John Simm
British actor, most famous for being Seventies-trapped Woobie Sam Tyler in Life On Mars and a magnificently hammy Master in Doctor Who. Other notable roles include Sexby in the English Civil War drama The Devils Whore, Raskolnikov in a BBC adaptation of Crime and Punishment, and characters in the films Skellig and 24 Hour Party People (in the latter, playing Joy Division guitarist/NewOrder lead singer Bernard Sumner).
Still, The Mighty Boosh asks "Who the fuck is John Simm?"
Tropes used in John Simm include:
- Hot Dad
- Identical Stranger: He looks like Vladimir Putin. Or perhaps Putin looks like the Master.
- Or Putin is actually... ...Oh dear.
- Large Ham: Went Ham-to-Ham with David Tennant, and depending on who you ask, he won.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: As the Master.
- Retroactive Recognition: His Blink and You'll miss it role in Spaced.
- So My Kids Can Watch: It's the reason he was in Doctor Who.
- Irony: After watching his own performance, he thought his own children shouldn't see what he did as The Master due to it being too disturbing.
- Method Acting: He says there's no such thing as the Method, but since the term is colloquially used to refer to Stanislavskian acting styles, this fits in with his training and his acting style.
- Clint Squint: Repeatedly as the Master.
- Grim Up North: His roles in Life On Mars and (to a lesser extent) Clocking Off.
- Manly Tears: Pretty often in Life On Mars.
- Urban Legend / Half Truth: There is one going around that he would be returning to play as The Master. While he has mentioned he would like to play the role, and Steven Moffat has stated that The Master could return someday, a recent Tweet has stated that he doesn't plan on playing the Master anytime soon. Whether this means he hasn't been approached or turned down the role is anyone's guess.