SIMON PEGG: I Want To Be a Good Man For My Daughter

Summary

Great Company with Jamie Laing

Episode: SIMON PEGG: I Want To Be a Good Man For My Daughter

Date: July 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This engaging episode of "Great Company" brings together Jamie Laing and renowned actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg. The conversation dives deep into fatherhood, personal growth, childhood trauma, creative authenticity, sobriety, career progression, and friendship. Pegg speaks candidly about his experiences as a father, his journey with alcohol, the inspiration behind his creative work, and the philosophy guiding his choices in both life and art. The episode blends moments of humor, vulnerable self-reflection, and practical wisdom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Fatherhood, Childhood, and Healing Cycles

The Impact of Parental Separation

• Simon recounts the emotional legacy of his parents' divorce—particularly the sense of abandonment he felt as a child, and how such events imprint on one’s psyche:
  • “As a kid, you are processing the idea that your father would rather be somewhere else than with you…It stamps itself on your subconscious, and that is what abandonment is.” (00:00)
• Jamie and Simon connect over shared childhood experiences of parental divorce, discussing how these formative events shape self-worth and later relationships. Both emphasize the challenge of keeping these wounds from echoing into their own parenting.

Fatherhood Without a Rulebook

• Simon is open about the lack of guidance for fathers:
  • “There is no instruction manual. You know, what I tried to do for Tilly was… I tried to be the best man I could be.” (00:19)
  • Jamie reflects on modern fatherhood’s unique challenges—newborns who don’t sleep, shifting attention in marriage, and a fumbling search for connection as a dad.
• Discussion of the fleeting nature of childhood:
  • “There’s a day that’s the last day you’ll ever pick him up. You know, you’ll ever carry him anywhere…” (09:04)

Being a Role Model for Children

• Simon’s parenting philosophy revolves around modeling self-worth and kindness:
  • “Children tend to look for elements of their parents in their partners... I just wanted to make sure that I set an example for Tilly so that she would look for those kind of attributes in other people.” (11:35)
• Jamie: “They say, especially with daughters, that if a daughter knows they're loved by their father, they can love themselves.” (13:11)

Breaking Negative Patterns

• Both discuss how divorce during childhood can create feelings of abandonment that last, and the conscious effort required to parent differently and break the cycle for the next generation.
• Simon: "I just wanted to stick around for starters... I understand everything that happened [with my own father], but what I didn’t want to do was what he did, because I knew the damage that inflicted upon me." (16:48)

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Honest Talk on Masculinity, Vulnerability, and Connection

Men’s Silence and Emotional Suppression

• Jamie and Simon agree that men, and fathers in particular, are often discouraged from expressing vulnerability.
  • Jamie: “Dads don’t talk about this. It’s like a big issue… And I’m trying to work out why we don’t.” (10:42)
  • Simon: “Men don’t talk about anything apart from video games.” (10:44)
• They encourage honest dialogue, especially around the complexities and confusions of new parenthood and emotional health.

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Creativity, Risk, and Artistic Integrity

On Sequels and Artistic Choices

• Simon on why some stories shouldn’t have sequels:
  • "Not everything needs a sequel. Some stories just end." (01:00)
  • He uses “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” as examples, fearing that sequels can retroactively disrupt the meaning and completeness of the originals. (29:03 & 30:39)
• The market’s obsession with familiarity is critiqued, while Simon argues for chasing “newness, 100%.”

Writing from Authentic Experience

• Simon’s approach: "You have to write from a position of the truth... If you're writing from experience, then you can be truthful." (35:10)
  • “Shaun of the Dead” sprang from Simon and Nick Frost’s real-life pub routines; “The World’s End” reflected his battle with addiction.
• The importance of collaborative filmmaking and humility is emphasized: “When you pick up an award for something, you’ve been put there by so many different people…” (46:26)

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Addiction, Sobriety, and Inner Fulfillment

Simon’s Journey to Sobriety

• Simon shares his rock bottom moment and the decision to quit alcohol after a relapse in 2010:
  • “I realized that it was—I either get straight or I lose everything that matters to me... and I haven't drunk since.” (39:30)
• Jamie opens up about his own regrets over a decade of heavy drinking and not being present for family events.
• Both agree that alcohol is “an emotional anesthetic”—a means of numbing pain rather than facing it with real solutions (38:23).
• Simon muses on true success: “If the ditch digger is happy and the king of the world isn’t, the ditch digger is way more successful than the king of the world.” (40:49)

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Friendship, Comedy & Genre Respect

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

• Their friendship is described as deeply transformative for both, with mutual support and laughter underpinning their lifelong bond.
  • “We literally fell in love. He took a big fucking lump of idiot clay, and he gave me the confidence to believe...” (Nick Frost, 42:32)
  • Creating “Spaced” was partly a way for Simon to spend more time with Nick.
• On the value of comedy and horror:
  • “Because it’s not serious, it’s deemed as not serious. And that hugely underestimates and undervalues the skill it takes to be funny...” (45:21)
  • Simon criticizes how awards mostly honor drama over genres like comedy or horror.

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Career, Creative Process & Advice

Career Progression and 'Imposter Syndrome'

• Simon describes every step as earned: “I didn’t jump here. I scaled here.” (48:18)
• No imposter syndrome; feeling he deserved his spot after years of hard work.

Entering Hollywood

• J.J. Abrams personally called Simon to invite him onto “Mission Impossible 3.” Simon never expected he'd be in the franchise for 20 years. (51:25 – 53:28)
• Doing stunts and embracing the demands of major film sets: “Yeah, it’s kind of the rule... you want to maintain the character throughout the stunt so it never comes just about the stunt.” (54:14)

Advice for Aspiring Creatives

• "Just chase everything... be proactive and get out there and make stuff and get seen." (50:14)
• Nobody will open the door for you—you have to build your track record and show what you can do.

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Pop Culture, Influences, and Joy

Full Circle Moments

• Simon describes career highlights where childhood loves became professional realities—Star Wars, Star Trek, Mission Impossible.
  • Having Mark Hamill’s number: “We DM each other occasionally. That must be… Yeah, it's nuts.” (55:43)

Proudest Achievement

• “My daughter, without a doubt.” (56:03)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the significance of childhood wounds:
  • "As a kid, you are processing the idea that your father would rather be somewhere else than with you...That is what abandonment is." – Simon Pegg (00:00)
• On artistic truth:
  • "You have to write from a position of the truth..." – Simon Pegg (35:10)
• On addiction and recovery:
  • "I realized that it was—I either get straight or I lose everything that matters to me...and I haven't drunk since." – Simon Pegg (39:30)
  • "Alcohol is a social lubricant, but the thing that it really is is an emotional anesthetic." (38:23)
• On measuring success:
  • "If the ditch digger is happy and the king of the world isn’t, the ditch digger is way more successful..." (40:49)
• On parenting:
  • "I tried to be the best man I could be...I set an example for Tilly so that she would look for those kind of attributes in other people." (11:35)
• On legacy and pride:
  • "My daughter, without a doubt." (56:03)
• On friendship:
  • "We literally fell in love. He took a big fucking lump of idiot clay, and he gave me the confidence to believe..." – (Nick Frost, via Simon, 42:32)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Topic / Moment | |----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Simon on childhood abandonment and its lifelong impact | | 09:04 | The fleeting nature of parenting moments | | 11:35 | Stating parenting philosophy—being the “best man I could be” | | 16:48 | Intentional parenting, breaking patterns from his own childhood | | 29:03 | On sequels, comfort, and why “Shaun of the Dead” shouldn’t get another | | 35:10 | Writing from authentic, lived experience | | 39:30 | Simon’s crisis point and journey to sobriety | | 40:49 | Redefining success as personal happiness, not external achievements | | 42:32 | Simon on his friendship with Nick Frost | | 46:26 | Importance of collaboration in filmmaking | | 48:18 | Discussing imposter syndrome and career progression | | 50:14 | Simon’s advice for aspiring creatives: “Chase everything” | | 51:25 | Being offered Mission Impossible—Hollywood break | | 54:14 | Doing his own stunts and ethos on set | | 55:43 | Childhood hero (Mark Hamill) now a friend—surreal achievements | | 56:03 | What Simon’s most proud of: His daughter | | 64:41 | Quick-fire questions: Personal quirks, proudest achievements, and more |

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Quick-Fire Questions Highlights

• What makes you smile?
  • "We run into the living room and shout 'tinfoil.' Don’t ask me why."
• Best compliment?
  • "That something I’ve done has altered someone in a good way."
• Scares you?
  • "My anger."
• Most proud of?
  • "My daughter."
• Guilty pleasure?
  • "Milk chocolate."
• Song for his funeral?
  • "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson or something from his goth days.

