Below is my interview with Simon Pegg, which first appeared in the Reading Evening Post:
ldquo;ARGGHHHHHHrdquo;�Thatrsquo;s what it says on the front of Simon Peggrsquo;s T-shirt and it could describe any number of emotions he has felt since landing in Tinseltown.
�In Hollywood, Brits can do no wrong.�At least where comedy is concerned anyway.�As America embraces the famous dry British wit, it has taken under its wing home-grown talents like Simon Pegg and Readingrsquo;s own Golden Globe/Emmy-winning Ricky Gervais, as well as names like Russell Brand, Sacha Baron Cohen and Steve Coogan.�The list keeps building.
�And it seems that with typically British self-deprecation, the likes of Pegg and co canrsquo;t quite believe it.�
�Simon Pegg admits he has to pinch himself all the time, so much so that he finds it impossible to list the numerous occasions when it happens.�We met last week at Londonrsquo;s Soho Hotel to talk about his latest movie How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, based on journalist Toby Youngrsquo;s best-selling memoirs and he told me: ldquo;That kind of thing happens all the time in LA because itrsquo;s the centre of the industry and everybodyrsquo;s there so you constantly find yourself in those kind of weird situations and it never not surprises me.rdquo;
�Simon is, however, able to recount feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of working with childhood hero Jeff Bridges, who plays magazine boss Clayton Harding in the film.�ldquo;I remember going to see him in Tron when I was sevenrdquo; he says.�ldquo;To be there acting alongside him was amazing.rdquo;
�Simonrsquo;s sense of wonderment at where he has ended up is palpable.�ldquo;To go from being born in rural Gloucestershire and then winding up doing those kinds of things is amazing,rdquo; he says.�ldquo;I hope it always is amazing. �I hope I donrsquo;t get tired of it or find it boring.rdquo;
�Clearly in awe of where he his career has landed him, he readily admits he doesnrsquo;t have a game plan.�ldquo;Irsquo;m not trying to make it in America particularly.�Irsquo;m just trying to just work.�You just want to keep doing good stuff and working with good people and that [Hollywood] is an incredibly prolific centre of production over there.�Yoursquo;ve got an amazing film industry which is extremely busy and inevitably, as an actor or writer, yoursquo;re going to gravitate towards that part of town,rdquo; he says before adding wryly: ldquo;When I say town I mean the world.rdquo;
�Not having a game plan doesnrsquo;t seem to be holding Simon back.�Hersquo;s scored hits on both sides of the Atlantic with self-penned funny fare like Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and Run Fatboy Run and you get the impression that hersquo;s content to continue playing at being funny and making movies with the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store for as long as theyrsquo;ll have him along for the ride.
�ldquo;The most important thing for me is that I enjoy my job and I enjoy going to work in the morning and making the film,rdquo; he says.�ldquo;For me thatrsquo;s what itrsquo;s all about.�You know, the daily process of making a film is so much fun.�Everything else that follows is just, you know, itrsquo;s a necessary evil.rdquo;�He laughs nervously as he realises that what he has just said encompasses the spiral of interviews that accompanies the release of a film, including the one hersquo;s giving right now.�He continues: ldquo;I just want to do stuff that I enjoy and work with people that I enjoy working with and get some satisfaction in my work.�Irsquo;m not sort of planning it all out thinking: lsquo;Right, now Irsquo;ve got to play a villain or a serial killer because Irsquo;ve played two nice guys in a rowrsquo; or whatever.�I donrsquo;t knowhellip;rdquo;�He laughs again.
�True to his word, a great time is exactly what he had on the set of How To Lose Friends.�Although that comes as no surprise when you learn that the director of the film is Robert B. Weide who works on the hilarious Larry David television comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm.
��Simon is also full of praise for his co-star Kirsten Dunst.�He says: ldquo;Myself and Kirsten had a really good time. �Shersquo;s enormous fun and we had a great laugh. �We spent a lot of our time making each other laugh and when she wasnrsquo;t on set, it was a completely different experience.rdquo;
�He thinks about what hersquo;s just said before adding: ldquo;Having said that, working with Jeff was incredible.�The guy is a legend and for me to get to work with him was fantastic and similarly working with Megan (Fox) whorsquo;s just coming through and is now suddenly wowing the world.�I think when they first called cut on her first big scene everybody was surprised.�There was a palpable sense of lsquo;My God, she can act as wellrsquo;rdquo;.
�Speaking to Simon, you get a sense of the geeky movie nut who got lucky.�Hersquo;s like your funny mate.�He certainly seems to find it slightly incredible that all this has happened to him.�But therersquo;s also a lot more to him; it most definitely isnrsquo;t all luck.�Hersquo;s intelligent, switched on, clued-up and really quite determined.�Take the fact that he managed to sell Shaun of the Dead, his first feature, to the American market.
�ldquo;You realise that when you spend a lot of time over there [America], you are a foreigner,rdquo; he says.�ldquo;Itrsquo;s tempting to believe that we are just part of the same continent and because we speak the same language that we are country fellows and we are not particularly.�We are from a different country.�Particularly when yoursquo;re trying to sell a film like Shaun of the Dead over there; you are taking a foreign film to America.�And you have to do a lot of convincing.rdquo;�He adds, with a smirk:�ldquo;And also theyrsquo;re really loud and obnoxious people.rdquo;
�In this way, Simon says, there are parallels between himself and the fictionalised character of Sidney Young (based on Toby Young) in the film, who finds himself very much the misunderstood Brit abroad.�As detestable as the real Toby Young appears to be, by all accounts, Simonrsquo;s innate likeability brought a sympathetic edge to the character in the film, something that producer Stephen Woolley and director Robert B. Weide deemed necessary for the film version.
�Although Simon credits the screenwriter for turning an objectionable character into someone with humility, I suggest that it has much to do with Simonrsquo;s congeniality.�When asked what the worst thing hersquo;s ever read about himself is, he quotes a newspaper article.
�ldquo;I think there was a profile once in the Independent on Sunday that had clearly just read my Wikipedia page, which was just full of apocryphal nonsense and said something about me having a black ponytail once,rdquo; he says.�ldquo;Never did.�But I can honestly say that, fortunately for me, thatrsquo;s the worst thing Irsquo;ve read.�Which is pretty bad.�Apologies to anyone with a black ponytail, by the way, thatrsquo;s male.rdquo;
�Having appeared in Doctor Who and played a zombie in George A. Romerorsquo;s Land of The Dead, hersquo;s next set to play Scotty in the new Star Trek film and I wonder if there are any childhood dreams left to fulfil.�Whatever comes his way next, hersquo;ll no doubt embrace it fully.�Simon Pegg is a man who clearly finds enormous fun in making movies.�ldquo;If I could have it this way, I would make a film, then have it on a DVD, give it to my mum and then go and make the next one,rdquo; he says.�ldquo;That would be the perfect set up for me.rdquo;
cranston police, cheap motorcycle helmet.
