Entertainment, Movies - Army Times

No drama: Simon Pegg relishes comedic roles

Will Simon Pegg ever be a household name? Should he be?

If you’ve seen Pegg in films he’s written and starred in, such as “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” you know the joy of discovery — of the offbeat humor and goofy charm he brings to a project. Longtime fans want the best for him, of course. But would getting popular mean selling out?

Nah. Pegg is way too smart for that. He stars in “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” which opens Oct. 3. And his profile will really get a boost when he plays Scotty in “Star Trek,” due in 2009.

Pegg spoke recently about his career, why he’s not dying to do dramas and boarding the starship Enterprise.

Q: In “How to Lose Friends,” you’re an actor for hire. What was that like?

A: Obviously, I have less responsibilities in terms of the production. ... It’s stressful when you’re an actor and you have to think about budgetary constraints and stuff like that; ... you have to trust everybody before you start. You have to know you’re going into something you know you’ll feel safe and happy doing. ... The whole package seemed to be a nice way to take a break from being a despot.

Q: You often create your characters. Is it hard to then play what you’ve written?

A: I find it hard writing selfishly. That makes it sound like I’m being a saint. But honestly, we have an ensemble. ... When I’m writing with Edgar (Wright, a frequent collaborator), I tend to write as much for everybody else as much as myself. As a result, I end up playing kind of the straight center to the movie, around which everything else happens. In “Shaun of the Dead,” I’m probably the most normal character in it, really.

Q: Well, you’re not dead.

A: Right. In this film, because I didn’t write it, I don’t feel guilty or egocentric about being the goof, being the one who gets to have all the good lines and do all the crazy stuff. So it was actually a nice change of pace for me.

Q: Many comic actors talk about wanting to do drama. Do you?

A: I don’t see the distinction so much. I know there obviously is, but in terms of the comedy that I write with Edgar and now with Nick (Frost), it’s not massively different from serious acting. It’s obviously tonally different, but it doesn’t require any less skill than serious acting. Comedy and comedy acting is often deemed literally nonserious, because it is nonserious. But there’s a difference between being nonserious and being invalid, or being a lesser type of acting.

It’s hard to play. It takes a certain amount of skill to be a comic, and I think comedy is often underestimated as a nonserious art form.

Q: Both you and Ricky Gervais are British comic actors who have had some success in America. Were you surprised?

A: When we did “Shaun of the Dead,” it wasn’t like, “We’ve got to crack America.” It’s not like being in a band. We just wanted to make a movie. We just wanted it to get made. We didn’t even know if it was going to be released over here. And when it did, and when its popularity grew, it was a real joy for us, a surprise.

Q: Does British humor translate?

A: I think the world’s getting smaller, with the Internet and DVD. Perhaps the consumption of our respective cultures is a little more two-way than it used to be. I mean, it used to be that you guys knew us from (Monty) Python and Benny Hill, two extremes of comedy, one sublime, the other ridiculous. Nowadays, with BBC America and just the access to us as a nation is greater for you guys, there’s more file sharing. We’re closer than we used to be.

Q: That’s worked for you.

A: I am known here in the States, but it’s generally by a specific, movie-literate group of people. I’m not famous here by any means. I’ve got a long way to go before I can open a movie here on my own. The respect and affection I get here is brilliant, but I’m very realistic about it. I’m still a foreigner here. When we come with “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead,” we are selling foreign movies to the greater populace who go down to the cineplex on the weekend.

Q: You’re in “Star Trek.” Were you a fan?

A: I was a huge fan. Leonard Nimoy’s in it, everyone knows that, (and) it’s strange to be in something with not just an actor you’ve known since you were a child but that character. You’re suddenly in the universe with the character that’s been through all that stuff.

Q: You play Scotty. How did you approach that?

A: I think you have to approach it from scratch. You can’t play James Doohan (who played the original Scotty). That would be disrespectful to James Doohan and the character. James Doohan, when he got that role, was given a specific character to play and he’d look to the character and he portrayed it from the ground up, he interpreted it. That’s what I have to do. I have too much respect for him as an actor to go and do an impression of Scotty. I have to think, this is a Scottish astrophysicist who works on a spaceship.