Timothy Simons

For some actors, playing a character everyone loves to hate is much more fun than playing a good guy, and Timothy C. Simons made White House staffer Jonah Ryan on the political sitcom "Veep" a jerk of the highest order. Simons was born in Readfield, Maine, and attended the University of Maine, where he studied theater. After graduating in 2001, Simons spent some time in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles with his wife Annie in 2008. Simons did several commercials, finally gaining widespread notice for an insurance company ad where he played Abraham Lincoln.

This led to his casting on the White House comedy "Veep" (HBO 2012 - ), starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Simons shined in his breakout role as Jonah Ryan, the insufferable aide to the president. Although it was Simons' first television role, the character's caustic insults and insufferable preening were strong enough for him to hold his own opposite veterans like Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale. Simons transitioned into movies with key supporting roles in the football drama "Draft Day" (2014) and director Paul Thomas Anderson's Thomas Pynchon adaptation "Inherent Vice" (2014).