Sturgill Simpson Says Acting Hasn’t Been All That Creatively Rewarding: “It’s A Great Way To Kill Some Time”

Sturgill Simpson wears many different hats. Besides being a cosmic musician, Simpson has a number of different acting roles on his resume. When he needed a break from making music, Sturgill started trying to pick up movie roles. It wasn't an intentional decision, because he really just fell into it, as he explained in a recent Qobuz interview: "In 2017, I was pretty burnt out from the road. Weirdly, I don't know why, we got this call, wanted to go audition for a TV show. I was in L.A., had a day off. I was like, 'Why not?' So I went and did it. Didn't get the job." Bummer... That was probably a tough rejection, though he likely found comfort in knowing he still had his "day job" to fall back on. But as you'll see if you look at Simpson's IMDB page ( The Dead Don't Die, The Righteous Gemstones, The Creator ) he ended up getting plenty of other opportunities: "But that audition led to, I guess, some people seeing the audition and it led to a few other jobs. And at the time, I wasn't touring, then COVID happened. So I'm sitting on my butt at home for a year and got some jobs and was like, 'Why not?'" And if getting burnt out with music and COVID wasn't a good enough sign to try something new, another barrier for song making led to more and more chances to try out acting: "Then once I ruptured my vocal cord, I had another job offer and I took it. But I feel like it's a great way to kill some time. But it's just not something I feel the need to actively pursue. I'm a musician and I didn't find it all that creatively rewarding or gratifying to be honest. I love movies. I love film. So I guess to be embedded in that process was a bit of a let down. You don't really... it's nice to be a contributing member of something so large when there's 200 people making this thing. But I just realized I should stick to what I know and love." Though he didn't care much for the movie making and acting process (even though he's damn good at that too), Simpson did speak on the scene he shared with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon . You can hear more about that in the clip below: https://youtu.be/uwm5KqggwZY?si=Bj1u-PO8fduNmhFz&t=848