up this feat. Aaron had another 16 years at it that I did, and we went the same level of impossible consumption. You can't imagine what he looked like five years ago. He was 100 pounds heavier. He was missing many teeth. His nose didn't work. His eyes didn't work. He was gray. He looked 59.

[Aaron]

He's done.

[Tom Papa]

This is a full frame off restoration. This is like Bob Vila got in there and got down to the studs. This is the biggest turnaround I've ever seen in sobriety.

[Aaron]

So I had to bring that up just because I really was not aware of a lot of things until I got sober or I didn't wanna be aware of anything. I just wanted to hopefully make it through the day and hopefully not at the same time.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. If everything went perfectly, not make it through the day.

[Aaron]

I came out with my son, who's now. He was probably 6 or 7 at the time. Came out here to LA. We went to Disney World. And we were in Dex's driveway playing catch. Me and my kid. And I remember Dex asking him something. And he was so shy. My kid. And he's like. And I'm like, wade, answer him. And I got like, angry. I'm so embarrassed to say this. Dex is like, this is what I love.

[Timothy Simons]

That was you when you were a kid.

[Aaron]

And I was like, I am a monster. And I was like, that's why I hate my son. Cause he's me. I love him now.

[Tom Papa]

The first time I ever brought Aaron to a weekend at my dad's. And my dad was a car salesman and a huge personality. You look people in the eyes and you shake their hand too hard.

[Timothy Simons]

And you talk first name, last name. Every time. Hey. Hey. Jay Ashenfelter.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, he just left Dale Carnegie an hour before dinner. We were in this booth in Greektown. I'll never forget. And Aaron was so shy as a kid, and he whispered something to me and we laughed. And my dad goes, hey, we don't whisper if you got something to say. He was so aggressive.

[Aaron]

Fucking voice was so loud.

[Timothy Simons]

Yes.

[Tom Papa]

And I was like, dad, shut up. He and I were always like this. But, yeah, I was like, aaron, this is the same situation. Like, remember you didn't want to talk in front of my dad.

[Aaron]

I was like, God, I don't want anyone to be like me. Give me the.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Aaron]

So thank you for waiting. We're so busy today with making this money that there's no time to talk.

[Tom Papa]

Do you think it's unethical I'm taking some work?

[Timothy Simons]

I don't.

[Tom Papa]

I kind of do, but also, I don't care. Cause it's for R. Yeah, lowercase A. The Superman fact. The A is, like, half the size of the lowercase R. Basquiat is looking.

[Timothy Simons]

Up from his grave being like, God damn it, why was an Uber Eats around when I was alive?

[Tom Papa]

Think of the paintings I could have done.

[Timothy Simons]

I could have done some real shit. I've had that idea before. Or would it be fun to sign up for Uber, drive around every once in a while, even in just a way to, like, get an idea.

[Tom Papa]

That was my first fantasy. Aaron's been driving Uber in Detroit, and he hits me once a week with a fucking insane story. And I'm just jealous of the action. I always say I wanna work at 7:11 when I'm retired just to see shit go down. I love stimulation like that. That's what was my original idea. I was like, nobody's gonna get in a fucking Uber. And there's three cameras pointed at you. And I go, hi, you're on a podcast. Where are you traveling to today? So this was kind of the next best thing. But it has been really, really illuminating what I've concluded is half of the city's in their house and the other half of the city is driving things to those people's houses.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Every car we're seeing is a delivery person virtually. Okay, so when you got the diagnosis, what year was this?

[Timothy Simons]

Sophomore in High School? 93, 94.

[Tom Papa]

Okay, and were you prescribed Ritalin or Adderall?

[Timothy Simons]

I was prescribed Ritalin.

[Tom Papa]

Okay, and did it have a really positive impact?

[Timothy Simons]

An incredibly positive impact, yeah.

[Tom Papa]

I always think, like, what the fuck does one do? Like, I'm an addict. And if I had. Well, maybe we're concluding I do have adhd. I couldn't have had that medicine. But it also explains why cocaine was my drug. I fucking love cocaine. I feel perfect on cocaine.

[Timothy Simons]

I'm not a doctor, but that seems to be what someone would call self medicating in that way. Like, I have heard stories of like other ADHD kids walking in and they're like, what is that? They're like, oh, this is like a 64 ounce Diet Coke. And they're like, you are self medicating and like you're trying to find the same thing that this drug will give you. Yes.

