Simon Pegg

August 19, 3:49 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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SIMON PEGG

British actor, writer and comedian Simon Pegg never set out to become a cult star -- but with one film, Shaun of the Dead, that is exactly what he has become.

Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham on February 14th, 1970 in Brockworth, Gloucester, England to John Henry Beckingham (a jazz musician) and Gillian Rosemary Smith (a civil servant).  After they divorced when Simon was seven, and Gillian remarried, the boy was officially adopted by his stepfather and took the surname Pegg.  Throughout his youth, Simon attended many schools, and by the time he hit  the University of Bristol, his major focus was on Literature and Drama.  His undergraduate thesis was cheekily titled “A Marxist Overview of Popular Seventies Cinema and Hegemonic Discourses.”

Moving to London in 1993, Simon began doing stand-up comedy.  By 1995, his one-man show was so popular, he received numerous invitations from prestigious comedy festivals in New Zealand and Australia.  When TV producers took notice, Simon made appearances on several British television comedies, including Asylum, Faith in the Future, Big Train, Six Pairs of Pants, and Hippies.  Between 1998 and 2004, Simon was also featured regularly on BBC Radio 4’s The 99p Challenge. In 1999, Simon created and co-wrote the British sitcom Spaced, costarring Jessica Stevenson and (Simon’s best friend) Nick Frost -- the series was directed by Edgar Wright.

Spaced only had two runs, in 1999 and 2001, 14 episodes total, but proved so popular, that Simon and Wright co-wrote the 2004 “romantic zombie comedy” (or RomZomCom) Shaun of the Dead, with Wright directing.  The film also featured Spaced costar Nick Frost.  It has since become a cult classic.  Night of the Living Dead director George Romero was so flattered by this hilarious, and often scary, homage, that he asked Simon and Wright to do cameos in his 2005 film (and third sequel) Land of the Dead.  During this time, Simon also appeared in The Parole Officer (2001), Band of Brothers (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002), Danger! 50,000 Zombies (2004), and numerous other film and TV productions, including a 2005 episode of Doctor Who.

SIMON PEGG IN SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

After the huge success of Shaun of the Dead, Simon was asked by a journalist whether or not he would abandon the the British film industry for the greener pastures of Hollywood.  Simon replied, “It’s not like I’m going to run off and do Mission: Impossible III.”  Soon after, Simon was hired by director J.J. Abrams to play IMF technician Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible III.  Also in 2006, Simon costarred with his friend from Band of Brothers, David Schwimmer, in the comedy BIg Nothing.  Though the low budget film was a critical darling overseas, it did not do much box office, and was never released theatrically in the US.

Later that year, Simon reunited with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost for their second film collaboration, Hot Fuzz.  Simon plays Nicholas Angel, a London police officer transferred to a small town where his bombastic methods are met with skepticism and ridicule.  The Die Hard/Lethal Weapon/Dirty Harry homage/spoof was released in early 2007, and instantly became another critical and commercial hit.  The director and star have said this film is the second in their Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, which began with Shaun of the Dead and will wrap up with The World’s End.

In 2007, Simon appeared in The Good Night, Grindhouse, Diary of the Dead, and Run Fatboy Run, directed by pal David Schwimmer.  The following year he costarred in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.  Then, in 2009, SImon had his biggest box office success ever, when his Mission: Impossible III director J.J. Abrams cast him as Enterprise Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott in his 2009 reboot of Star Trek.  The film was a monster hit, making nearly $400 million worldwide.  Simon is signed on for two sequels.  Oddly, years earlier, on Spaced, Simon’s character joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film was shite.  Said Simon later, “Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ass.”  Simon wore a kilt to the UK premiere of Star Trek, and later told Absolute Radio’s Jo Russell, that he is waiting for a Scotty action figure to add to his collection of Simon Pegg action figures from Doctor Who, Hot Fuzz, and Shaun of the Dead.

SIMON PEGG IN HOT FUZZ (2007)

Simon is cowriting and starring with Nick Frost in an upcoming buddy film called Paul -- unlike their previous pairings, where Simon played the lead and Nick the sidekick, this one will reverse that.  Paul is NOT to be considered part of the aforementioned Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.

