Looking forward to FACTS: Simon Pegg

Simon John Beckingham was born on 14 February 1970 in Brockworth, England (U.K.). He is the son of John Henry Beckingham (a jazz musician and keyboard salesman) and Gillian Rosemary (née Smith, a civil servant). Young Simon grew up in a creative environment. His mother was involved in  youth theatre, which according to Simon was a big influence on his own love for the performing arts. It exposed young Simon to storytelling and acting and planted a seed in the young boy's mind. Seeing his father perform as a jazz musician also gave him a sense of what the performing bug was. When Simon was about 7 years old, his parents divorced and within a few years his mother remarried. Simon took on the surname Pegg of his new stepfather, which stared a new  chapter in his life. His mother and stepfather provided a warm and loving home, but Simon also stayed in touch with his biological father, who stayed involved in his life. Young Simon went to Castle Hill Primary School in Brockworth and later he went to Brockworth Comprehensive School. 

From a young age, Simon started to perform in school- and youth theatre. When he was about 16 years old, he moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon. At Stratford-Upon-Avon College Simon studied English Literature and Theatre. The college is known for its emphasis on the performing arts. Simon later said that it's hard not to feel the urge to perform, when you're studying in the town where William Shakespeare was born and also died. It was during his time in Stratford, that Simon began to think about acting as a serious career choice. He took part in numerous student productions of both classical and contemporary theatre. After completing his studies in Stratford, Simon moved to Bristol and enrolled Bristol University. He wasn't just interested in acting, but also in understanding how stories work, how culture shaped comedy and what makes audiences react. While he was studying in Bristol, Simon was constantly performing. He joined student drama societies and experimental Comedy groups. In these groups, he honed his timing- and stageskills. and he also gained more confidence with every performance. Simon also started doing stand up comedy on campus and at small comedy clubs around the city. He met some other actors, like David Walliams ("Little Britain") and was drawn to people who mixed intellect with absurdity and together with them he performed sketch comedy and made short films. In 1991 he graduated with a BA in Theatre, Film and Television. After graduation Simon moved to London, determined to make it as an actor.

In London Simon started performing stand up comedy in small clubs and pubs, like the 'Comedy Store' and 'Up the Creek'. In the mid 90s Simon had made quite a name for himself in the comedy club circuit an this opened doors in British TV. During this time, he appeared in multiple productions. In 1995/1996, Simon appeared in the Channel 4 sketch comedy show "Six Pairs of Pants" and in 6 episodes of the dark comedy "Asylum". This last show marked the first collaboration with director Edgar Wright.

From 1995 until 1998, Simon played the recurring character of Jools in the sitcom "Faith in the Future" (15 episodes). It was during these years that Simon met Jessica Stevenson (now Hynes)  on the comedy circuit. Together they created the sitcom "Spaced", a love letter to the geek culture, with a lot of references to "Star Wars", "The Matrix", "Resident Evil" and multiple comic books. The show revolves around Tim (played by Simon)  and Daisy (played by Jessica), who pretend to be a couple to rent a flat. Nick Frost plays Tim's best friend Mike and the show was directed by Edgar Wright. Simon co-wrote most of the 14 episodes that aired between 1999 and 2001. The show grew out to be a cult classic and cemented the Pegg-Frost-Wright creative triangle.

After the end of "Spaced", Simon and Wright wanted to continue working together and this time they aimed at the big screen. Both Pegg and Wright love horror movies, like "Dawn of the Dead" and "Evil Dead 2" and they wanted to make a zombie film rooted in ordinary British life. The idea came from an episode of "Spaced", where Tim hallucinates a zombie attack after playing too much "Resident Evil 2". The idea for the movie was simple: "What if a zombie attack happened, while the average man doesn't even notices it because he is too busy with his own life?".  Simon co-wrote the screenplay for the movie called "Shaun of the Dead" from 2001 until 2003. In the meantime Simon plays in other movies and series, like: "Guest House Paradiso" (1999, as Mr. Nice), "Hippies" (1999, as Ray Purbbs), "Band of Brothers" (2001, William S. Evans), "Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures" (2002, as Don Chaney) and"Final Demand" (2003, as Colin Taylor). In 2003, they started filming for "Shaun of the Dead". Nick Frost returned as Shaun's best friend Ed and Simon played the role of Shaun (of course). The movie was released in 2004 and was an instant success (despite of the modest budget). The success was also noticed by Hollywood and the Pegg-Frost-Wright trio was renamed 'The Three Flavours of Cornetto Trilogy' after of a running joke that every movie they would make would feature a different genre and a different flavour of Cornetto.