[Tom Papa]

You have no addicty kind of qualities, right?

[Timothy Simons]

I think I do.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, that's good.

[Timothy Simons]

I do.

[Tom Papa]

You guys are both like, what have you done? Spray, spray, spray, spray, spray.

[Timothy Simons]

I don't, I don't know what it is. If I'm gonna try to draw the only line that I can. I feel like, I feel like I've always seen my dad never go too far in any direction. He always would have a drink, but he would never drink a lot.

[Tom Papa]

Annoyingly moderate.

[Timothy Simons]

Annoyingly moderate in that way. I feel like whenever I have gone, I don't like the feeling of being super out of control. So whenever I felt like things were getting toward there, I was like, I feel like I got it. But the first time I ever sports gambled, I was like, oh, this is why people moved to Vegas and give everything else up. That part of my brain is in there. And I do think I'm okay at managing it. But I did smoke two packs of cigarettes a day for like 10 years. Yes. Like, I know it's in there.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. We were both very, very heavy smokers, Aaron and I.

[Timothy Simons]

It's fun, no?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. If I read someone sent me an article that they're like on the verge of a vaccine for lung cancer and I was like, what do we do? Obviously I'd wait till my kids graduate, but when I'm on a lake house retired and I have A vaccine for lung cancer. Am I gonna bang darts?

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Yes. But I am willingly forgetting about how much I coughed, how bad my cardio was. My teeth were getting yellow. Everything smelled.

[Timothy Simons]

I do remember the day that I decided to quit.

[Tom Papa]

How long ago?

[Timothy Simons]

I started when I was in college and when I was, like, 19 and quit when I was 29. And I had always kind of told myself, I'll quit when I'm 30.

[Tom Papa]

I quit when I was 30, too.

[Aaron]

30.

[Tom Papa]

That's a good age to quit. Entering a new decade, and you're like, are we gonna do another? Cause you know, if you enter that decade doing it another 10 years.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah. Then it's gonna be, I'm 40. The reason I quit was I found my. I walked up one flight of stairs and was out of breath, and I was like, I'm 20. I was, like, sitting on a couch one time at rest, and I was breathing. I was breathing heavily, and I'm like, you're 29 years old. And so that was sort of like the thing. Like a little bit of a come to. Jesus, Aaron.

[Tom Papa]

I'll tell you. I just coughed all fucking day long. I tried to get the tar out of my lungs from the second I woke up.

[Timothy Simons]

I kind of miss.

[Tom Papa]

No, I miss him.

[Aaron]

Coughing.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Aaron]

It was like a soothing. It made me feel safe. No one even was around.

[Timothy Simons]

Do we all go in?

[Tom Papa]

No, no, just me.

[Aaron]

Nope. Just ax.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. You have no duties other than to be charming and funny with Lordy. Nailed. Yeah.

[Aaron]

Show over.

[Tom Papa]

What? Aaron, don't I have two bags?

[Aaron]

No, just.

[Tom Papa]

We're going to two different locales.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Okay.

[Timothy Simons]

Wait, there are two people at this place?

[Aaron]

No, we had two pickups, but we also have two stops.

[Timothy Simons]

This is like a level of executive function that I don't. I think because of the adhd, it's like two different. Can I just Dr. Both of them off? Can you run this down the street?

[Aaron]

I think a lot of people in this business do that.

[Timothy Simons]

Can you just help me out real quick? I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.

[Aaron]

When I started delivering food, I was in a pizza place called Little Caesars. Oh, you've heard of it?

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, of course. Yeah.

[Aaron]

Yeah. And there's this bazillion in Detroit. There's so many people. I went in there to pick up an order, and There was probably 12 other delivery people in there waiting on food. It got so scary. This is in the middle of the hood, and there's bulletproof glass between the. Of shit. And people are banging on it. N word this and Come on. Kicking this glass. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God, dude. We haven't seen any of this, by the way, yet on our ventures here. We probably need to go to a different neighborhood.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah, I don't think you're gonna find it much in Silver Lake with all the writers, right?

[Aaron]

This one girl, I'll never forget it. She's waiting on whatever she's waiting on, and she goes, give me a fucking breadstick. Whatever the fuck you have is what I'm taking them. That's what they get. And I'm like, people don't give a fuck.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, my God.

[Aaron]

So he popped, possibly ordered three large pizzas and got a chicken wing, two.

[Timothy Simons]

Breadsticks and a chicken wing.