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Conclusion

Simon Pegg’s conversation with Jamie Laing is a moving, funny, and insightful journey through fatherhood, creative honesty, overcoming personal demons, and cherishing deep friendships. Unafraid to reveal vulnerability and hard-won wisdom, Simon offers listeners a rare blend of humility and humor, making this episode invaluable for anyone interested in personal growth, the realities beneath celebrity, and the questions that matter most.

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To hear more about Simon’s current work, including his new series "The Undeclared War" on Channel 4, and for further rich, authentic conversations, tune in to "Great Company" weekly.

Transcript

[Simon Pegg]

As a kid, you are processing the idea that your father would rather be somewhere else than with you. And going into my mum in the morning and just saying, where's dad? And I remember that day. And I was six, probably. It stamps itself on your subconscious, and that is what abandonment is.

[Jamie]

Fatherhood is a big thing we really don't talk about.

[Simon Pegg]

There is no instruction manual. You know, what I tried to do for Tilly was just. I tried to be the best man I could be.

[Jamie]

Explain that to me in what ways?

[Simon Pegg]

Hi, I'm Simon Pegg and I'm in great company. You never taken a shortcut before.

[Jamie]

Simon. Simon Pegg, everybody.

[Simon Pegg]

Edgar Wright swore blind that a strawberry Cornetto was the ultimate hangover cure. Do you want anything from the shop? Cornetto. At the Shauna the Dead premiere, we had free Cornettos. Me and Edgar and Nick were like, this is amazing. We got free ice cream. This is so cool. We should put one in the next film in case we get free ice cream again. It was sheer.

[Brooke Devard]

Sheer.

[Simon Pegg]

Just hoping we could get free ice cream.

[Jamie]

The question that people always say to you is, why don't you make another short of it? Why don't you go make another Hot Fuzz?

[Simon Pegg]

But not everything needs a sequel. Some stories just end.

[Jamie]

I just disagree. I just feel like Hot Fuzz does.

[Simon Pegg]

I think Hot Fuzz.

[Jamie]

We could probably do math. I have a game that I want to play with you.

[Simon Pegg]

Go on.

[Jamie]

How good at improv are you?

[Simon Pegg]

Pretty good.

[Jamie]

Okay, well, shall I set a scene? We're dating, you're meeting me in a pub, and you're here to break up with me. But I think you're gonna. I posted.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Hey, listen, thanks for coming.

[Jamie]

Okay, guys, I'm gonna be honest. I'm freaking out. I'm freaking out because I'm about to record an episode with Simon Pegg. Yeah, Simon P, E, double G. That's Simon Pegg from Hot Fuzz. Shaun of the Dead, Paul. All the big ones. Mission Impossible.

[Brooke Devard]

What?

[Jamie]

He's coming in the studio. He's actually next door about interviewing. So I'm super excited. So many questions, so many things that I want to ask. Now, I know you're excited, but before we start, if I can ask you one quick thing. If you can click that subscribe button, it means we can keep getting guests like Simon Pegg, keep making the show better and better for you guys, and you join this amazing community of incredible people who love this show and watch it every single week.

[Simon Pegg]

Okay?

[Jamie]

If you can do that, one thing I'll love you forever. Enjoy this incredible episode of Great Company with Simon Pegg.

[Simon Pegg]

Acast powers the world's best podcasts.

[Jamie]

Here's a show that we recommend.

[Simon Pegg]

What if you laughed all through your commute? Or if you heard the funniest story while at the gym? Well, now you can I'm Jameela Jamil and guests on my new podcast Wrong Turns share their most mortifying and hilarious disaster stories. I'm talking people like May Martin, Bob the Drag Queen, Katherine Ryan, Jake Johnson, Margaret Cho, Simon Pegg, Penn Badgley, and so many more. So listen wherever you get your podcasts. Wrong Terms Where Dignity goes to die

[Jamie]

Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

[Simon Pegg]

Acast.com

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[Brooke Devard]

Hello? Hello, this is Brooke Devard, host of the Naked Beauty Podcast, and I want to talk to you about Lexus. At Lexus, master craftsmen called Takumi are involved not just in physical craftsmanship, but in all of those sensory details. These masters evaluate things like how a door closes, the click of a switch, the acoustic feedback of controls. Instead of just instruments, Takumi craftsmen rely on human perception and intuition to create what seems, sounds and feels. Right. Out of all of the tools that Lexus uses, the most powerful one is understanding what will make us feel something. Because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing experience. Amazing. At your Lexus dealer.

[Jamie]

So I'm beyond excited. I, I, I can't, it's, it's, you know, it's because I've watched you growing up.

[Simon Pegg]

Right.

[Jamie]

And loved your movies, then sitting with you and interviewing you and chatting to you. It's kind of a weird, like, weird sort of moment for me. I suppose I get that a lot

[Simon Pegg]

these days of people saying, I grew up watching you, and it makes me realize how old I am.

[Jamie]

Yeah, but I don't, but I, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't think you're old, though, in that way.

[Simon Pegg]

No, but it makes me realize how long I've been working, you know, 30 years. So, you know, there, there are kids out there that, that literally started watching me as tiny children. Weird.

[Jamie]

Yeah. But do you not also think that that's so great, what a great thing for your career, the fact that you can work this long?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, I suppose so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jamie]

Because when you start out, it's one of those things that you kind of want to have, where, you want to have that career where you can just keep going and going and going.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, but you kind of, I guess you sort of, you, you never really stop and kind of look back down the road and realize just how you just keep going and going and going and then suddenly you're meeting. What's nice is meeting young people who weren't born when, say, Shaun of the Dead came out, who, who, like the movie. You know, it's, that's, that's the best you can hope for.

[Jamie]

Can you make me feel better then? Because I think in this end you're going to, you can, you're going to validate me now. So in this industry, right, the entertainment industry.

[Simon Pegg]

Yes.

[Jamie]

You're always searching for the next thing, always looking for the next thing, always wanting the next thing. But even someone in your position, in your career, the things that you've done, are you always thinking, what's next? What's more, what else can you, or are you sort of content?

[Simon Pegg]

I think it's a bit of both. I mean, like, when I started out, I never had, like a plan. I never, I never, when we were saying making space, say, I never thought, okay, in five years, I want to be doing this, or I want to be doing that. You just sort of. Everything kind of comes at you over the horizon, and you tackle it as it arrives. So I. At this stage in my career, at 56, I'm thinking, what do I want to do in the. In the back half? You know, and. And that's. I'm a little bit more considered about that now, I think, because I've only got so much time left, you know, And I don't want to. I don't want to go and join another film franchise, say, and be attached to that for 20 years, because I'll be 76 when I finish. That's just, like, weird.

[Jamie]

So isn't life fucking weird?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Like, I'm 37. Like, where did that. I have a kid.

[Simon Pegg]

One thing that I've realized as a parent, though, is my daughter's 17 now. And you'll realize this when yours get to that age is that the time you spend with them is tiny. You know, suddenly they're adults. It happens so quickly. My daughter's entire life is on my phone. She was born in 2009, a year after the first iPhone. So I have. I can scroll through her entire life. And now she's gonna go to university next year, and she's gonna leave home. And it's a whack in the face. It really is.

[Jamie]

You have Tilly, right? Tilly's 17. I have Ziggy, who. Ziggy is seven months old now.

[Simon Pegg]

You're in the trenches.

[Jamie]

Simon, I can do this. I need a talk. Just. Okay, Just. I'm gonna pin that for a second. But, like, it's. I'm in the trenches, man.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

He doesn't sleep. He doesn't, like, really know what he's doing. I'm, like, lying in bed. He had to come into our bed last night because he's crying. He doesn't know that I'm interviewing you.

[Simon Pegg]

Be careful with that.

[Jamie]

I know. I'm trying to not do that, but my wife is like, he likes it more. I'm like, I know, but that means we're not going to connect anymore.

