As most of you know, opening this weekend is Simon Peggâs new movie âHow to Lose Friends and Alienate People.â In the film, Simon plays Sidney Young, a smalltime, bumbling, British celebrity journalist who is hired by an upscale magazine in
After disrupting one black-tie event by allowing a wild pig to run rampant,
I recently got to participate in a roundtable interview with Simon and the resulting conversation is below. While Simon did seem a bit jetlagged, he gave it his all, and the interview is filled with all the random bits of geekiness that youâd expect from Mr. Pegg.
Also, the interview was done with both the domestic and international press, and I now understand why we normally get separated. While the domestic press (meaning outlets in the
As always, you can either read the transcript below or listen to the audio of the interview by clicking here. And since I wonât have the time to transcribe director Robert B. Weide,
Again, go and support Simon this weekend by seeing âHow to Lose Friends and Alienate People.â He's great, as always.Finally,
Question: Whatâs the weirdest celebrity encounter youâve had?
Simon Pegg: (pause) That might have been with Jeff Bridges playing drums in his trailer on like the second day of us meeting. He bought some drums and he invited me into his trailer at lunch time to learn to play. And I did. He sort of taught me how to do it and then I was beavering away on it and he was teaching me to do the bending the note and then I suddenly heard a guitar strumming and looked up and he was playing his guitar along â and we were kind of like, jamming (laughs). So I went from not ever having met him to jamming in his trailer in twelve hours. It was quite bizarre.
Whatâs the most
Simon: Oh God! Probably another one with Jeff, actually, at the Iron Man premiere. I went up to say good bye to him and he stood with his brother and he was with John Voigt. I kind of just went up to say (whispering) âIâm going,â because heâs such an ever so nice man and we get along very well. And he said, âNo, stay, stay.â And so I listened to John Voigt tell an anecdote and I stood there with Jeff Bridges with his arm around and Beau Bridges just listening â three Hollywood legends just chatting and me on the end of it just looking like Iâd snuck in. I think in
Can you still go around LA without being recognized?
Simon: Yeah, of course!
Have you ever had any of those âDonât you know who I am?â moments?
Simon: (laughs) No! I donât even know who I am, why would I? No, God no! Heaven forbid. People that do that misconstrue their place in the universe â enormously. Their mistake, ass-kissing and over management for self importance â people donât trust actors. Thatâs why theyâre treated so well.
Thereâs a reference in the movie to Gollum. Was that in the original script?
Simon: Gollum from Lord of the Rings? As opposed to Gollum from I donât know what? (laughs) Yeah it was, yeah.
Youâre a writer â did you bring anything to the script?
Simon: âIâve got cock on my hand,â I think is the only thing I improvised on the whole film. No, occasionally there was some room for improv, but generally speaking, Peterâs script was really strong and neat and structurally intact so it didnât really need anything added to it. That was nice in that respect. Itâs nice to be able to hand the reins over to someone else and not have to have that production responsibility. I kind of prefer it when I do because Iâm a control freak but it wasnât necessary, really. Bob obviously comes from an improvisational background but the biggest thing he would do though, it was funny because it was his first feature film and he didnât know he had to say, âCut!â (laughs) the take would end and the tape would be running and the celluloid â you could hear the dollars just whirling through the camera. And youâd hear, âBob, just say cut!â And heâd say, âoh yeah, sorry. Cut!â Because heâs so used to working with video which is cheap. But that was the only instance of his naiveté.
Did you make the decision to play
Simon: No, Iâm just a terrible ham (laughs). I must admit it was a nice change of pace to play the goof, rather than in my own movies I tend to write myself as the slightly more straight centre to it, and then cross to all the goofying around. Thatâs because Iâm just so unselfish as a writer â I canât help myself. (leans forward). That was irony, by the way. But in this I had license to just be an idiot and what better a way to spend the day?
At the junket for Choke, Brad said he played Kirkâs alcoholic, abusive father â which was kind of fascinating. Do you have any good Star Trek things that you can let slide?
Simon: Iâve got so many but I canât let any of them slide (laughs). Itâs all under wraps so Iâve got to stay true to my secrecy agreement.
What can you say about your tattoos? (on forearm)
Simon: Oh, thatâs personal (laughs)
Have you found your beloved Cornettoâs here?
Simon: I think theyâre called a Drumstick here â the cone with the nuts around the top. Theyâre famous⦠although in MacDonaldâs theyâre doing Cornettoâs now â not that I ever go there. We just decided to use this particular brand of ice-cream in our first film and then we thought weâd bring it back for the second and now it seems to be a thematic constant in our work (laughs) but theyâve never given us any free ones. Itâs a bloody liberty, really.
Whatâs the status of getting a Blu-ray version of Shaun and Hot Fuzz?
Simon: I donât know really. I know they were both released on HD but I donât know about the Blu Ray, Iâll have to look into it.
How tough a day was it when you had to work with Megan Fox and Kirsten Dunst, and possibly make out with one of them?
