Jimmi Simpson recently reflected on the unique spelling of his first name, sharing the actual reason behind it.
While speaking to PEOPLE magazine, the 50-year-old American actor revealed that his different spelling is actually an homage to his grandmother.
Simpson said, “My sweet grandmother, Lillian, from Sedona, [Ariz.] would always write my cards, J-I-M-M-I. It was in remembrance of her that I took that spelling.”
He shared that he did not adopt his name while growing up and used to go by other names, quipping, “In high school, a lot of people referred to me as Jim. It was mostly girls who would call me Jimmy.”
Notably, when the Breakout Kings star started honing his skills in theatre acting at Flock Rock Playhouse in North Carolina, he embraced his name without giving a second thought to his decision.
However, when he tried becoming part of Actors’ Equity, the union that represents performers and stage managers, under his preferred name, “Jim Simpson was already taken” by Sigourney Weaver’s husband, Jim Simpson, who co-founded The Flea Theater in New York City.
He stated that it was the time when Simpson used his grandmother’s spelling of his name, admitting that it was one of the best decisions of his life.
“I’m actually really, really glad that I just made that choice in that moment and that day in that theater to spell it with an ‘i,’” Jimmi Simpson confessed.
