Johnny Simmons 2011

Johnny Simmons recently popped up on our radar when rumors surfaced that he’s dating his Perks of Being a Wallflower castmate Emma Watson. The two have denied their union, but we still have our suspicious that romance is blooming (like a flower… on the wall. Get it?). Anyway, here are five things to know about the 24-year-old actor:

1. He’s a good ‘ole Southern boy. Johnny was born in Montgomery, Alabama and raised in Dallas, Texas.

2. His first major role was the character Dylan Baxter in Evan Almighty, where he starred opposite Steve Carell and Lauren Graham. Not a bad first gig, we suppose.

3. Since then, he’s appeared in flicks like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Jennifer’s Body. We distinctly remember having a crush on his character in JB, the cute, nerdy boyfriend of Amanda Seyfried‘s character.

4. He starred in this video portrait from hotshot photog Tyler Shields. Check it out:

johnny simmons

5. He was offered his Scott Pilgrim role via Facebook message form director Edgar Wright. Here’s how it went down:

“Uh huh. I read it about a year and a half ago, or two years or so. I was just leaving to New York to go film a movie called The Greatest, and I go on in at the last minute, and it’s like there’s no way in hell that I’m going to get this, like, I’ll just—but I just went in on a whim, and like a year and a half later, or maybe just like a year, Edgar—somebody was saying they were Edgar Wright], you know, on Facebook, and I was like yeah, whatever. And we had been waiting for feedback, you know, nothing had come of this. And for a while it was on hold or something. And I was focused on The Greatest and Jennifer’s Body, and then I kept asking about this film in particular. And uh, he friend requested me and I was like yeah, it’s Edgar, but it’s probably not. And we started, uh, messaging back and forth through the inbox and he sent me, like a month had gone by when we were just talking, and he said, I said well, you’re in LA, if you want to meet up for coffee or whatever. And he was also friends with Jason Reitman, who doesn’t have his real name set up, so I figured it could have been the real Edgar. He said yeah, let’s meet up for coffee. I’d also like to offer you the role of Young Neil.”