[Aaron]

She said, I don't give a what you give me.

[Tom Papa]

I don't give a.

[Aaron]

That's what they get.

[Timothy Simons]

I feel like the person that ordered gives a fuck.

[Tom Papa]

That's what they get. Yeah, they should order from another person if they wanted more.

[Commercial Voiceover]

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[Timothy Simons]

Ride.

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[Tom Papa]

At least the kids thought it was hilarious.

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[Tom Papa]

Happily, yes.

[Commercial Voiceover]

What about a day of sunshine? Not happening. A box of fine Chocolates. Yes, that's happening. Delivery on its way. Okay, how about some Clear skies? Nope. Well then how about some French fries?

[Timothy Simons]

Yep.

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[Timothy Simons]

I was asking while you were inside what your relationship was like after you had gotten sober, but he had not.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, I'm sure he said no, I just barely started.

[Aaron]

But yeah, tell him.

[Tom Papa]

We stayed close in that anytime I was in Michigan we would always hang out. But I was always aware he was definitely making a concession to be around me and be a strong as he was when he was around me. We stayed in love, but it limited like we could never go on a vacation together. There's just so many things we couldn't have done together because he would have just been busy hiding everything. But I never said anything, even though of course I was like, I know we both needed to get sober. I didn't say anything until there was a very clear moment where I was like, oh, he's gonna be dead in a week. I've got a week or two to say to him, if you want to go to treatment, I'd love to send you to my complete show. He said, I'd love to go. Wow. The funniest story ever was I had booked him a place in Antigua and of course he needs a passport, which he doesn't have. And now I'm like, oh my God, he's gotta stay alive for four or five days knowing he's going to treatment. For those five days I was at home going like, I'm not going to go.

[Aaron]

And the actual like, I should have gone that moment.

[Tom Papa]

Not ideal to have a five day window before you go to treatment. You know you're going to treatment, you're.

[Timothy Simons]

Going in every day to like the fucking passport office.

[Aaron]

Guess what I didn't do for five days? Sleep.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Papa]

I would be like, shit, I never shot dope. Maybe this is the time to shoot dope. Okay, so back to the Ritalin.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Papa]

So it worked really, really well. Yes. Were you in charge of your prescription or do your parents give it to you? Cause I know I would have ended up doing and then I would have told them like, I'm out.

[Timothy Simons]

I think this was at a period of time I would have been between 0 and 10 years old when the Just say no to drugs. Nancy Reagan thing would have been happening.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

So there was that general vibe out in the world. And not that there weren't drugs where I grew up, but this, like, hippie high school that my parents helped start had this thing called Teen Issues Week. And Teen Issues Week was. Everybody took a week off and they had everything that you can learn about. About jazz music to. This is like a panel of gay students who are out. It's like the mid-90s. They also had people who had been in jail coming to talk about their experiences. It wasn't necessarily scared straight. It wasn't bad. It was just, this is what it is like. And if you have questions about that, I do feel bad that we all really laughed at this. But one former heroin addict came in to do it was called the Dance of Addiction.

[Tom Papa]

Oh.

[Timothy Simons]

And it was.

[Tom Papa]

It was already a rough title for me.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh. I mean, it was an interpretive dance about his experience with addiction done in the round of like a bunch of 8th and 9th graders.

[Tom Papa]

Very well intentioned, but very well intentioned.

[Timothy Simons]

Also incredibly insane. And I know we were all giggling.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

But I think that what that whole week did was give you sort of a long view of your life, even if I wasn't able to really internalize it. And I think that is all the same say that I don't think I was ever going to take more than I was supposed to. I think I was a rule follower in that way because I was so nervous. This is also like AIDS crisis, where it was like, sex is going to kill you and drugs are going to kill you. So I was like. And then when I finally did get into drugs, I was always like, I'm not going to do any of the heavy shit. I like hallucinogens.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. No one's ever died.

[Timothy Simons]

No one's ever died. It's all fine. Even when I was in college, I'm not sure what the statute of limitations on this is, but like, definitely if I was like, out of money on a Friday, I sell some of it on the floor. And then I'd be like, oh, cool, I have $100.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. And did you suffer at all when you didn't have the medication?

[Timothy Simons]

I would feel a little out of control. I was like, I'm annoying everyone around me. I know I'm a lot, but I can really feel that I'm bugging the people that are around me. And that's when I was like, okay, let's get it back together.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. I definitely relate to that feeling. Not the other people I relate to being the person, that's way too much. It's a thing.

