VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Jimmi Simpson On Female Sexuality In ‘The Starling Girl’ At Sundance Premiere

In The Starling Girl, viewers follow 17-year-old Jem Starling, played by Eliza Scanlen, as she tries to find her place in the world and in her fundamentalist Christian church. Her struggles with her sexuality are a common thread throughout the film as she tries to balance her new feelings for boys and her religious upbringing.

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Jimmi Simpson (Westworld) talked about what his character, Paul Starling, is like.

“Well, Paul is a guy who is just trying to do his best and that’s kind of the human experience,” Simpson said. “How can I just not F everything up? He had a hard youth where he broke a lot of rules and he’s like, ‘I’m going to follow the rules and live in the structure.’ That seems to bring so many people peace. And he does his best.”

Simpson continued, “Unfortunately, the structure doesn’t really fit his body, so he’s kind of twisted and he’s holding that position and trying to tell his daughter, ‘Hey, this is really great, you should try this, you should really commit yourself to living like this.’ And so, you know, ultimately, it’s going to break. The body will break, and the mind will break if you force it into a place it doesn’t belong. I could relate to that.”