“The last time I was proud of something I did,” says Rex, was 2003.

Simon Rex

The former MTV V.J. went from a botched Good Will Hunting audition to a failed rap career. His new film, Red Rocket, is something of a comeback

By Clementine Ford

There are helicopters flying over the actor Simon Rex’s Los Angeles hotel room. He thinks some sort of crime has been committed, and so he’s periodically, apologetically distracted by the commotion, while I am reminded of the boyish, A.D.H.D. energy that makes his performance in Red Rocket so engaging.

In the A24 film, Rex, 47, plays Mikey Saber, a former porn star who, run out of Los Angeles by a mix of bad decisions and financial burnout, returns to his hometown of Texas City. He charms his way into his ex-wife’s home, sells weed to local construction workers, and courts a 17-year-old girl named Strawberry, in whose beauty and sexual openness he sees a ticket back to the porn industry.