[Timothy Simons]

I mean, maybe that's another comorbidity.

[Tom Papa]

It's really hard to govern it because it's appealing until it's not.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

It's a very fine line to be walking. The kind of loud, provocative.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah. And like a lot of times people are like, oh, my God, this is so great. This guy's so fun. And then that extra 5%, they're like, I just wish this guy wasn't here. Or I wish you'd be normal for one second.

[Tom Papa]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Timothy Simons]

But no. Even during that, I never crushed and snorted it. I was like, yeah, it's just not for me. I'm fine. Definitely have a positive effect.

[Tom Papa]

And are you still on it?

[Timothy Simons]

I took a long time off, A lot of it having to do with whenever I was 22 or whatever. I was not on my parents insurance.

[Tom Papa]

Anymore and they're $100 on the street, as you found out.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah. And so I was like, all right, I'm going to try to like sort of self manage this, but both of my kids have ADHD and it presents itself in very different ways. I was like, oh, all the conversations I'm having right now, I know, are happening with me. So I actually got back on it like three or four years ago.

[Tom Papa]

And you're much happier, I assume.

[Timothy Simons]

Much happier. And I definitely feel like a little bit more calm and a little bit more able to manage the things that I need to manage. Whereas before I would just be like, I just lost this whole day.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. What happened?

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

It's interesting too that it manifests different in women than men because, like, Kristen's pretty certain she has it. And if you read the symptoms for women, it's very interesting. They do it differently. So Kristen didn't present that way to me, but as I've learned about it, I'm like, yeah, I could co sign on this. And we're probably both that and probably our oldest is that way. Okay. This is very exciting for me to finally get to ask you this because you are a part of what I think might be an apocryphal story. You came to LA and I want to know the whole version. But at some point you were an assistant to a casting director. Now, is this part a lie? You were reading other people for Veep?

[Timothy Simons]

No.

[Tom Papa]

Is that someone else?

[Timothy Simons]

That might be somebody else. But I can see where these stories would cross over because I was running camera for commercial casting places.

[Tom Papa]

Okay.

[Timothy Simons]

And it was that job that led to a job that got me into Alison Jones's office where I was able to audition for Reed.

[Tom Papa]

Okay, so, yeah, walk me through that. First of all, how old were you when you moved to la?

[Timothy Simons]

I did that. People would say in the entirely wrong way, I was 30 when I moved here.

[Tom Papa]

Ideal time. Ideal time. You know what Hollywood loves.

[Timothy Simons]

Is people who are 30 with almost no experience.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

They love that. I had never been to Los Angeles before. I knew when I moved to Chicago that I would go to either coast eventually. And I was just like, fuck it, I'm going to la. Like, if you want to work at a steel mill, you move to Pittsburgh.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, right, right, right. In the 70s. In the 70s, yeah. You want to build cars? Move to Detroit. In the 70s.

[Timothy Simons]

In the 70s.

[Tom Papa]

Had you done any I.O. or second city classes or anything while you were in Chicago?

[Timothy Simons]

I took one Second City class because my agent in Chicago was like, if you don't have Second City on your resume, I can't fucking do anything.

[Tom Papa]

There's nothing to be done.

[Timothy Simons]

So I begrudgingly took one and it was very fun. And I don't know if we have this in common, but a little bit of like a contrarian fucker thing of being like, oh, you want me to do that? Then I'm not going to do it. So I didn't.

[Tom Papa]

Is that a comorbidity?

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah, probably.

[Tom Papa]

I just don't want to do anything anyone else is doing. Yeah, it's such a terrible, terrible quality. Aaron and I are the same way. We love punk rock.

[Timothy Simons]

Anything sort of oppositional. I was kind of drawn that way. But when I got out here, I still wanted to, like, do something. I didn't want to lose being in front of an audience or live theater or anything like that. So I started doing UCB out here. Nobody was asking. Started taking classes there at 30. At 30, the first time I ever viewed Los Angeles was like getting off of the Five, driving down Los Feliz Boulevard.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

We had gotten married like, three weeks previous in a moving van.

[Tom Papa]

God bless your wife. Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Timothy Simons]

Had lived in Los Angeles when she was younger for a very short time. Or lived in California and kind of didn't like it.

[Tom Papa]

Sure.

[Timothy Simons]

And was also 2008 when the financial market crashed.