[Simon Pegg]

And also he's going to want to stay there. Yeah, but then there'll be a time when you're. You're begging him to come and get into bed with you because, you know, there's a. There's a day when. And you don't know it, but there is a day that's the last day you'll ever pick him up. You know, you'll ever carry him anywhere. There's the day, the last day he'll ever come into bed with you. And those moments, they. They. They. They sort of come and go, and you don't realize, and then you're like, wait a minute. I can't pick you up anymore. You're too big. You know, it's weird for dads as

[Jamie]

well, I'd say, because they feel like a Tamagotchi.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. Yeah. You got to keep him alive. That's what you're doing.

[Jamie]

But also, it's like mine. It's like you're not a human.

[Simon Pegg]

You're you.

[Jamie]

You belong. It's mine. I can.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. They're part of you.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

I found it very profound the first time I looked at her and saw my face in her, you know, that was weird, the. The realization that. That I had another heart beating in the world, you know, that. That was really profound. But I think for you at this stage, all you can do for this first year is be supportive of your wife. That's the sexiest thing you can do. You don't have a connection with the baby like mom does, you know, so you're kind of trying to find your place. What do I do? What am I for? You've kind of been deposed slightly because you're not the most, you know, important person in her life anymore. But all you can do is just be there, say yes all the time, be super supportive. And at some point, he'll look at you and he'll go, oh, that's dad. And he'll smile, and then you'll suddenly feel it. But I think a lot of dads feel a little bit.

[Automated Voice Message System]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

At sea for the first year.

[Jamie]

But dads don't talk about this.

[Simon Pegg]

No. Men don't talk about anything apart from video games.

[Jamie]

We don't talk about anything. No.

[Simon Pegg]

I know.

[Jamie]

It's like a big issue. I don't know if you know that. It's a huge issue.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And fatherhood is a big thing we really don't talk about, I don't think. And I'm trying to work out why we don't. And I think it's because I think we're scared of a reaction from our partner. I think we're scared of reaction from our friends, our family. I think we try and fool ourselves and lie to ourselves because we don't really want to be different. But the truth is, in my experience, is you have this thing that you hold that is yours, and your wife gives birth and you hold it, and you're straight away meant to love it. You meant to have a connection Straight away. And you've. And in my experience, you feel protective.

[Simon Pegg]

Very.

[Jamie]

Yeah, hugely. But it's, it's a thing that you have to learn to know and understand. No one explains that to you. No one.

[Brooke Devard]

No.

[Simon Pegg]

There's no rule book. Did you have that moment when we got back from the hospital and sort of put her down in her little car chair and it was like, all right, so what now? It's like, what do we do now? Nobody. There is no instruction manual. You know, every baby is a new thing. It's very od. Hard to think. I don't know this person. This person who has just come out of my wife. I, I don't know them. And then. And you get to know them and I mean, it's a brilliant, brilliant. The best thing you can do is. What I tried to do for Tilly was just. I tried to be the best man I could be because I, you know, children tend to look for elements of their parents in their partners. Right. So it's the same, the same for you. You try and be the best man you can be so that when they go on to meet people, they look for those attributes in other people. And I just wanted to make sure that I set an example for Tilly so that she would look for those, those kind of attributes in. And her boyfriend, now Max, is a lovely guy, he's super, super cool. And I think, good. She's not looking for. I was worried at first because she always, you know, fancied the bad guy and things like. Draco Malfoy was her favorite in Harry Potter. You know, it was these weird kind of like slightly dark kind of characters that she was gravitating towards. I was like, oh, no, take her for that. Take her for that. So for you, it's about showing him what it means to be a bloke, you know, a good bloke.

[Jamie]

Yeah. They say, especially with daughters, that if you're, if a daughter, if a daughter knows they're loved by their father, they can be love. They can love themselves.

[Simon Pegg]

Yes.

[Jamie]

And so then they don't need the validation from other people.

[Simon Pegg]

Exactly.

[Jamie]

That if they don't have to go seeking it, if it comes to them, they're like, okay, this is good. I, I, I, I, I deserve this. It's fine.

[Simon Pegg]

That's very true.

[Jamie]

And, and I think you're right because, you know, my parents divorced. Your parents divorced around seven years old. Right. Mine around the same age.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And I think that sets you up in not a great fashion. No, that abandonment comes in yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And that's at a time when your core beliefs are being established. You know, your attitude towards so many things are built between 7 and 14, and then they stay. They're almost immutable. And you have to really go back into your psychology to kind of undo some of the damage that gets done to you as a kid, because otherwise you carry it forward.

[Jamie]

So what happened when your parents divorced? What did that do? What do you think that did to you?

[Simon Pegg]

Well, they did. It was fairly amicable, as far as I can remember. But nevertheless, as a kid, you are processing the idea that your father usually would rather be somewhere else than with you, you know, and that is what abandonment is. Because no matter what the reason, and marry young and, you know, you change as you get older, and they're all kind of reasonable reasons to separate. But as a child, you just perceive it as, oh, you don't want to be with me anymore, you know, and that you carry that. And as much as your both parents can say, look, it's not like that. That's not why this happened. You still feel that way. You know, it's hard.

[Jamie]

It's really hard. And also, I don't know, with your experience. With my experience with. It was. I remember that. I remember the day my parents came in and said, they're getting divorced.

[Simon Pegg]

Right.

[Jamie]

And I almost had that way. I didn't want to laugh because I felt so awkward.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Because I was like, this is weird. I don't really get what's going on here. But then that happens, then you go out and play again. It just.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

You just continue life. Right.

[Simon Pegg]

Meanwhile, cognitively, you're making all these kind of, like, connections. I remember the day we were suddenly staying. I don't remember getting there, but I remember being at my nan's house and going into my mum in the morning and just saying, where's dad? And her saying, oh, he's gonna go. He's gone away for a while, you know. And I remember that day, and I was six, probably. So it stamps itself on your subconscious.

[Jamie]

I can see the room that I was in.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, me too.

[Jamie]

Which is like. That's the crazy thing about, like, childhood, Right. I can remember so many things. I can remember the room. I can remember this first goal I scored in football.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, me too. It really dribbled in. It was a terrible goal, but I scored.

[Jamie]

Mine was from the corner.

[Simon Pegg]

Wow.

[Jamie]

Unbelievable.

[Simon Pegg]

Really.

[Jamie]

I was 5. I can't remember what I did yesterday. But why do we think those things imprint? Is it because it's our first Experience or something.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. And it's. Because obviously our brain is doing a lot more than just perceiving reality. You know, our brain is. Is. Is very busy beyond just our subjective experience. It's kind of. It's logging stuff and recording things and shaping our attitudes and that. That we don't have any control over that how our emotions are affected, you know, they just are.

[Jamie]

So how did you think with Tilly? How did you want to parent different, do you think?

[Simon Pegg]

Well, I wanted to stick around, for starters.

[Jamie]

It's a good starting point.

[Simon Pegg]

So, you know, Maureen and I, my wife and I, we work hard at, you know, because marriage is a. Marriage isn't a fairy tale. It's a. It's an agreement that you make and you can.

[Jamie]

No one tells you that as well. No, because all the Disney movies.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, right. You're led to believe it's some sort of like, okay, we're like dolphins or swans or whatever. We just. But you. You have to. You have to kind of just mate happily.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Happily ever after, you know, that's what it is.

[Simon Pegg]

So you, you, you, you.

[Brooke Devard]

You.

[Simon Pegg]

You meet an obstacle and you. You either give up or you carry on, you know? And we both really wanted to be there for her, so anytime we ran into sort of, you know, trouble or whatever or just disagreement or whatever, it's like, no, we're gonna, we're gonna keep going. And. And so for me, it was just about making sure that she felt loved at all times and. And able to speak to us. And, you know, I just tried to think about. My dad was a great. Is. Was a great guy. I understand his foibles and I understand everything that happened, but what I didn't want to do was what he did, you know, and. Because I knew the damage that. That inflicted upon me, you know, So I just wanted to kind of just be as cool as possible. It's not easy because I'm not, you know, I'm just a person. But you. You want to be. You want to be the best person you can be and have your thing with, like. My thing with Tils is movies. Like, we. We bonded over movies since she was very small. And that's our little place where we go every Saturday we watch a film and.

[Jamie]

Every Saturday.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. And that's like. I mean, she's seen more films than most people my age, let alone her age. And that. That's been our. Our kind of our little bonding space. That's a good thing to have, is something you can have just with him.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

So any movie, do you start in a decade or a year or type or genre?

