Andrew Simon

Drew is an actor and writer from Denver, Colorado. He received his BFA in Acting from the University of Northern Colorado with a double minor emphasis in English and Film. He was nominated for and awarded the Irene Ryan Award for Best Lead Actor in 2013 and 2014 for his performances in Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Jackie and Me respectively. He is the founder of Middle Man Production Company which put on its first theatrical production in the spring of 2023, Rajiv Joseph's award winning Gruesome Playground Injuries, which Drew starred in and produced. On stage he has worked in Los Angeles and Mendocino, California, as well as a number of productions in Colorado. On film he has starred in a number of award winning shorts and independent features as well as most recently a small featured role in Damien Chezelle's Babylon. He has also been in a number of commercials, most notably a spot for Subaru. He has completed training at UCB and Groundlings and has been a student at AMAW since 2016. He is beyond excited and grateful to be a part of the faculty now and helping continue to grow and cultivate a rich and vibrant artistic family here at AMAW. Why did you become an actor? For me, it all started watching my grandfather, THE Roger L. Simon, shine on stages all throughout the Denver area. Roger was a practicing lawyer and working actor all the way up until the time he sadly passed away from Covid in 2022 at the age of 88. I grew up watching him in nearly every performance he was in. I quickly found that the theatre was never a place I had to be dragged to and was eager to go back as often as I could. One of my first and fondest memories of him on stage was in a production of Little Shop of Horrors as the cantankerous Mr. Mushnik. I think I saw that production three times and each time I loved to see the differences and nuances that came with live theatre. Theatre became my first and true love and to this day I still find myself gravitating to the stage. For nearly every production I've been in, in either state I've called home, Roger (Baboo) was in the audience being both my biggest fan and best coach. Not only is he why I began acting, he is why I still act to this day and hope to for as long as he did.