[Tom Papa]

Terrifying time.

[Timothy Simons]

So she's a public school teacher. She had gotten a job at a school.

[Tom Papa]

Talk about marrying your mom.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Please don't drop the same name.

[Timothy Simons]

Please don't draw too many of these parallels over the course of this drive, but Then eventually found a job running these commercial casting sessions. I would get hired, casting director would come in and be like, all right. They pick up the tie, they look at it, they smile like, oh, good product. And then they leave.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

And then all day I was directing people to do that.

[Tom Papa]

That's an interesting way to enter this whole thing. I almost think that's a gift.

[Timothy Simons]

It 100% was.

[Tom Papa]

Cause I found once I was directing and I was on the other side of the casting process, I was like, shit, I wish I knew all this stuff. The whole time I was going and.

[Timothy Simons]

Auditioning, seeing it from that side. Usually it's not.

[Aaron]

No.

[Timothy Simons]

Also then just kind of all day seeing on camera what read as funnier.

[Tom Papa]

Right.

[Timothy Simons]

Than other things. What is the very small thing that that person did that just made it a little bit better? Then that kind of led to a job where I was running these casting sessions. But in this case, it was like, all right, the director wants you to improvise with these kids as they're coming in. And so I started doing that and they just liked the stuff that I was throwing out. And somewhere in the callbacks, the director got up and was like, just go in there and I'm gonna move the. He's like, cause I'm writing you into this.

[Tom Papa]

Oh my God.

[Timothy Simons]

And so that was like the first commercial job that I got. And then that led to like a little bit of a run of, oh, shit, Like, I'm actually working in commercials a little bit, getting insurance, doing all of that. And then that led to this one commercial where I played Abe Lincoln. That a friend of mine from Chicago, I was a bartender at the House of Blues. Uh huh. Nice.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, that's fun. That sounds really fun.

[Timothy Simons]

It was really fun. His roommate out here was Allison Jones, casting associate. And when I had first moved out, we met, we hung out. He was like, oh, yeah, you know, if you ever do something that I can show Allison, let me know.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. Oh, that's so generous.

[Timothy Simons]

And it was. So he showed her that and she was like, oh, he's funny, let's call him in. And I went in like three months, commercial.

[Tom Papa]

Wow.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

And she's so wonderful. Right? We just interviewed her.

[Timothy Simons]

She really is.

[Tom Papa]

Nobody has ever had an eye for talent like her.

[Timothy Simons]

And it kind of feels like everybody that has become big in comedy in the last 15, 20 years, she's the one that.

[Tom Papa]

She's like the West Coast Lorne Michaels.

[Timothy Simons]

Yes.

[Tom Papa]

She's really special. But when you auditioned for Veep, other than the stuff in Chicago, in la, you'd only done the commercial.

[Timothy Simons]

Only really done commercials. Veep was the first television show.

[Tom Papa]

That's an amazing story. That's incredible.

[Timothy Simons]

So, yeah, there was a little part of me, you know, my agent in Chicago, who was like, you're making the dumbest decision ever, your life. You're moving out there without a job. You don't know anyone. You've never been there.

[Tom Papa]

You're not good.

[Timothy Simons]

You're not good.

[Tom Papa]

You measured yourself too. Old people.

[Timothy Simons]

I remember his advice. I was like, hey, do you have any advice on moving to la? His advice was like, moisturize. I was like, I don't know what to do with that, man.

[Tom Papa]

He was like, yes, it is a dry climate.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah, it's a dry climate.

[Tom Papa]

Chicago. Well, this is the point where I fellate you and bring you out of the closet. So memorable. I mean, there's like a handful of people I can remember from almost the first scene I saw him in, going like, oh, my God, this person's fucking hysterical. Watching Veep, I was like, well, who's this guy? What is he, like, on the main stage at ucb? Is he a groundling? What's the story? This guy's fucking right out of the gates. Brilliant. What is it, 80 28?

[Aaron]

My money. It's on this right here.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. 80 24. I'll go up these stairs.

[Aaron]

Yeah, girl, you did it.

[Tom Papa]

We did it.

[Timothy Simons]

Have people been like your Dax Shepherd?

[Aaron]

That was our hopes.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Aaron]

But no. 90% of the time it says, leave it at the door. Cause no one wants to fucking talk to their delivery driver. And the few times it has been a handoff, Actually, there was one person who looked very confused. You could tell he recognized him, but couldn't make sense out of it. And then the last time we went out was with Kristen, so. So of course there's a handoff. And then Dax was like, oh, Kristen's in here, too. And they went crazy. But, no, most of the time, you just leave it at the door.