Simon: Itâs something that â itâs a burden I carry. And not entirely happily. (joking). No, it was great and ridiculous as well. Theyâre both fantastic girls and it was a pleasure working with them. Both very different and Kirsten is so experienced, sheâs been doing it since she was three. She has an enormous amount of wisdom and professionalism, as does Megan, but sheâs very new to it. Sheâs an ingénue. Sheâs in many ways like Sophie (her character in the film) but has more integrity and more intelligence.
Did you ever try to work in during the rehearsal process a kissing scene with Kirsten in the rain?
Simon: Upside down? No. I have it on good authority that Iâm the best right way up kisser sheâs ever experienced. Oh, why did I say that!? (laughs) Itâs not true, itâs not true. She never said it. Iâm just joking.
Whatâs the funniest night out youâve had recently in a
Simon: I donât really do
In what way?
Simon: The minute you start going to those places where people photograph you, thatâs the minute you start becoming property of someone else. You start becoming a person rather than an actor and itâs hard for someone to believe youâre playing an 18 century dock worker when theyâve seen you the night before at a bar with your trousers around your ankles. I have great nights here and I really enjoy
In
Simon: Itâs kind of like here. People donât really care. I mean, itâs hard for me to walk into a pub now but itâs generally worse in the satellite towns. People donât expect to see you so they go a bit nuts if they do see you, whereas in
Your Spaced
Simon: Theyâve just been really supportive of us ever since Shaun of the Dead and I think theyâve gotten in Spaced retroactively and itâs very cool to have people like that on side. We asked them if they wouldnât mind doing that and they were all very amenable. And of course, Quentin is like a sponge. He consumes knowledge, of nothing else but films. But he is incredible. He has the most amazing recall and when him and Edgar I donât even feel like a geek anymore. I feel like a jock because they know so much.
Do you plan to work with them soon?
Simon: Iâd love to. I very nearly worked with Quentin this year but some scheduling problems got in the way. Yeah, any one of those guys, Iâm a fan of all of them so you never know.
Was that for Inglorious Bastards?
Simon: Yeah.
You must be pretty annoyed about that then?
Simon: Yeah (laughs). But he promised to put me in the next one.
The Hollywood Reporter said there would be an American version of Spaced.
Simon: Yeah, they made a pilot and didnât get picked up so end of story.
Were you secretly relieved?
Simon: Publicly relieved (laughs)
What do you miss most when youâre not in
Simon: My dog (laughs). Sheâs a miniature Schnauzer. And my wife obviously, but she tends to come with me. Yeah, just normal life. Iâm quite a home body and I kind of prefer the normality to the madness and so I guess I miss the normalness of life.
What American stuff have you gotten into? Food? TV shows?
Simon: Chipotle. Itâs just a word I see everywhere. I havenât even tasted it yet but I love it (laughs). I love American tv. We get a lot of American tv. Iâm a big fan of Entourage and Heroes and Lost and there are so many great American serial television. Itâs the best in the world for those â not only for tempting great actors back from film to tv but just in great storytelling and great production values and Iâve been loving Flight of the Concords, which I know is kiwi, but itâs an HBO show. Youâve got to watch
Ricky Gervais wrote an episode for the Simpsons â would you like to do the same?
Simon: Yeah, of course. I love The Simpsons, Iâm a big fan. I was doing an interview in
Weâve talked to some of the Star Trek actors over the year about how theyâre paying respect to the original character although theyâre doing their own thing. Scotty obviously was Scottish but what kind of voice are you doing?
Simon: My wifeâs family. Kind of western Scottish â kind of Glaswegian, west coast Scottish accent, which is very different from the east. And indeed, the north and south. But her family is from
How awesome is it to walk on that set that JJ (Abrams) built?
Simon: Oh, itâs boring (laughs). No, it was amazing. I remember the first time I stepped on set in my⦠whatever. I was sitting next to JJ and I did a very deliberate step onto the bridge and it was one small step for man, one giant leap for geek-kind. (laughs)
How are the plans going for the third installment of the Cornetto trilogy?
Simon: We just got to sit down and write it really. Itâs just a question of finally getting on with the nitty gritty, the hardest part really which is just starting from scratch. But weâre formulating good ideas I think. I think it will be pretty insane.
Youâre obviously friends with JJ and you havenât done much tv lately but would you consider doing an episode of Lost?
Simon: Oh yeah.
What about Fringe?
Simon: I havenât seen it yet because we donât have it in the
What are you doing in the next few months before you start working on Paul?
Simon:
So what do you think of Tobyâs perspective (author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) which is to say the least contemptuous of it.
Simon: Well, Toby is a pathological self promoter and he kind of loves it. Thereâs something about it which he delights in. I think the whole thing in the film is the reason
Who could you be talking about?
Simon: (laughs) oh I donât know.
Would you let any females date a guy like Sidney Young?