[Simon Pegg]

We started, like, until she was about nine. We were watching films that were age appropriate.

[Jamie]

Sure. So it wasn't Fight Club?

[Simon Pegg]

No. Now, that's one of her favorite films. It's a great film, but. And then at 9, I accidentally showed her it because I thought it was like, Stranger Things. I thought, yeah, it's little kids, like, fighting monsters. It'll be fine. No, she slept with the light on for three weeks. And then after that, she sort of emerged from that cocoon of trauma. Like, I want to watch more. So then now we've watched every horror film, like, really nasty ones as well.

[Jamie]

Okay, so. So, like the Train to Busan.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, she loves that movie.

[Jamie]

It's a great movie.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

I'm a huge horror movie fan.

[Simon Pegg]

Are you? Me too.

[Jamie]

I've been recently trying to work out why that is, and I think it's because it makes me feel something.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, of course.

[Jamie]

Makes me feel, like, weirdly. I like feeling emotions.

[Brooke Devard]

Right.

[Jamie]

I like when I get emotional.

[Simon Pegg]

Right.

[Jamie]

I like it. And I like. I feel alive. I like feeling happier, But I can feel those motions quite a lot. Feeling scared is like a rare emotion. You really feel scared.

[Simon Pegg]

You don't want to feel that in the real world.

[Jamie]

No, you really don't.

[Simon Pegg]

So, like, that's why horror films and roller coasters are great, because they let you rehearse fear without having any real danger, you know? And so for me, I'm. I actually said, we went to see Weapons.

[Jamie]

So good.

[Simon Pegg]

So good.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And I was like. We were walking in and I was like, you know, I'm really. I'm always looking for the. For the. For the next scare, you know, Tilly. Cause I'm unscarable these days. I've seen everything cut to in the cinema. There was one jump scare in Weapons, and I literally screamed out loud, and the whole of the crowd just looked at me until he just gave me the most withering look. I walked in there all Jack the Biscuit, like, you can't scare me.

[Jamie]

Have you recently watched Obsession? Yes, that is. And you know what I love about Obsession is. Think it cost a million to make or something?

[Simon Pegg]

No, 750.

[Jamie]

It costs $750,000 and it's grossed. It's the highest grossing. It's the first movie to do that, cost that much and gross over 100 million, right?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. And I think it's one of the most successful movies ever in terms of its gross and its budget. I've been Watching Curry Barker for a while on YouTube, because he has loads of horror shorts on YouTube, and I've kind of been following him. And then I saw that he'd got a feature film and was kind of like, oh, this should be good. But no, it was masterful, you know,

[Jamie]

And I watched that. I was like, I'm going to watch this little YouTube film. And I sat downstairs. I was. It scared the shit out of me.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, it's great.

[Jamie]

The boy had to. I went out, I had to sort of stop it.

[Brooke Devard]

Right?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And I had to go upstairs to my wife, who was in bed, and I was a bit like, I had to spoon her. And, you know.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Really?

[Simon Pegg]

You were just.

[Jamie]

And she was like, you. Right? I was like, not really.

[Simon Pegg]

We watched it on. Well, I went to sit at the cinema and then on till his birthday. Me and her and her boyfriend watched it and then she just trolled him for the rest of the night. Was like, standing in the corner, why

[Jamie]

don't you love me?

[Simon Pegg]

And he hates horror films.

[Jamie]

What do you think makes a good horror movie?

[Simon Pegg]

I think it has to appeal to our core fears. You know, things that, I mean, basically our fear, human fear is basically not knowing the unknown. So it starts off with what was in the back of that cave. You know, like primitive people looking into the back of a cave and not knowing if there's a bear in there. You know, we still have that fear in our DNA, and so it's tapping into those kind of things. Just the unknown and ultimately the extension of that is death. Our ultimate fear is death.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And the big thing that we fear about death is we don't know anything about it. You know, we don't know what it is or why it is all those things. It's very primal. And so all fear stems from that. And that's what good horror filmmakers tap into.

[Jamie]

Are you scared of death?

[Simon Pegg]

I'm scared of dying. I'm not scared of death. You know, I don't. You, you, you try not to kind of think about it too much, I don't think. But I, I'm very, I'm an atheist, so I feel like it's fine. It's gonna, I'm not gonna know. It's like people say, what happens after death and, you know, what happened before you were born, it's the same. You just didn't exist. You know, that's, that's what happens. You become you, you dissolve into atoms and you become something else. You'll be a tree or.

[Jamie]

I, I, I, I agree with you. And not. And annoyingly so. I, I don't like the fact that I agree with you because I want to feel like, you know, we're friends now.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

This great friendship that we have, this can't end here. This has got to fold into more. We gotta, you know, we can't just.

[Simon Pegg]

But we put so much importance on our subjective experience. Like the reason we think we have a soul is because we can't quite comprehend the idea that our personality, our subjective experience, which is just info. That's all it is. It's just memories from over time, you know, that, that must be more important, that must live in some other form. It must be like a floating bubble or a bit of smoke. It isn't, it's just mental pollution from our subjective experience and.

[Jamie]

Mental pollution.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was reading. No, Yuval Harari and he was talking about the fact that human beings are so strange because we have this, this, this subjective experience that we, we can interpret and sort of, we can imagine things, we can do all these incredible things. And he was sort of saying that our brains are so complex that all the processes that, that we use all the time and the way that we perceive reality, our personalities are just pollution from that. There's, it's just something that happens. And it's kind of bizarre because we're the only animal on the planet that does that. And really the only animal on the planet doesn't live in total harmony with its, its surroundings, you know, and, and it makes me think that maybe humans were a mistake, like a kind of, like a glitch, like an aberration. Because like I have no doubt, you know, in the billions of solar systems, galaxies that exist, there are loads and loads of. There's so much life out there. You think there is, but not necessarily intelligent life in the way that we think. Intelligent life, yeah, we, we put, we're so self important as human beings, we think our ability to build things is important. It's not, it's just self serving. Whereas if you imagine a planet with just animals on it that aren't, that don't have subjective experience, that only have sort of emotional reactive experience, those planets will last for billions and billions of years because it all works as one organism. Whereas we, we kind of don't. We're actively affecting our own planet, you know, by our actions. Which doesn't really make sense when you look at the sort of cosmic plan. Acast powers the world's best podcasts.

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[Jamie]

I heard you talk about something really interesting, right? Which is you've Shaun of the Dead Hot Fuzz these like just, I mean just goes on, right? And the question that people always say to you is, why don't you make another Shaun of the Dead? Why don't you go make another Hot Fuzz? And what I love is that you go, well, that's the obvious thing to do, right? That's comfort. And actually, the best bit of art is when you're in a place where you don't know if it's good or bad. Living in comfort is kind of safe. That's what everyone kind of does. And you never want to do that. You. It feels like you want to always be looking and trying and doing different things.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, we. I mean, the human beings generally will take the path of least resistance, you know, And. And what we. And what the market has. Has drilled in recently is familiarity. It's just like, okay, people want to see the same thing again, so let's do lots of sequels and lots of prequels and remake animations into live actions just because people want to. People want familiarity. When what we really need is. Is. Is newness, 100%, you know, and for me, like, with the Cornetto movies, it's like some stories end, you know, Shaun of the Dead ends. If to make a sequel, we'd have to undo all the resolution that takes place at the end of. Yeah, but then it's like if you. Then if you go back and watch Shaun of the Dead, then you're like, okay, but he's gonna have to have this other adventure. Some films lend themselves to it, you know, the Marvel films or Mission Impossible or Totally. Because they're ongoing adventures that. About people that get into adventures. Shaun of the Dead is not. It's about an electrical sales clock, you know, and he doesn't have adventures. He has one big adventure and that's it, you know, And I think that. That I sometimes find that sequels can retroactively spoil their predecessors. Alien is a great example, because in Alien 3, the beginning of Alien 3, I'll try not to spoil it for people that haven't seen it, but it somewhat undoes a lot of the stakes and the achievements of Ripley and Aliens. So when you watch Aliens again, you're just thinking, oh, don't bother. Because that's.

[Jamie]

Because I don't care. I'm not in it now because it's

[Simon Pegg]

just like, those people are going to die, so why save them?

[Jamie]

So then what do you. What is your take on James Bond? Well, he's.

