Frasier: Who Plays Simon Moon & Where Have You Seen Him Since?
Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane isn't the only "Frasier" character with a wacky, larger-than-life personality for a sibling. Those who have seen the later seasons of the beloved sitcom will recall meeting Daphne Moon's (Jane Leeves) immature and lazy brother Simon Moon. As a recurring character, Simon does a great job of shaking up the status quo and riling the main cast up whenever he pops in for the occasional visit. In essence, he's a character that fans love to hate, and he couldn't have been made possible without his actor, Anthony LaPaglia.
Fans can count the number of "Frasier" episodes that Simon appears in on their own two hands, but that's not to say that LaPaglia isn't a prolific actor. In fact, avid film and TV fans may have seen him pop up across a major project or two in the years since the "Cheers" spin-off ended, including a certain recent crime drama series from Netflix. Here are the highlights of what the actor has been up to since "Frasier."
Without a Trace (2002)
While Anthony LaPaglia technically took on his role in the long-running CBS series "Without a Trace" during his time as Simon on "Frasier," this popular crime drama ended up outlasting the sitcom by several years. In the series, LaPaglia portrays Special Agent Jack Malone, who serves as the head of the FBI's Missing Persons Unit and solves a great number of cases while dealing with all the juicy interpersonal drama one would expect from a procedural.
"Without a Trace" may just be LaPaglia's most sizable role of his overall career, with him leading the show for seven seasons and a grand total of 160 episodes. He even once made a guest appearance as Malone on a crossover episode with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
In an interview with the Santa Monica Mirror, LaPaglia spoke about how he and the team managed to keep "Without a Trace" fresh and engaging despite many shows with similar premises existing at the same time. "We approach the show like a mini-feature and have high standards," the actor explained. "The old 'close enough is good enough' doesn't apply."
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Pushing the fast-forward button to a far more recent production, "Frasier" fans may have been surprised to see Anthony LaPaglia pop up in one of the biggest modern horror franchises out there. Indeed, the actor joined the main cast of the 2017 film and "The Conjuring" spin-off "Annabelle: Creation," in which he plays Samuel Mullins, the unlucky dollmaker who had a hand in bringing the titular demonic doll to life. Those who have seen the movie know that Samuel's part in Annabelle's creation decidedly doesn't keep him safe from her wrath.
LaPaglia's role in "Annabelle: Creation" was an unexpected turn of events, as the actor had largely remained outside of the horror sphere in years prior. In an interview with Dread Central, LaPaglia revealed that his teenage daughter played a major role in his decision to take the part. "I was at home talking like maybe I would do this movie 'Annabelle,'" he recalled. "She jumped out of her skin! She was, like – you have to do this, you have to do it, it's the best! She loves that whole 'Conjuring' thing, so I went from being okay-dad to cool-dad."
Bad Blood (2017)
Immediately following his appearance in "Annabelle: Creation," Anthony LaPaglia jumped back into the realm of TV crime dramas — only, this time, he was playing the one on the wrong side of the law. Indeed, LaPaglia headlined the Canadian-produced series "Bad Blood," which serves as a dramatized retelling of the life of the infamous Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto. The actor stars as Rizzuto exclusively in the first season, which explores the gritty tragedy of the mobster's downfall and eventual demise.
Like several of his other projects, LaPaglia was drawn to "Bad Blood" because it was trying to do something fresh in a genre that has already been explored numerous times. ""I've done this genre before and I've seen this genre a million times, but this read slightly different from the usual mafia expose," the actor told The Televixen. "It has a lot of different elements that I haven't seen before. [Vito] is multifaceted. That's why I liked the script. He rarely committed the acts of violence himself and had someone else do it. He was good at reading people, and had this ability to get people to follow him."
Florida Man (2023)
Considering his history with illustrious crime dramas, it should come as no major surprise that Anthony LaPaglia is still popping up in various projects from the genre. In fact, 2023 saw him appear as part of the main cast for the Netflix limited series "Florida Man." In the show, LaPaglia plays one-half of the main father-son duo, patriarch and former police chief Sonny Valentine. He stars opposite Édgar Ramírez's ex-cop Mike Valentine, and the two find themselves increasingly at odds over the course of the series, thanks to some of the latter's startling discoveries about their family.
In an interview with The Emmys, LaPaglia said that he enjoyed the comedy and drama that stems from exploring messy familial dynamics in media. He did it many years ago with "Frasier," and then he explored an alternate facet of it in "Florida Man." "Relationships are never straightforward, especially if they're parental and dysfunctional," the actor said. "I thought Sonny was a great character, and then it takes that turn where you find out why they hate each other. I liked that swerve, and it made sense to me and Edgar that there would be an almost coming together, but that it would be quite delicate."