Simon: Certainly not my sister, and definitely not my wife. Although my wife is dating someone who looks a little bit like Sidney Young, facially anyway. I donât know. Heâs not a bad guy. Heâs kind of contemptuous in some respects but when it comes to it heâs got a good heart and thatâs what you learn about him in the movie. Ultimately, heâs a good guy but heâs desperately trying not to be for some reason. Maybe itâs a self defense thing, a pre-emptive â âIâll make you hate me before you hate me,â for no reason. Iâd have to meet him and talk to him for a while and see if heâs worthy of my daughter. Heâs bloody good looking!
Can you talk about the first moment you met Megan Fox? Did time stand still? Is she that beautiful?
Simon: For her it did. Megan did the film because she was a fan of Shaun of the Dead so it wasnât like I had to jump up and down to get her attention. She walked on set and the air disappeared from the room. She is extraordinary and incredible beautiful but sheâs also pretty down to earth and a bit geeky. Sheâs a comic book fan and she loves surfing and sheâs not an untouchable by any means. She was quite jet lagged when I met her. I thought she was blinking a lot to be seductive but it was because she was tired.
Whatâs the most embarrassing date youâve been on?
Simon: I donât know. I get asked this. I wasnât really a dater. I relied mainly on coincidence and alcohol before I got married. I never sort of asked a girl out on a date particularly. I think a couple of times maybe when I was younger. I donât know. I was thinking about this recently. I donâtâ know how I ever managed. I think I was quite a serial monogamist.
The success of Spaced â were you surprised at how successful it was in the
Simon: Yeah, I was amazed. I was completely blown away by it. I think it sold 1.3 million copies of it or something which is for an obscure British sitcom pretty impressive. I was delighted and it was a nice vindication for us. We always hoped it would do well here.
You did a lot of promoting at Comic-Con â what was it like this year compared to previous?
Simon: Well, you didnât get hit on the head by a statue. Steve was injured at Comic-Con. Iâve only been there once before. It was more crowded. It was more insane. The first year I went there it was before Shaun of the Dead came out so I was able to move around freely. This year I had to wear a mask (laughs). So I could get on the convention floor and see some stuff and that is the very heart of our demographic â those are the people who would watch Shaun of the Dead and of course I would find it difficult to move around because they want to say hi, and once you start itâs very difficult to stop.
Thatâs what Shatner said. He wore a mask
Simon: Didnât he wear that mask of his own face?
What was your mask?
Simon: The Joker. One from Batman.
Elijah Wood wore a Storm Trooper outfit
Simon: Isnât he a little short for a Storm Trooper?
Yes. Would you ever wear a full-on outfit or the mask is good enough?
Simon: I was sweating enough in that mask. I think if it was the kind of⦠it was actually quite nice, quite liberating to wander around â weirdly enough I was drawing looks but only because I was wearing a mask and not because I was the guy from that film.
What did you buy?
Simon: I bought an Ed action figure which they ended up wearing it for free?
Is that because you lifted up the mask and said, âCan I have that for free?â
Simon: No, I didnât â I was jut out there. Just to get free stuff
A lot of celebs say that on the way up when they need free stuff but have to pay for
everything and once you have the money you get it fall for free.
Simon: Yeah, itâs crazy.
Whatâs the best gift youâve gotten?
Simon: Two boxes of action figures. Two boxes of zombie action figures, it was great.
As a great fan of movies how does it feel to be making big budget
Simon: Itâs cool. I feel like â the little something that could. Iâm still a fan and am the same as I ever was but Iâm managing to exist within it as well which is fine. Iâm still as impressed as I ever was. I just happen to be participating in it as well. I feel very lucky and feel very privileged.
Do you get starstuck?
Simon: Yeah, all the time. Whenever you meet anyone you admire or meet anyone youâve seen on tv you get that initial moment of , âWow, its them!â And then you meet them and theyâre usually normal, ordinary, sweet people as they usually are.
Whoâs the last person you were starstuck by?
Simon: I met Matthew Fox and Iâm a big fan of Lost and I saw him at a party and he saw me and he went, âOh man, Simon Pegg!â (laughs) So I was really chuffed that I was put at my ease because he and his wife were big fans of the movie and thatâs great when I have gone up to people that I really admire. When I went up to George Lucas he was talking to Ron Howard just as I got introduced and I saw George Lucasâ face going, âOh hereâs another fucking 30 something geek whoâs going to bore me with how much Star Wars changed his life,â and Ron Howard said to me, âHey Simon, I love Shaun of the Dead. My kids are big fans.â And George Lucas immediately changed towards me and we had a conversation as equals and not as flamboyant â whatever he is now.
You almost did something for Spaced because of the American version and you wrote something on your blog â and you ended up not making it. Did you want to do it?
Simon: Yeah, because I wanted to do it again. And so the Cloverfield thing never happened but it was the funniest Spaced forcibly taken away from us by an American company which was to have a scene in which the Statue of Liberty crashed into their front garden which was a beautifully literal representation of what was happening to us. And double negative we did the special effects from Cloverfield and they did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz â and JJ was going to let us use the plates and we were going to do it all on hand held but we didnât have to do it because Fox canned the pilot. It was fun writing it.