[Simon Pegg]

He's the secret agent, so he got. He. He is going to have adventures for his entire life. And so there are chapters that we can dip into Some things necessitate sequelization, and I'm not saying sequels are bad. But not everything needs a sequel. Some stories just end.

[Jamie]

I just, I just disagree. I just feel like Hot Fuzz does.

[Simon Pegg]

I think Hot Fuzz we could probably

[Jamie]

do, like, I probably could go around the room here and in most rooms, especially within the UK, and say, give me your top 10 movies. I reckon a lot of people, Shaun of the Dead will be out there, Hot Fuzz will be on there. And I'm not even kidding you, people like to go, yeah, we got Fight Club or Shawshank Redemption. Hell, no kidding me. And. But that's. And what I. To have that sort of body of work, you must feel like insanely proud of doing that.

[Simon Pegg]

I do. I feel. I'm really happy that we. We made three movies because we never made a third series of Space, and we always kind of wanted to, but it was time and circumstance just worked against us in that. And also we made Sha and that changed everything. So to finish like a trilogy of films all about a kind of, you know, the individual versus the collective, all about all featuring a specific ice cream that felt like we've done something, you know, and now, now we're talking about doing something new. It's like, well, what is it gonna be? You know, because it's not gonna be like that. It's gonna be something different.

[Jamie]

Can you explain the Cornetto movement? Explain why it's called the Cornetto movies?

[Simon Pegg]

Edgar Wright swore blind that a strawberry Cornetto was the ultimate hangover cure. So when, when. When they wake up in the morning of the zombie apocalypse, Ed requests one from the shop. And then in, when we were making Hot Fuzz, actually at the Shaun of the Dead premiere, we had free Cornettos. And, and we were like, me and Edgar and Nick were like, this is amazing. We got free ice cream. This is, this is so cool. We should put one in the next film in case we get free ice cream again. So then one ended up in Hot Fuzz. We very kind of like, you know, slightly self aggrandizingly referenced ourselves in Hot Fuzz by repeating the line, do you want a thing from the shop? And then it was like, well, we got to put one in the World's End now because that's, you know, it could be like our three flavors Cornetto trilogy in the Krzysztof Kozlovsky kind of, you know, three colors, white, red, white and blue. And then that just became a thing. So by the time we did the World's End, they were Advertising it on Cornetto boxes, you know? So that's why it became the Cornetto trilogy. It's. It was sheer. Sheer. Just hoping we could get free ice cream.

[Jamie]

I have a game that I want to play with you.

[Simon Pegg]

Go on. I love a game.

[Jamie]

Okay. It's called Finish that line. Okay, I'm gonna read a line. Yeah, and then you have to finish it.

[Simon Pegg]

Okay.

[Jamie]

And it's. It's not just a random line from any film.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Any film.

[Jamie]

It's a line from your movies.

[Simon Pegg]

Okay. Okay.

[Jamie]

All right, first one. No luck catching them killers, then.

[Simon Pegg]

It's just the one killer. Actually, I'm good with the ones I

[Jamie]

wrote, so I can't tell you how much thrill this is giving me. I'm trying to keep it caged. I am freaking buzzing about this. Okay, here we go. We're in a pub. What are we gonna do now?

[Simon Pegg]

Okay, so that's Shaun of the Dead. And it's something like. I can see if the cooler's on. No, I could see if the. No, it's. Is it. Have a sit down. No.

[Jamie]

What do you do in a pub normally?

[Simon Pegg]

Drink, Have a beer.

[Jamie]

We could get around it.

[Simon Pegg]

We can round it. That's it.

[Jamie]

Okay, next one. Ready? Are you sure you're fine to drive?

[Simon Pegg]

What are you talking about? You were just dead a minute ago. You were dead a minute ago.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

You were dead. Yeah.

[Jamie]

Okay, here we go. Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is?

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, that could be any of my films.

[Jamie]

These are actually quite hard.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, wait, this is Star Trek.

[Jamie]

Yes, it is. Yeah. Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is. It is to hide.

[Simon Pegg]

To hide. A starship under the sea at the

[Jamie]

bottom of the sea. Let's freaking go. Here we go. If we don't come down hard on

[Simon Pegg]

these clowns, we'll be up to our balls in jugglers.

[Jamie]

Your characters that you create, you say you have to come from your own experiences, right?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Jamie]

That's how you write them. Can you elaborate on. Explain that? Why that's important?

[Simon Pegg]

I think because the.

[Brooke Devard]

You.

[Simon Pegg]

You have to write from a position of the truth, you know, and if you. If you're writing from experience, then you can be truthful, you know, because you know what you're talking about with Shaun of the Dead, that was our life at the time. Not the zombies, obviously, but the. The. There was a pub called the Shepherds on the corner of Shepherd's Hill and Archway Road. It's now called the Boogaloo. It's a very good pub, always has been. But on before, it was the Boogaloo, and it was, like a cool music venue. It was a very basic old man's boozer run by John and Bernie, who we named the Landlord and Lady in Shaun of the Dead after. And Nick and I loved it. It was on the corner of our road, and we spent all of our time in there. And Edgar used to get so annoyed at us because he wanted us to come into town and go to the Groucho Club and stuff. And we were like, no, this is our pub. And. And so the Winchester was born from that idea that, you know, Sean and Ed had this one place that they always went, and they. We'd done that thing that Ed does in the movie when he. He. He gives everyone a kind of backstory and a nickname. We did that with all the regulars in the Shepherds before we got to know them. And then we. The reason we called it the Winchester is because there needed to be a rifle over the bar. So that whole experience of, like, being ensconced in this one pub and that pub being the answer to all of our problems, that was the root of Shaun of the Dead, and that came from the truth. Hot Fuzz was different because I knew nothing about policing. And so Edgar and I did a lot of research, and we went out with the cops in Brixton and in the countryside, we learned the difference between rural policing and metropolitan policing. And so that we could then write from a position of the truth. And the World's End was. You know, I wrote that two years after I got sober. So that was all, like, about that, about the pain of being an addict. And so when you write from the truth, it just feels. It feels more authentic.

[Jamie]

I think it also must be, like, in a way, cathartic, like, do journal.

[Simon Pegg]

No, but I guess I do with the films.

[Jamie]

That's what I mean. Right. Because it is. It's like you're getting it out there, putting it out there. And so it kind of. It's like that whole going back to how, like, as men, we don't really talk. Right. I, for many years, just never spoke about anything.

[Automated Voice Message System]

Right.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And in my 20s, I drank just way too much. Too much. And, you know, it's one of the things I kind of really regret because there were so many wasted nights, so many wasted days, so many times where I didn't turn up to my mom's 60th. I didn't turn up to Christmas.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

You know, because I just wanted to go and get drunk.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And it almost makes me Emotional thinking about it because I look at that 20 year old kid who was so confused, he was so insecure, he was so not knowing where he was in life. And all I kept turning to was, oh, well, if I. This, this liquid or whatever that I can drink. Oh, this just makes it go away, really.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

So I can just drink that.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And I didn't realize the slow effect that it was slowly having on me

[Simon Pegg]

because we think, I mean, people always say alcohol is a social lubricant, but the thing that it really is is an emotional anesthetic. And that's what, that's why a lot of people drink to excess is because they're just trying to change how they feel without actual medication, you know, because going and getting medicated for something, whether it's, you know, depression, anxiety or ADHD or whatever, it's, it's so, so much easier to just drink it away.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Because you can do that. You don't have to talk to anyone, you don't have to admit that you've got any issues. You can just go to the pub and drink. And that's why it's such a sort of dangerous. And I mean, now that I'm on the other side of it and I look back at the culture, we're so encouraged to, to do it, you know, it's like it's a chemical, it's a, it is a drug, you know, that's what it is. But we don't see it as that because it's so socially acceptable. But we're still using a chemical compound to alter how we feel, which is what all drugs do. And so to be on the other side of that, looking back, it's like bursting out of a forest and looking back and realizing how dark and dangerous it was, you know.

[Jamie]

What was the moment that you decided to quit alcohol?

[Simon Pegg]

I was in San Diego and I was promoting the film, Paul, and I stopped for a while and I fell off the wagon there and then I can't remember like the next four days or so. And I remember coming home to London and actually stopping on the way back from Heathrow to go into a pub just to get a drink, you know. And I got back and my wife could tell and I thought that I had blown everything and that, you know, it was over. And I just went out and I got another can of like some awful strong cider and then I woke up in the priory and then I, then I realized that it was. I either get straight or I lose everything that matters to me, you know. And then, so after that, that was 2010, and I haven't drunk since.

