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Interview
Simon Pegg
Illustration: Rob KellyAfter fighting zombies, petty crooks and cellulite, English actor Simon Pegg, 39, is now ready to take on his toughest onscreen opponent yet—a notoriously unreliable warp drive. The Shaun of the Dead star picks up the role of cherubic space engineer Mr. Scott, made famous by the late James Doohan. Will the hip new reboot make true-blue Trekkies' heads explode? "It's weird," says Pegg, "because it's easy for non–Star Trek fans to just label Trekkies as this kind of slightly sad bunch of people, but they're just people who love their stuff. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just hope they appreciate the gesture." Space time will tell.
Like James Doohan, you're not even really Scottish.
Well, I think because I've got half a Scottish family that I'm just about qualified. I've become good friends with his [Doohan's] son Chris, and he's been really supportive and helped me find some connection with James Doohan. Some of my fellow cast members were able to meet their counterparts, but obviously myself and Karl Urban [who plays McCoy] couldn't. And Bill Shatner didn't want to [Laughs].Shatner was one heroic son of a bitch though, wasn't he?
Absolutely. For all of us, I guess, there were big shoes that we were stepping into.You and John Cho giggled and ran around on the bridge shooting phasers at one another, didn't you?
[Laughs] We giggled a lot, actually, me and him. We had a couple of running gags on set that we kept springing on each other. Everyone had a great sense of humor. But we actually wanted to address the material seriously, and not in a wry way. Because we were giving it everything we've got, to sort of take Scotty's parlance.You're a Star Wars fan, but are now in Star Trek. Where do you fall on the irreconcilable divide between those two worlds?
Well, I was seven when Star Wars came out, and it had a seismic effect on me, the same as it did on many, many kids of that era. The generation before me, possibly, was the Star Trek generation. Star Trek, in the end, seems to have won the war, because it maintained its integrity, and now the effects are catching up as well. So you sort of get your Star Trek cake and eat it, too. I'm sure Star Wars fans around the world will want to kill me for saying that, and see me as a traitor, because I've always been a very outspoken fan of Star Wars, but I've never been publicly keen on the new ones.We'll sort this out right now: Who wins in a race between the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise?
Well, I think probably the Enterprise, because the Falcon can only make .5 past light speed. But the Enterprise can go like warp ten.It can time travel by slingshotting around the sun.
It can outstrip the Falcon in a second. The Falcon would fall to bits.That bucket of bolts. If you could teleport anywhere right now, where would you go?
Probably Greece. Kefalonia in Greece is one of my favorite places.The birthplace of Western civilization.
Exactly. The cradle. I'd go there. And also they have really good piña coladas.You know what other device was awesome? The holodeck.
In The Next Generation? I think at the time of the original series, the holodeck was yet to be invented.Remember Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, Moriarty, used to break out of that thing and wreck up the place?
[Laughs] Oh, that's right. I think I remember the actor that played him. The holodeck was such a fucking cheat. I say that, but I mean absolute stroke of genius, because you're in space, but can go anywhere in the world. And the fact that there's an option to turn the safety parameter off seems a bit stupid to me. Why do that?Moriarty…
Yeah, jumped the shark.Star Trek opens Fri 8.
Time Out New York / Issue 710 : May 7–13, 2009
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Until Star Trek come up with something as cool as a lightsaber then they should continue on their voyage where no one has gone before. I can give them directions if they require !!
I saw Star Trek 11 last night. I have to say I enjoyed it. I feel the film borrowed alot from star wars. The action was amazing and I honestly dont remember Star Trek being that good. Its made me want to pick up Wrath of Khan on blu ray just to become immersed again with those characters. I am a Star Wars fan and I have to say the special effects although stylish not even nearly matched the Star Wars prequels. Star Wars has always been on the cutting edge of cinema
Simon Pegg is a twat. His performance as Scotty wanders in from a completely different movie. There's nothing in the new Star Trek to match that feeling of awe from the Duel of the Fates lightsabre battle.
