Joshua Tree is not known for excellent cell phone reception. But the 47-year-old Simon Rex moved to the desert town after his eclectic career as a comedian, rapper, MTV VJ, and model slowed down, when he received the biggest one in his life. He was in a particularly good mood when calling.

"I was just sitting there, staring at my ceiling fan, wondering what the next step in my life was, what was the next step in my career, what was the next step for the planet... Then I suddenly received a Friend's phone. ”

This friend wanted to connect Rex with Sean Baker, the adventurer and critically acclaimed director behind "Orange" and "Project Florida." Baker conceived a new project, "Red Rocket", which can be shot quickly and safely at the peak of the pandemic, and he thinks Rex is very suitable for the protagonist.

At a film festival in Middleburg, Virginia, Rex recalled the unorthodox audition process through Zoom.

"So Baker called me and he sent me a paragraph. I read a paragraph on my phone [video] myself, coldly in my kitchen, and then sent it to him. He was like , You just booked the lead character in my new movie. I need you to be in Texas in three days."

Baker rented a car for Rex so he could drive to Texas without having to quarantine for a week.

"I just jumped in. I don't have time to think, I like it, actually. I think it serves this movie."

Rex is as attractive as Mikey Saber. He is a brainwashed porn star who returned to the Gulf Coast of Texas after falling to the bottom. After quietly climbing on the sofa of his separated wife and attending the show as a small drug dealer, Saber tried to improvisely return to the industry with the help of his new teenage lover (Susana Son).

Saber, with a childish charm and ruthless self-interest, cultivates an atmosphere of threat and manipulation, while never completely losing the sympathy of the audience. Appearing in almost every scene in the movie, Rex completed a challenging tightrope walk.

Drawing on the influence of anti-heroes, such as Robert De Niro in "Taxi Driver" and Danny McBride in "East and Down"​​, Rex realized that he had to make Saber charming enough, To take root.

"If you just read the script, there is nothing redeemable or good for this character.

"So I just made him childish, a little charming, funny and likable, thinking about the conversation as much as possible. [Baker] Let me improve a bit, I just want to make him stupid. Maybe he is like someone who doesn't know What are you doing, do you know?"

But even when filming the busiest character of his career, Rex was waiting for the bottom to quit. "It wasn't until the last day of filming that I called my agent and told them I got the job," he said. "Because I don't think we will survive the new crown pneumonia, it was very chaotic and the whole thing was a bit surreal. Then on the last day of filming, I called my agent and said, "I was just in Sean Baker's movie Starring. "They were like,'Huh, what are you talking about?'"

Now, after a career defined mainly by spoofs and fools, Rex has an external opportunity to receive award recognition.

"I have had some wonderful experiences in the show business," he said. "From studio movies to online TV shows to MTV, I have been on the top of the mountain, at the foot of the mountain. I have succeeded, and then I have nothing. But it is different. I have never participated in something that is strictly respected, at a film festival. Won these awards. Until now, I have never seen me like a real actor."

According to Rex, although the "Red Rocket" released in early December was hardly seen, his new doors in Hollywood are opening for him. "Some people come to me for a meeting, and if you told me a year ago, I would laugh. I mean, I can barely attend the audition."

Rex said that he moved to the desert as a surrender, telling himself that he was fine whether the phone rang or did not ring. Therefore, if you want to learn from his recent success, it is not as simple as "don't give up your dream".

The point is that he believes that his predecessor, Simon Rex (Simon Rex) does not have the talent and depth of making "Red Rockets."

"In the past, I thought I just wanted to do comedy, because it was easy to hide behind comedians, just to make a joke," he said. "When you were in your 20s, there was not much history, struggle and life experience. Now I am in my 40s and I only have more life to get rid of. So I think now is the best way to do more theater performances. Timing. As you get older, life is no longer just a joke. You know, life makes you humble."

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