[Timothy Simons]

You just leave it at the door. And they don't even know.

[Tom Papa]

They know. That's what.

[Aaron]

They look at you through the window and wait for you to turn around.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, they can't wait for you. Which I relate to. It's like something so embarrassing. I feel like I don't deserve it.

[Aaron]

I'm not better than you.

[Tom Papa]

Exactly.

[Timothy Simons]

I thank you very much for the compliment. I will say that while not taking any abilities that I might have out of the equation, I think I found myself in the best possible circumstance for me to contribute in that. Not having a lot of experience, it being a very, like, non traditional show, and that we had these, like, long rehearsal processes. I don't know that I would have been set up for success in a situation that was a little bit more like, okay, this is your first day of shooting. I was learning everything as we went.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

And, like, it's gonna be kind of embarrassing. I didn't know how to read a call sheet. I thought the second AD was my boss. She came by in my fitting and was like, oh, I like your glasses. But they were just my regular glasses.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

And I was like, do I have to wear my glasses in the show now? But I was in a situation in which before we started filming the pilot, we had, like, six days of rehearsal in this hotel in Baltimore that we were all staying in. And I was also a part of a group of people who were incredibly supportive. It very much had, like, an ensemble feel. And so even though, yeah, I was nervous to be in the room with. I had just gone through ucb, so Matt Walsh is in.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. The Godfather.

[Timothy Simons]

And huge Arrested Development fan Tony Hale's in there. And, like, Julia Louis Dreyfus is an icon. Even though I was nervous, especially top down, both Julia and Armando made it a situation where they forgave me for my green moments and also allowed me to be a contributor. And I don't know that if I had just been, like, cast on a show and shown up, that I would have ultimately built up the confidence to be able to participate.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, I have the exact same story.

[Timothy Simons]

Well, first of all, I think that's.

[Tom Papa]

Generous and I believe you, but also very intimidating. As much as, yes, they did turn out to be so helpful and supportive. Also, it's a big league to step into, so I could see that crushing someone. There's a lot of experience you're stepping into.

[Timothy Simons]

I will also say that I was lucky in that when I was going through the audition process and I didn't really know a lot of arms work. But as I through the audition process, went back to start watching it, I did have some confidence in that. I was like, oh, this is exactly the shit that I feel like I'm good at. Not that I know a lot, but I feel like I know this world, even if it takes me a little while. I feel like I'm in a wheelhouse that I kind of understand.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, it's not abstract to you.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Punk'd was the same way. I couldn't really act. You couldn't give me a scene. And I wouldn't have been that good. But the fact that I got eight episodes of improv ing, which I could do, led people to believe that I think I could act and read scenes and stuff. And I remember, and I'm so grateful. Cause I went from eight years of auditioning nothing. Then this show punked. I had just gotten kicked out of the Groundlings as well.

[Timothy Simons]

Really?

[Tom Papa]

Yes. Out of the Sunday Company. And so I get this show and it airs. And of course I'm like, and now what? It's a very big show and people know my name. That's really cool. And thank God this guy Steve Brill, he thought I was so funny on the show. And he was casting without a. And I went and auditioned, and I wasn't very good. And he was like, I know you can do this, and we're gonna get you this. So I'm gonna bring Seth in, who's a great improv or Seth Green. And you guys are just gonna improv your audition. And I'm gonna send that to the head of the studio. She'll have no idea what scenes are real and what aren't.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tom Papa]

And I got to do that. I just got to improv with Seth for a half hour. And he cut together a thing. And had it not been for him, I don't know how I really end up as well. Like the combination of. Yeah. Getting to do exactly what I know how to do on Punt. Cause you could. And give me a no.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

And then this guy Steve Brill, who believed in me so much.

[Timothy Simons]

You're naturally funny. And eventually, like, there is a thing about this industry that I think is cool. You can work with that.

[Tom Papa]

Right.

[Timothy Simons]

Like, you get technically better as you go along.

[Tom Papa]

Yes.

[Timothy Simons]

But, like, you can't be technically good and then become funny.

[Tom Papa]

Yes, you're right. There's no learning curve for that. Or at least I don't think much.

[Timothy Simons]

I kind of feel like without a paddle shot in Chicago or in the Midwest. Didn't it?

