VT: Casting—We bet there are loads of great stories you can share with us. Share with us a really hysterical one.
JS: A hysterical casting story? Surely. Early on, an agent told me since I hadn’t made them much money so I needed to accept an offer to play a pointless bully on what seemed like a terrible sitcom. I refused and the agent got hyyyyysterical. Soon after we parted ways and the show tanked. That was the other kinda hysterical.

VT: Among many, the one character that you probably get asked a lot is Lyle, the fictitious intern, a regular on The Late Show with David Letterman. Tell us how you wound up being on the show and became one of the great regular characters on the show. What is it like to work Mr. Letterman?
JS: Letterman! It was frickin’ surreal to be that close to an idol of mine for a few years. It happened so randomly. I was doing Sorkin’s ‘The Farnsworth Invention’ on Broadway with Hank Azaria and Steve Rosen. Hank and my faces were on the poster and Letterman’s head writers, The Stangel Brothers, happened to walk by the marquis. One said ‘Oh hey, that guy!’ and the other said ‘he’s in NY… we should have him do the new intern bit!’. So I did the bit, but weirder, Letterman dug Lyle and kept asking for more. Lucky me.

VT: A question from the days of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, if you have to choose one of Liam’s looks to wear in real life, which one will you go with and why?
JS: Liam in full wedding tux, and if you ask me any more stupid questions you’re dead to me. DEAD! 

VT: Westworld is another highlight we cannot do this interview without asking. You have mentioned in previous interviews that doing this show was a real responsibility. How was that experience? 

JS: Before Westworld, I’d never had the responsibility of helping carry the narrative weight of a story through my performance. It may sound strange as I’d worked for 15 years or so before that. But, primarily, it was to add texture to a story, more information, some laughs- a tension release… not a center of gravity like William. 
VT: Part of achieving recognition/success these days for actors, besides acting, is having to go through all the proms and circumstances promoting the series by doing press and attending events, red carpets, dressing up, and attending awards shows. How do you view this whole process? 
JS: I try not to judge the different aspects of being a working actor, they’re all part of it. I may not be drawn to the PR elements of acting but it can be alright. Press for a show you’ve shot at a different time is like a little high school reunion. But in this job’s case, you’re always having bizarre, world-bonding school experiences your whole life. You’d head into some reunions with more excitement than others, but you’ll probably get something good outta all of ‘em. 

VT: You now live in California, being someone that came from Jersey, what do you love most about living in sunny California and what do you miss most about Jersey?
JS: That it’s sunny all the time. You literally just said it. It puts me in a sunny mood from the sunny crack of dawn. And corn, man, I told you. I miss the goddamn corn like a lost pet. No Jersey corn… leaves a hole in my soul.  

VT: If you can revisit a character from your past, which one will it be and how differently would you approach him now that you are older and wiser?
JS: Whoa! Weird. When I spoke about Sorkin a few minutes ago I had this very thought. I wish I could do that play over again. I was overwhelmed by the recent IATSE strike that had shut us down a day before we opened. We lost all of our pre-sold ticket sales so afterward, we began our run in the red- always about to close. Aaron put in his own dough to help us pull through, he was amazing. But I worried instead of staying dropped into Farnsworth. Actually, the one time I’ve written an apology to a creator for failing myself was to Aaron Sorkin. He put me in The Newsroom a few years later and I wrote the apology to him after watching an episode I’d been in. He accepted it with grace.

VT: What is a perfect day like for Jimmi when you are free from work?
JS: Hummingbirds in the background while Peebs, my tortie tabby, bats at me through a sunbeam.

VT: If you had the opportunity to revisit your younger self, knowing what you know now, what would you tell him?
JS: Being “too skinny” only sucks for the first 29 years of social integration.

VT: The secret to being a good actor is…
JS: Ask Joel Edgerton.

VT: If you could create a soundtrack to your life, which songs would you choose? Who would you want to direct and portray you in the movie?
JS: Maybe Super Falling Star from Stereolab and Range Life from Pavement. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Sarah Silverman.