[Jamie]

Wow, man. That's like. It's just insane, right? Looking back. And. And also, which I think is so the reason why someone. I just, really just admire you talking about it, right? Because someone in your position talking about that. So many people who look up to you, including myself, right. Just go, wow, that's amazing. If someone like that can do it, someone like that can achieve all those things and. And then that feels.

[Simon Pegg]

And also you realize that you get all these things that are supposed to make you happy. So, like, I was, you know, I was. I'd been doing well in the film industry. You know, Sean had come out, she was Paul. I'd had. I'd had a baby, which was like the most profound, wonderful thing that happened to me. And yet some. For some reason, I still wasn't happy. And that made me realize that success is not anything you achieve other than your own personal happiness. If you are happy, whether you're digging ditches or the king of the world, if the ditch digger is happy and the king of the world isn't, the ditch digger is way more successful than the king of the world.

[Jamie]

100%, man. And we. And it's so crazy. We don't realize that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't realize it. And we realize all of this is kind of fluff, really.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And actually, what really matters is, you know, I went to. I went to a therapist when all of that was going on. And I think therapy is one of the most amazing things.

[Simon Pegg]

It is.

[Jamie]

It's incredible. And if you can afford it or you can get it on the NHS or whatever way of getting. I just think it improves your life. And I kept talking about different things and. And she said to me, she called Mal. She was amazing. She said, jamie, I just keep you here. You talk about all these different things. All you've got to do is compare yourself to yourself yester or last week or last year, and if you're a better version of yourself now, then you're successful.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jamie]

And I was like, that is a. An amazing way to sort of think about it.

[Simon Pegg]

Right. And it's doable, you know, it's not like an insurmountable task. You can do it by increments, but you can do it, you know?

[Jamie]

Can we talk about your friendship with Nick Frost?

[Simon Pegg]

Yes.

[Jamie]

I don't know the guy. He seems like a legend.

[Simon Pegg]

He is a legend.

[Jamie]

There's a. There's a lovely quote which I want to find about where he talks about how much you love each other. Yeah, he said, we literally fell in love. He took a big fucking lump of idiot clay, and he gave me the confidence to believe, and he noticed there was something within me, bless him. That's amazing, mate.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. I mean, you know, it was one of those strange things. You get into adulthood and you think, I'm not gonna. What's the quote from Stand By Me? You know, you don't have friends like you do when you're 12 or whatever, but I. I met him and we just started hanging out, and I just got a massive dopamine hit from him. You know, that's what it was. We. We both got that from each other. And this is long before he, you know, was in space. This is a good five, six years before he actually started working as an actor. And I was a standup comic at the time, so he'd just come to my gigs with me and we'd hang out, and he made me laugh so much, like none of the comics I knew did. And we just sort of cemented this friendship and really, in the end, writing that role for him in space, which was based on a character that he'd come up with, was a way of spending more time with him.

[Jamie]

Was it really? Yeah, it was like, hey, if you

[Simon Pegg]

come work with me, then we can hang out more. Yeah.

[Jamie]

What is the best thing about Nick?

[Simon Pegg]

He's just. Nick is so down to earth. We came from completely different backgrounds, and he always makes the joke about it. It was like My Fair lady, you know, I was like Henry Higgins to his Eliza Doolittle. And, yes, I kind of like. You know, I showed him all this stuff and with films and. But he. He showed me as much about life and about kind of. I don't know. I was. I came out of Bristol University as quite an uptight, politically correct kind of student. And Nick just taught me that, you know, the. The real political correctness is about intent. It's about, you know, it's okay to make jokes about anything as long as they're not fundamentalized by prejudice. Do you know what I mean?

[Jamie]

I read something where you said, you know, horror basically doesn't get the recognition it deserves at, like, the ceremonies, like, the Oscars. And you also said that about comedy, which is so. And when I was reading this, I was like, it's so true. Yeah, it doesn't. It feels like you have to. I don't know, you have. Daniel Day Lewis has to become some. Whatever it is. And they go, oh, this is yeah, you have to become something totally different. But comedy, like horror is a really hard genre. Impeccably hard. Right. So why do you think this, why do you think it's not taken, in a way as seriously as other genres?

[Simon Pegg]

I think it's exactly that. Because it's not serious. It's deemed as not serious. And that hugely underestimates and undervalues the skill it takes to be funny, you know, because it's not serious. It's not serious. That's why. And horror as well, because it's a genre and often some horror is schlocky horror. So you get horror, which is very gory and silly sometimes, and so that's not deemed awards worthy. But then you get films like Silence of the Lambs, you know, which did very well at the Oscars and that did win an Oscar obsession I'm sure will get nodded to because it, how could it not, you know, can't be ignored. And Indy Navarretti's performance is absolutely amazing in it. You know, they all are good in it, but often it's seen as frivolous and kind of not worthy of accolade because no one's, you know, doing a really earnest dramatic performance. You know, that seems to be the thing that gets most rewarded.

[Jamie]

When was that moment in your career that you had that was a pivotal turning point that changed, that made you think differently?

[Simon Pegg]

I think when we, when we made space for Channel 4 in 1999. I think walking onto the set of that show, having written it with Jessica Hines and seeing the set and realizing that all these other people had taken our script and extrapolated all the production design and the costumes and all that from it, that felt like, that felt important. You know, it was like, geez, this is, this came from a silly idea that me and Jess had. And now suddenly it's a real thing and, and, and, and other people have, have contributed to it and, and made it three dimensional and real, that that was a profound moment. You know, I felt very kind of humbled by that because it certainly made me realize what a collaboration film and television making is. You know, often as actors, we get all the accolades because we're up front with the cosmetic end of it. But it's such a collaboration. There are so many people involved in, in making it a thing. And that's something I've always tried to remember, you know, and when you pick up an award for something, you've been put there by so many different people that have created the thing that you've been given the opportunity to excel in, you know, that's something that I always. So whenever I'm on anything, I'm always incredibly conscious of the fact that we're all in this together. Like, I'd never pull one of those kind of like, you know, you hear about some actors just behaving badly. Yeah, I just couldn't do that. I couldn't sleep at night. No ways. Right?

[Jamie]

No, but why would you be rude?

[Simon Pegg]

And also, you just having fun.

[Jamie]

I know, it's.

[Simon Pegg]

You're getting to do your hobby for a job. Stop frowning

[Jamie]

when you walked onto that set in 1999 and you looked around. Imposter syndrome.

[Simon Pegg]

No, because I felt like I'd worked hard to get there. You know, it's like I've never felt that in my career because I've, I've done the, the, I've put in the hours, you know, and so when I got to be in, you know, when we did Shaun of the Dead, and then, and then latterly, because of that film, I wound up in some of those big sort of Hollywood movies. I felt like, no, I've, I've. I didn't jump here. I scaled here, you know, and so it was a bit weird on the first Mission Impossible, because that was strange.

[Jamie]

Just give me a little bit. How that must be, well, pretty weird when you turn on the set and you're like, hey, everyone. Yeah, I guess we're shooting Mission Impossible.

[Simon Pegg]

It was crazy because it was the first time I'd been to Hollywood and we were shooting on the Paramount lot, and obviously it was a massive production like I'd never seen before. And I just felt a little bit like, okay, this is gonna be like a kind of bit of stunt casting. J.J. abrams, like Shaun of the Dead.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And. And so here I am, and I'll do my day or two on this and I'll go home and, you know, have a little badge or something. And then, yeah, I met Tom Cruise. Badge.

[Jamie]

He's put it on your little.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And then, you know, and then a couple of years later, he called me about Star Trek and then, and then we found out, you know, the character was going to persist in the Mission franchise. And. But it all felt fairly sequential and never like I'd won a competition, you know.

[Jamie]

That's amazing.

[Simon Pegg]

Which was. I think that's a good way. But also, I also tried to remember that it was. It wasn't a competition and it wasn't something that you get from, you know, making a wish. This is just work.