[Tom Papa]

No. New Zealand.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, it did.

[Tom Papa]

Which. Imagine that. Eight years of no work and then my first job is go to New Zealand for four months.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, my God.

[Tom Papa]

Go canoeing. Jump off waterfalls. Ride fucking ATVs. Work with Burt Reynolds. I couldn't. He's like, believe what was happening.

[Aaron]

Is it gonna get even better than this?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, it couldn't. There's just no way. Like, when I found out they had cast Burt Reynolds, who's my childhood an idol, I was like, I'm gonna die in the middle of this movie.

[Timothy Simons]

Or something.

[Tom Papa]

This is all too good to be true.

[Timothy Simons]

I feel like I may have auditioned for something in that movie out of Chicago.

[Tom Papa]

Are you sure it wasn't let's Go to Prison? Because let's go to Prison. Let's Go to Prison.

[Timothy Simons]

It was let's Go to Prison.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. Because we shot that there and it did have. Koechner was in it. Who was I? Oh, there was a lot of Chicago folks because Odenkirk directed it. The craziest casting in that was Michael Shannon.

[Timothy Simons]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron]

How good was he?

[Tom Papa]

Oh, my God. I mean, I guess it was obvious when I watched him, I just remember thinking, this guy deserves to be in a much better movie. He truly does. And that was true. He then went on to do, like, Road to Perdition.

[Timothy Simons]

This is the thing that I kind of love because I have always been somebody who, like, really loves a community, loves an ensemble. I love the small world nature of the business, Even throughout the entire country. In that. The day that I moved to Chicago, dropped my bags at the house and they were like, we have tickets to see a show at a Red Orchid, which was one of Michael o' Shannon's theater companies. He was in it.

[Tom Papa]

No.

[Timothy Simons]

Hangs dong at the end of the play.

[Tom Papa]

Hangs dong.

[Timothy Simons]

Full dick.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, wow.

[Timothy Simons]

Big dang full dick. Small theater.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. He's a big guy. Did he have a nice hog?

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Big.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah. Good looking, thick one.

[Tom Papa]

Good stage dick.

[Timothy Simons]

Like his voice and not Timmy. You could tell he was used to it. Cause it wasn't, like, nervous that it's out there. And then, like, 45 minutes later, after hanging out at the bar, I was in the. The backseat of a convertible that Michael Shannon was in the passenger seat of, and Michael Shannon's childhood therapist was driving.

[Tom Papa]

Are you partying?

[Timothy Simons]

It's like, that is like we were, like, going to a bar or a house party just somewhere in Chicago. And it is my first night in town. Oh, yeah. And that is like that thing that I love about the small world versions of this. Just because I went and saw a play when I was a kid, I got to see David Harbour. And just because I showed up in Chicago one day, I met Michael Shannon.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. Okay, so here's a question for you.

[Timothy Simons]

Okay.

[Tom Papa]

Veep, in my mind was a very big show. How does the reaction to that compared to Nobody wants this. Kristen's never been in anything other than Frozen. That would compare to the level of viewership and attention and cultural phenomena that you had to, like, give a numeric value to them. Are they the same?

[Timothy Simons]

When I Go to the airport. I will be recognized. Previously, once right after the show came out, I was going back and forth. I was working on a job in Vancouver right when nobody wants this came out and I got recognized, people stopped me to say hi, minimum 10 times.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

And even there was one time where like the Canadian TSA agents, she looked at my passport, looked at me and went, this is the guy from the show. I was just, literally, I had just told him to watch the show. Right. I think it really compares, like, in actual numbers. This is a brand new experience.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah. Well, I met with Kristen for 18 years and she's obviously very famous, but the last time we were in New York, which is generally a city where people won't stop you. Literally every third person on the street shit their pants. And I go, hun, you're fucking too famous to be out in New York. This is crazy. We can't get anywhere.

[Aaron]

The show is amazing.

[Tom Papa]

We can't stand in line to get popcorn.

[Timothy Simons]

So many people have seen the show and they've responded to it and I'm so thankful for that. It is also, like, you are constantly reminded that whatever tier you're on, there are subsections of that tier and it is people very confidently getting your name wrong. And you're like, oh, at the fucking after SAGS party, I had a full three minute conversation with someone who thought I was the guy from Baby Race Reindeer.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, my God.

[Timothy Simons]

And in the first 10 seconds, you bad mix up. And also, I don't have an English accent.

