CIA Superior (Burn After Reading). J.K. Simmons plays the secondary unnamed character CIA Superior in the film Burn After Reading. This character is shown numerous times during Burn After Reading with another CIA official (David Rasche) observing the events surrounding Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), both employees at a gym named Hardbodies, and their plot to blackmail CIA analyst Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) with a disc of information they find after Osbourne mistakingly leaves it at the gym. They receive information of this blackmail after they receive information that Osbourne’s information has been transferred to the Russian Embassy. However, the CIA Superior chooses not to interfere with Chad and Linda’s affairs because they don’t appear to make any sense. The CIA Superior only appears in Burn After Reading while he receives information about the actions of Chad and Linda. Each new piece of information he receives, the more and more confusing the situation becomes. He can be seen as a member of the audience more so than a character in the film because he has no influence over the events in Burn After Reading. The situation eventually works itself out and the film ends in the CIA Superior’s office while he is going over the events that had just taken place.—Daniel Young