I think it says everything thats needed, that a talk back about Star Trek has more comments about Star Wars. Frankly i love them both.
Hmm, I think like many fools, Pegg see's Jar Jar and misses Star Wars. Wheres the smarter ones among us see Star Wars, and epic fantastic fantasy, with so much to love happening on screen, but with its flaws. I thought Pegg was smarter than that. Maybe he should rewatch the prequels, and the clone wars show, and take note of the the great things rather than focusing on the negative! TPM came out and was unresolved until the next instalment, which by ROTS & TCW blossomed into a fantastic story.
You are 100% bang on the money FunK_ Knight - good on ya!
Integrity? - the reason why Trek became tired was because it was loosing integrity. From Voyager onwards it was re-hashing. As for Star Wars prequals - yep the actors had little prep time, the script was shoddy in places, but they are magnificent visual poems, true serialised cinema. Pegg needs to get over the fact that he wasn't 7 when TPM came out - its boring! I thought he was trying to get on Lucas' good side to write for the new SW TV series? Did Lucas say no? btw - I love 'Trek' & 'Wars'!
Pegg has obviously been coached by advisors on what to say in these interviews. If he is as big a fan of the Star Wars OT he would love the prequels by default and Im sure jump at the chance to star in one. Its a pretty lame attempt to give the trek franchise validity on the verge of a big release. Lets not forget the trek franchise has been dead in the water for a long time. Star Wars has always endured.
I get a little tired of Star Wars being subtly bashed by the giddy, self-important stars of the latest craze. Movies come and movies go but Star Wars never left the building....
Simon PeggI's all Star Trek because Its paying his bills and Parmount can easily replace him. The Prequel SW films are Smarter than the original Sw films in many way..though i love the older episodes also. Only idiots say the Prequels are bad filmmaking. They think that they know the art of cinema by throwing stupid statments around. The comment about "integrity" is absurd because Lucas never wanted to rehash the older films but wanted to create a new verse in an epic poem.
No, sensible would be Simon keeping his mouth closed - there isn't any reason for him to be discussing Star Wars anyway.
Rejecting the SW prequels isn't infantile, it's sensible. They are and will forever be prime examples of bad filmmaking. They're the kind of films you get when you solve problems with money instead of creativity. Not that Trek's done that much better. (and I'm a fan of both believe it or not)
Integrity? Seriously, Trek's cool and all, but Star Wars never really had to sink to the level of "sexy aliens and robots" in order to keep interest alive. I'm excited for the new Trek, it looks more or less fantastic and I wish it the best of luck, but I'll always be a Star Wars (all of 'em) fan.
Poor old Star Wars. Every year, a film is released and it's Star Wars versus this and Star Wars versus that. It's as if these people who are making the comparisons feel threatened by the iconic status of the Star Wars Saga and they need to vilify it in order to make themselves feel better, for whatever reason. Good luck with Star Trek Simon, but for your own INTEGRITY, please lose the Star Wars Prequel hate. It's unprofessional, immature and shows poor conduct mate.
I dont think that Simon needed to compare the "integrity" of the two franchises, as lets face it they've both had their low points. But I'm glad that a high profile actor is willing to stand up and say how poor the prequels are. It seems that its something the British are able to do more easily than Americans... to actually be honest in their opinion about these horrible, cheap looking, appallingly written movies. And the Clone Wars series is basically a kids cartoon... not exactly ANH or ESB.
Of the 10 Trek films previously released, only 3 were decent. The rest were rubbish, so for Pegg to say that Trek has 'maintained it's integrity' is ridiculous. As for the 'reimagining' of Trek - good luck. However, the time travel bit is beyond old...Pegg needs to get over his infantile rejection of the SW prequels - cause there's a lot to love there.
Say what you will about the prequels (I personally love them equally with the original films), but hasn't Star Wars also maintained its integrity with the Clone Wars series, which has been a smashing success since premiering on television last October? That one million more viewers tuned into its season 1 finale the same night as Battlestar Galactica fans watced that whole series' finale is quite a notable feat.