[Aaron]

No.

[Tom Papa]

You know, so she must have been Scottish. He's a normal height.

[Timothy Simons]

I mean, I guess I had a beard at the time, but very physically different people, different accents. But the first thing was a selfie and then it was a conversation about how much the show meant to her and she was really looking forward to the things that I do next.

[Tom Papa]

And you're rightly assuming she's talking about nobody wants to.

[Timothy Simons]

No. Within the first 15 seconds, I knew.

[Tom Papa]

That she was talking about baby reindeer.

[Timothy Simons]

But I was just like, I just can't pull the rug out from under this.

[Tom Papa]

Right. You don't want to ruin their experience.

[Timothy Simons]

And also I felt like it would make them feel embarrassed. Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

What if you swapped to a Scottish.

[Timothy Simons]

Accent mid conversation with her in that situation? Do you think you do that? Do you let it ride?

[Tom Papa]

Yeah, yeah. They'll say they love Garden State. Can I get a picture? For sure. And Zach has done the same a bunch of times with me. Do you remember how popular that face swapping app Was, Yes. Yeah, it was all the rage. And we happened to be somewhere and we did it. And I can tell you, it's a mind melty photo. Whose face went on whose body.

[Timothy Simons]

I'm kind of like putting a judgment on myself. Is that like a good behavior? Is that codependency that I can't hurt somebody? Or is this a kindness that I didn't embarrass her in that moment?

[Tom Papa]

I think the latter. Cause I think from your own selfish point of view, it's much easier to just do the thing than to sit there and explain and then have, oh, yeah, we look alike.

[Aaron]

You're being very humble.

[Tom Papa]

I think by doing it now you gotta explain. No, I'm on a show. You kind of have gotta give your resume.

[Timothy Simons]

Yeah.

[Tom Papa]

Which is kind of humiliating. It's just the whole thing would be easier and everyone would be happy. It's a very utilitarian outcome. I think it's like maximum happiness for both people involved. I think that's the ethical thing to do.

[Timothy Simons]

I'm not saying this about the guy from Baby Reindeer because I do think he's an odd looking guy, but I think he's a good looking guy.

[Tom Papa]

Yeah.

[Timothy Simons]

Have you ever had sexy happen to you? I have learned to never tell another actor that they look like another actor. The amount of times that I have been told I look like somebody, if I don't know them, I look them up and I'm like, oh, that person looks like a fucking melted candle.

[Tom Papa]

You're always bummed.

[Timothy Simons]

You're always bummed.

[Tom Papa]

You can have a simultaneous terrible opinion of how you look and feel better looking than other people. I don't understand it. Cause I have a very low opinion of how I look. But anytime I'm told I look at the person, I'm like, jesus, it's that bad, man.

[Timothy Simons]

One time there were like a bunch of people, and I'm not on Twitter anymore, but there were like a bunch of people being like, there should be a biopic about the guy who played like one of the bad underlings in the Superman movies. Oh, you know who I'm talking about.

[Tom Papa]

He's floating in the prism at the beginning. Yes, yes.

[Timothy Simons]

Like that guy. And I was like, he kind of.

[Tom Papa]

Looks like Justin Theroux, but Justin Theroux, gorgeous or. No, that's the other guy. One guy is a beard. I know exactly who you're talking about.

[Timothy Simons]

Yes. And it's like, oh, okay, yeah. God, I hope that guy's dead and doesn't listen to this look.

[Tom Papa]

It's universal. I have a fucking friend. I shouldn't say fucking. I adore this friend. Aaron and I are both friends with him and he's like, oh my God, if I get fucking told I look like Zac Efron one more time, you're like. And I go, boo hoo. Oh my God. I would fucking. Oh my child.

[Aaron]

Oh, look at that.

[Tom Papa]

I love this child. Hi, child.

[Aaron]

Mom's car. Hi.

[Tom Papa]

We're just finishing an episode, Tim. From mom's show. From no one else's.

[Timothy Simons]

Hi. Oh, I got a little jump.

[Tom Papa]

Yes, yes. Okay.

[Aaron]

I love you.

[Tom Papa]

Oh, I've never seen her walking home from school.

[Aaron]

That's so funny.

[Timothy Simons]

Adorable.

[Tom Papa]

Tim, this was a party. You're such fun.

[Timothy Simons]

I'm like so glad this worked out.

[Tom Papa]

Fun, right? You drive around the car and shoot the.