Matthew Simmons (Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders)

Background

SSA Simmons is a Special Operations agent and special agent with the FBI's International Response Team (IRT). Through his job, Simmons has some prior history with Derek Morgan and JJ of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Personal life

Simmons and his wife Kristy (Kelly Frye) have four young children: two boys Jake and David and twin daughters. In the backdoor pilot it was stated that all four were under the age of three. Like Jack Garrett, Simmons' full and fulfilling family life was a deliberate choice. Daniel Henney said of his character, "His big struggle is, when can I get home to see my kids and how much is my wife working?".

Storylines

A military veteran, Simmons "always [has] a guy" to turn to for help whenever the team hits a dead end. Like most of the team he knows several languages and is shown to be fluent in Arabic and Spanish. Highly resourceful and adaptable, he thinks quickly on his feet and is often tasked with coordinating search and rescue efforts or navigating unfamiliar terrain.

Simmons has an eclectic variety of interests, ranging from sports to vintage cars. In the episode "Harvested", in which the team investigates a case in Mumbai, India, his knowledge of cricket, India's unofficial national sport, proves useful in building a rapport with the local police officers.

In the episode "Love Interrupted", Simmons was forced to shoot the UnSub to prevent the latter from killing his own young daughter in a fit of desperate rage. The UnSub had suffered a breakdown after losing his wife. He then kidnapped newlywed couples, killing and cannibalizing the groom and taking the brides as his "wives", even impregnating them. Simmons later admitted to Garrett that the case affected him more than he would like as the girl reminded him of his own daughters.

Character development and casting

Henney stated that he had accepted the role as it was a departure from Asian stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood and the American entertainment industry. In an interview with August Man, he described his character as "a really interesting character for an Asian-American actor to play because it's never been done before."

"This is the character that's been built for the American public to fall in love with. He's the muscle of the show, the ex-soldier, the family man (which has traditionally been played by Caucasian actors). I think it says a lot for CBS and my team to give this role to me. You've never seen an Asian-American or Asian man playing this role. That's why I took the role. I want to prove that an Asian man can be that person in people's eyes."

— Daniel Henney

Simmons is one of two main characters on the show who is happily married with children, the other being his supervisor Jack Garrett (Gary Sinise). Showrunner Erica Messer noted that both characters share similarities and, in conceiving Simmons as a younger agent with both a successful career and family life, hoped "to show that this kind of lifestyle can work".