[Jamie]

It is just work. And it's progression. And it's funny, right? When you do put in that hard work and you put in the hours and suddenly you reap the rewards. You're like, oh, no.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. And you have to. You have to. The way that you deal with it is very important as well. I always say, when I get asked, I get asked by a lot of young people about, what's your advice? And I always say, just chase everything. You know, don't. Don't think that it's going to fall into your lap. Don't think even if you're, like, supremely talented, it's not just going to happen for you. You have to chase everything and. And be proactive and get out there and make stuff and get seen. You know?

[Jamie]

That is the best piece of advice. Anyone who's listening or watching this, 100%. And I think we forget. I think. Cause I thought it for a while, right? Someone's gonna open a door and say, come on in. There you go. We're all in here. We've been waiting for you. That never happens. No, you have to work. And no one cares that you think you're good.

[Simon Pegg]

No, absolutely not.

[Jamie]

No one cares that you think you're talented. No one cares. You have to prove to people that you can create stuff, do stuff, make stuff happen, right? Because everyone's slightly. In a way, we're all out for ourselves. We're all doing our own thing. So you have to show that you can collaborate or help or assist or

[Simon Pegg]

do something and not feel entitled to

[Jamie]

it a hundred percent.

[Brooke Devard]

When you.

[Jamie]

When you get a big Hollywood movie like that and you've, you know, and this is a. A while ago, what happened? Do you. Does your agent call you? Who calls you?

[Simon Pegg]

J.J. called me.

[Jamie]

J.J. phoned. You get your number?

[Simon Pegg]

I was in. Yeah. And that's very him. He's sort of like. He. He. He doesn't like to go through the kind of traditional route of, like, calling agents and all that kind of stuff. I was writing Hot Fuzz with Edgar, and the phone rang and.

[Jamie]

It's your mobile.

[Simon Pegg]

No, it was just the office phone. I was working at Big Talk, where our production company at the time, and. And J.J. abrams is on the phone and sort of. Okay. And you prep yourself.

[Jamie]

You're like, here we go.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. I was like. I kind of vaguely knew him from Alias. And then he just sort of said. He just said, hey, Simon, do you want to come and be Mission Impossible 3? And I'd literally. I'd been. I'd auditioned for Mission Impossible 3, like, a month before, this was a different. Different production. Joe Carnahan was directing it, went into a development, they went as far as casting it, and then they ditched the whole thing.

[Brooke Devard]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

JJ took over, and they came up with a whole new thing. So I'd said in an interview, oh, I'm not, you know, someone said, are you going to go off to Hollywood now? Like, you know, like, it's a betrayal.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

And I said, well, no, I'm not going to go off and just do Mission Impossible 3. Like, because I thought I wasn't, and then I suddenly was, and that was it. And then jj, like, sent me the whole first season of lost on. On DVDs and to sort of demonstrate what he was about. And. And I was like, sure, why not? And I had no idea the kind of life decision I was making at

[Jamie]

the time, because it's huge, right?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And that franchise just, you know, like you said, it's 20 years.

[Simon Pegg]

It was, but then there'd only been two at that point. You know, they'd only been Mission Impossible 1 and 2. And Mission 2 had done very well, but with an odd film because it was. It was John Woo, and John Woo is a fantastic filmmaker, but there was an odd disconnect between the kind of Hong Kong cinema and the Hollywood model. So Mission two is one of those kind of Marmite films for a lot of people. So three was a bit of a gamble. And JJ was, you know, had done mainly television, so I had no idea what was going to happen. I certainly didn't realize I'd be in it for 20 years.

[Jamie]

You know, it's a long time.

[Simon Pegg]

It is a long time.

[Jamie]

It's a long time.

[Simon Pegg]

It felt longer on the last two. Felt longer than 20 years.

[Jamie]

I love that story of when you talk about when you. When Tom Cruise did that stunt and he broke his ankle, he just gets up and keeps going.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And you're just a bit like, what the.

[Simon Pegg]

Well, that's him being a producer, you know, because he obviously produces the movies, and he knew if the. If, if. If he just bailed out of that shot, it would cost the production a huge amount of money and we'd have to go back and reshoot it. So he just hobbled out of shot, and then nine weeks later, when he was better, he kind of hobbled into the next shot and then ran off again. So, yeah, that's. That's. That's just however long he's had in the business.

[Jamie]

Do you do your own stunts?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, it's kind of the rule. Yeah. Yeah. Really, the stunts are real. That's. That's the kind of mantra on this, on the set. And it really. It's about the fact that you. You want to maintain the character throughout the. The stunt so it never comes. Never. Just about the stunt. You can carry on acting whilst you're stunting.

[Jamie]

When you were a kid, right, and you grew up just outside of Gloucestershire and your dad owned a music shop, do you look back at your childhood and the things you're doing and the things you created and all the dreams that you had and just think, man, I freaking did it.

[Simon Pegg]

It's crazy. So much of my career has been about finding myself, part of the thing that I've enjoyed as a kid. So, like, whether that's Star wars or Star Trek or even Mission Impossible, I used to watch that show or Doctor who or working with Rick and Aid, because they were like. The Young Ones were. Well, I was 12 when the young Ones came out, and that was a seismic event in comedy or. Or even, like, you know, me and Nick went to the Big beach boutique in 2002, the big free party that, you know, 250,000 people turned up to. And. And then this weekend, I just DJed at it. Yeah. So it's like that. Those circularities are great. They're really. They're really satisfying.

[Jamie]

Yeah. Because it's, you know, the fact that, like, you speak about how much of a Star wars fan you are, and then I heard that you have Luke Skywalker's number.

[Simon Pegg]

We DM each other occasionally.

[Jamie]

That must be.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, it's nuts.

[Jamie]

It's nuts.

[Simon Pegg]

It's totally nuts. When I think about how much I idolized those people as a child, and now, you know, breathing the same air as them is. It does feel like a sort of achievement in a way, truthfully.

[Jamie]

Right. If you had to really think, what is the thing that you're most proud of?

[Simon Pegg]

My daughter, without a doubt. She's such a good actor, she's gonna follow me into the business. I know it because I went to see her in her. They did Les Mis as their school play, and she played Thenardier, the master of the house. And that's that great show stopping number. And I watched it, and I. And I sort of sat there thinking, okay, oh, dear, here we go. Yeah. It was like. It was a real revelation. And I was almost like a little bit perplexed by it because. And then in the interval, people were coming up to me, as they usually do, but they weren't asking for pictures with me. They were telling me how good she was. I was like, oh, fine.

[Jamie]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

[Simon Pegg]

Okay. She's all right.

[Jamie]

All right.

[Simon Pegg]

She's all right. But no, I'm proud of her because of the person she is. And, and, you know, it is an extraordinary thing to, as you know, you know, to, to have a life that you've had some part in creating. And, and it's a love that you, you can't even begin to quantify.

[Jamie]

You know, I, I have this whole thing at the moment that I sound so weird, but I, I, I'm so upset but happy. I'm happy but upset because my baby won't know how much I love him until he has children. If he has children.

[Simon Pegg]

Right, right.

[Jamie]

Because you can't compare. So I want to climb inside him and speak to his heart, but I can't get to his heart. Yeah, it's that kind of love.

[Simon Pegg]

But then you spend, you spend your entire time while he's at home trying to convince him, you know, that's, that's all you have to do.

[Jamie]

I love you. Yeah.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Yeah.

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[Jamie]

You've got a new series coming up, the Undeclared War on Channel four. It's the second series.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, the first episode aired on Channel four. And I think it's all. They've. They've. You can binge it like they do sometimes. Now they've dropped the whole six episodes onto all four.

[Jamie]

What is different when you're creating something like this to doing something in Hollywood?

[Simon Pegg]

Tv, generally, tv, you work faster. And there's the, the, you know, the setup time is. Is less. You're. You're having to get a lot of stuff shot in a short space of time. So. And I like that. I like. I hate sitting in my trailer doing nothing. You know, that's the, the worst is when you're at work but you're not working. That's just so dull for me. Anyway, so TV is like. It's hard and fast, is Run and Gun. And it's also like Channel 4 was kind of. Is kind of my spiritual home. That's where I started with Spaced. And to be back there doing this show, which is a completely different kind of animal for me because it's a. It's a drama and it's. It's much more grounded in reality. You know, it's not my first spy show by any means, but this, there's no one tearing off masks and jumping off cliffs on motorbikes in this. You know, it's kind of about the real. The real war that we're fighting at the moment on the front line, which is the Internet. And that is. That's terrifying because it's happening around us right now, you know.