Simon married Maureen McCann on July 23rd, 2005 in Glasgow.  Best friend Nick Frost was the Best Man.  The couple’s first child, a daughter, was born in July 2009.  They live in Finsbury Park, London, where Shaun of the Dead was filmed.  They are also close friends with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow -- Simon is godfather to their daughter, Apple.  Regarding details about his daughter, Simon blogged: “As is being reported by various news sources (don’t know who told them, ‘cos it wasn’t us) we had a little girl last week.  Name, weight, time, place, etc, all belong to us and we won’t be going out of our way to divulge them anytime soon.  Rest assured, everyone is well.  Thanks for all your well wishes though, they are greatly appreciated.”

Up next for Simon: Paul (2010), Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), The World’s End (2010)

Simon Pegg Quotes:

“I was the naughty kid that the teachers liked.  I bullied a kid in the 1st year when I was in the 2nd, who then hit puberty like a plane crash and grew into a gorilla who bullied me when he was in the 4th year and I was in the 5th.  That's karma.”

“I used to lie in bed in my flat and imagine what would happen if there was a zombie attack.”

“Every person should have their escape route planned.  I think everyone has an apocalypse fantasy, what would I do in the event of the end of the world, and we just basically -- me and Nick -- said what would we do, where would we head?”

“I always loved horror and that's sort of the reason we decided to make the film.  We were nourished on those sorts of films, so it was a labor of love.”

“People are constantly just spoon fed mindless rubbish because it's easy to just sit there like a zombie and consume it.”

“Now I'm like a zombologist -- if it ever happens, I'll be on CNN talking with Larry King of what to do in the event of a zombie attack.  I know my stuff.”

“I don't know about doing a sequel.  I think you can retroactively damage a product by adding to it.”

SIMON PEGG

“I loved playing Shaun, he's not that different from me.”

“The British on the whole are traditionally fairly repressed, at least on the surface.  Repression is interesting dramatically as well, because it requires liberation and that makes for good watching.”

Simon, a Star Wars fanatic, says this about that: “I might try to wheedle my way into the affections of Lucasfilm and write an episode of the new live action 'Star Wars' TV series.”

“I mean, yeah, I'm sure that Python and the other things have paved the way for a greater understanding of the British sense of humor, but I don't think it's all that different than the American sense of humor.”

"Appearing on TV wasn't the goal with me.  I always wanted to be an actor and comedian.  My knee was on the news once, though.  That was pretty amazing at the time."

"TV used to be like an emissary from another world in the corner of your room.  It was like a cinema, something programmed by someone else.  Now you have even more control over it whereas before it used to have control over you.  It's gone from being a theatre to being a trashy magazine."

Regarding his favorite TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “It recently took over from 'The X-Files' for me.  Even when a little off the mark there's always the ever blooming Alyson Hannigan.  Mmmm ...”

Regarding why Hot Fuzz is funny: “The comedy happens when this quintessentially British film morphs into a big action movie -- Heartbeat pupates into Lethal Weapon 10.  The humour stems from the fact that every grandiose touchstone of hard-boiled American action movies is put into a very parochial British setting.  Hot Fuzz is embracing the tradition of the American thriller while lovingly stroking its hair.”

"I once showed a holiday video to my entire family and forgot there was a point where I flashed.  I only realized about one second before it happened and couldn't get to the remote in time to stop them all from seeing me pull down my trousers and reveal myself.  My sister screamed and my mum said, 'Ooh, that's changed.' "

“Being the Doctor?  I don't think I'd do it for two reasons.  One, I'm really loving doing movies.  I'm really enjoying working in the US.  Second, I really love Doctor Who and I'd hate to have to sit down every Saturday night and have it be me.  David's (David Tennant) done such an incredible job, he's gonna be a tough act to follow.  It would feel awful if I just went and balled up the franchise by just being rubbish.”

Regarding his role of Scotty in Star Trek: “I didn't want to do an impression of James Doohan, because the guy's a legend.  I wanted to make it a tribute to him.  His son, Christopher Doohan was on the Enterprise with me.  He was my assistant, so I was able to talk to him about his experiences with his dad.”