[Jamie]

So listen, I just want to say a huge thank you.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, man, it's been such a pleasure.

[Jamie]

Trust me, it's been a complete pleasure for me. It's been absolutely incredible. We have eight quick fire questions. But before that, I just want to ask one more thing. What kind of roles would you still like to play?

[Simon Pegg]

If you could choose anything, just sort of diverse roles. You know, I kind of want to try and flex every muscle that I've got, which is why recently I've been doing a lot of sort of drama. And I did an improvised film last year, which was really, really fun because it was six days shooting and totally improvised. Totally improvised from. From an idea. Jamie Adams, who's the director, who's a great Welsh filmmaker, he. His method is to come up with a kind of outline that. So each scene you kind of have a description of what needs to happen and, you know, the story, but all of the dialogue is Improvised. And I just come off making two films which had taken five years. And then this film came in. It was like six days in France, as it turns out, with. With Sophia Boutella, who I worked with before, I love. And Quentin Tarantino and Charlotte Gainsborough and Lizzie McAlpine.

[Jamie]

Get out of here.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. For six days, just making it up. And it was so, so fun.

[Jamie]

Sorry. There must be a starting point, though. Yeah. Little starting point.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, yeah, there's a. We know the story.

[Jamie]

Here we go. But just go. Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

It's like. Okay, so in this scene, you're trying to convince her that this is the case, and she's trying to convince you that that's the case. And Jamie's very, like. He'll give one. He'll give an actor notes, but not tell the other actor that those notes have been given so that the. The actor brings something new to the scene. And so you're finding the whole story as you go. And it was just an absolute delight. So stuff like that, which challenges me.

[Jamie]

I did an improv night. I love it. How good at improv are you?

[Simon Pegg]

Pretty good.

[Jamie]

Okay, well, should I set a scene? Listen, this is the scene.

[Brooke Devard]

Okay.

[Jamie]

We're dating.

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

You're meeting me in a pub, and you're here to break up with me, but I think you're gonna propose to me.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Hey, listen, thanks for coming.

[Jamie]

It's all right. How have you been?

[Simon Pegg]

I've been all right. I've been. I've been thinking quite a lot.

[Jamie]

Yeah, you. You felt like you've been quiet over the past few days?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah. Yeah. I've just been sort of taking stock of everything and.

[Jamie]

Okay. I'm just so excited for our future.

[Simon Pegg]

Well, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about in a way.

[Jamie]

I know.

[Simon Pegg]

I feel like. I feel like we've kind of reached a point in our relationship, you know?

[Jamie]

I feel the same way.

[Simon Pegg]

Where we want to go more, I would say. Not that I feel like we might have played it all out. And I feel like what we need to do next is find ourselves, but separately.

[Jamie]

I don't understand what you're saying. Why can't we find ourselves together?

[Simon Pegg]

Well, we did. We have found ourselves together. And I don't think that worked.

[Jamie]

It does work.

[Simon Pegg]

For it to work, I think it would have to work for both of us. And right now, just at this moment in time, I'm feeling like it's not working for me.

[Jamie]

Jamie, are you saying you don't love me?

[Simon Pegg]

I'm not saying I don't love you. I'm saying that I'm not seeing a future for us together. That doesn't mean that I don't love you, because I do. But I. I feel like it would be better for us if we. If we separated.

[Jamie]

But I'm confused. You love me, but you don't want to be with me. Yeah.

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Matt.

[Jamie]

Simon. Honestly, buddy, thank you for everything. Thank you for everything you do for film, for people, for just making you make people happy.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, thank you.

[Jamie]

And I think that's the greatest gift that you can give to this world, to be honest.

[Simon Pegg]

You're very kind. Thank you.

[Jamie]

I have eight quick fire questions. You ready for this shoot? What's a saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up mentally?

[Simon Pegg]

We have this thing where we've run into the living room and shat tinfoil. Don't ask me why, but it always makes us laugh.

[Jamie]

Best compliment anyone's ever given you.

[Simon Pegg]

That something that I've done has altered someone in a good way.

[Jamie]

You know what scares you most about yourself?

[Simon Pegg]

My anger.

[Jamie]

When was the last time you cried?

[Simon Pegg]

When was the last time I cried? I'm not a crier.

[Jamie]

You don't cry.

[Simon Pegg]

I don't. Not that easily. I have to real dig it out sometimes.

[Jamie]

What makes you cry? If you watch him.

[Simon Pegg]

Anything with dads and sons, like in a movie like, that'll get me going.

[Jamie]

Have you seen something ordinary? James Norton?

[Simon Pegg]

No. I like James Norton a lot.

[Jamie]

So there's one thing. Watch this with Tilly. James Norton movie. He plays an Irish window cleaner.

[Simon Pegg]

It's called Nowhere Special. I think I've heard of that.

[Jamie]

It is. He plays an Irish window cleaner and he has to look after his son for a weekend.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, yeah, it is. Oh, God, no.

[Jamie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

That's just blob country.

[Jamie]

Get ready for that. Why is anything that. It's anything that's father and sons make and makes you. Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Tickly. And I also my. I lost my dad a couple of years ago, so that, that, that is going to be particularly. In fact, that might have been the last time I really cried. Really? Yeah.

[Jamie]

What's something you can't let go of?

[Simon Pegg]

Probably Star Wars. I mean, I have let go of it. I, I, you know, for me, it was, it was such a pivotal thing in my childhood. It changed everything for me. Obviously it's been recycled and, and there's so much of it now and lots of it I haven't seen. But sometimes I'll. I'll just go and watch something and maybe it's not for me. And I always think, oh, but I. I don't know. I guess. I guess it was just such a. Again, a massive part of my childhood. But it's not what it used to be. Star Wars. It's different now. And. And as it should be. It should be different. It's not for me.

[Jamie]

Do you have a lightsaber?

[Simon Pegg]

I used to. I had a bunch of them.

[Brooke Devard]

Wow.

[Simon Pegg]

And then I realized I was 40.

[Jamie]

What's your guilty pleasure?

[Simon Pegg]

My guilty pleasure?

[Jamie]

Probably.

[Simon Pegg]

Chocolate.

[Jamie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dark.

[Simon Pegg]

No, milk.

[Jamie]

Milk. Straight up?

[Simon Pegg]

Yeah, straight up milk chocolate.

[Jamie]

Like tea.

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, yeah. Like, I like to put a cube like a. And then drink the tea. Yeah. Keep it in the fridge in this time of year? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[Jamie]

Do you keep butter in the fridge?

[Simon Pegg]

No, out the fridge. Out of the fridge because it's such a bugger to spread. But in this weather, like the last

[Jamie]

couple of weeks, it's just been like water.

[Simon Pegg]

Just pouring it onto your bread.

[Jamie]

Whatever. I don't think there's anything better than bread and butter. It's unbelievable.

[Simon Pegg]

Dairy's my sweet spot.

[Jamie]

What do you like most about yourself? Come on, dig deep.

[Simon Pegg]

I'm learning to like myself more as I've got older. I think I like that I can make people laugh, you know, that's. It's a nice thing to be able to do. And I find it. I always say, you know, looks fade, but funniest forever.

[Jamie]

Bonus. What song would you like to be played at your funeral?

[Simon Pegg]

Oh, Marianne by the Sisters of Mercy.

[Jamie]

Carried out.

[Simon Pegg]

It's a dirge.

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Yeah.

[Simon Pegg]

Absolutely not inflated. No. I think probably I wouldn't go for something from my goth times. I would go for something really happy, like Jackie Wilson. Higher and Higher. Something like that.

[Jamie]

That is it.

[Simon Pegg]

That's a good one to go. My granny went to Everything's Coming Up Roses by Ethel Merman. It was so funny, like, because it had been quite an emotional ceremony and it was like, everything's coming up rose. We were all laughing on our.

[Jamie]

Simon. Peg. You've been unbelievable company. Everyone go and watch the Underclay war and Channel 4. You were the greatest. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

[Simon Pegg]

Thank you, Jamie. Oh, man.

[Jamie]

Buddy.

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[Jamie]

I absolutely love it.

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[Simon Pegg]

The snack wrap plus Caesar sauce equals extra crispy Chicken Caesari Greatness sounds delicious. Caesar sauce at McDonald's for a limited

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

time

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