In 2005 Simon played the Editor in an episode of "Doctor Who". Also in 2005, he starred as Peter Cow in "The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse". After his work on "Spaced" and "Shaun of the Dead" Simon gained international recognition, especially among other filmmakers. Among those filmmakers was J.J. Abrams who was preparing to direct his first feature film: "Mission: Impossible III"(2006). Abrams was a fan of "Spaced" and loved Simon's intelligence, timing and authenticity. When he was casting for the role of the new tech expert for the IMF team, he was looking for someone authentic and warm. Abrams thought Simon was the perfect man for the job and reached out to him directly. Simon later said that he thought Abrams was joking, when he asked him if he wanted to be in "Mission: Impossible". Ofcourse Simon said yes and he went to Los Angeles for an informal meeting with Abrams. According to Simon, it didn't really feel like an audition, but like two nerds talking about movies. At the end of the meeting, Abrams knew it for sure: he wanted Simon for the character of Benj Dunn (a lab based tech analyst who helps Hunt). Simon says he was terrified when he first arrived on set. He wasn't used to be on a big Hollywood set, with famous actors and million dollar equipment. His first scene was in a room with Tom Cruise and Laurence Fishburne; Simon recalled it was nerve-wrecking. But Cruise immediately made him feel lat ease and part of the team. Originally Benji would only appear in "M:I III", but he grew out to be a fan favorite. This meant that Simon's "Mission: Impossible" adventure wasn't over just yet!

But first, let's get back to the 'Cornetto Trilogy'. The next project of Wright, Pegg and Frost was called "Hot Fuzz", a British version of a buddy cop blockbuster, set in an English village. Simon co-wrote the script and took on the lead role of Nicholas Angel (an ambitious and perfectionist London cop, who gets reassigned to a little town). Nick Frost returns in the role of Danny Butterman, his not so clever , but well meaning partner. Other actors are Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Martin Freeman, Olivia Colman, Paddy Considine, Kenneth Cranham and Timothy Dalton. Again the movie was a box office success and got lots of critical acclaim. Also in 2007, Simon plays the role of Dennis in the romantic comedy "Run Fatboy Run". In 2008, , he plays Sidney Young in the biographical comedy "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People". In 2009, Simon steps into another popular franchise , when he takes on the role of Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott in J.J. Abrams' reboot of 'Star Trek'. Again Abrams called him directly to offer him the role. Subsequently, Simon worked with a dialect coach to perfectionate his Scottish accent. With his portrayal of Scotty, Simon wanted to honour James Doohan's legacy (he played the original Scotty), but he also wanted to bring some fresh energy into the character. Also in 2009, Simon voices the adventurous weasel Buck in "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". In 2010, Simon plays the role of William Burke in the dark comedy "Burke and Hare".Furthermore, he voiced Reepicheep in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".

In 2011, Pegg and Nick Frost team up again and together they write and star in the movie "Paul". They didn't only write the movie, but also starred in it. Simon plays the role of Graeme Willy and Frost plays the role of Clive Gollings. The movie revolves around two British sci-fi nerds, who are on a U.S. road trip. On the way they meet the smartass alien Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen). Also in 2011, Simon voiced Thompson in "The Adventures of Tin Tin" and he returns to the "Mission: Impossible" franchise four the fourth installment called "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol". Although Simon's role as Benji Dunn in "Mission: Impossible III" was meant to be a one-off, he made quite the impression. Critics loved him, viewers loved in and Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams wanted him back for "Ghost Protocol".  Simon got a call from Cruise and Abrams and they told him they wanted Benji to return and this time as a field agent. Simon was thrilled, because now he got the chance to expand the character. For the movie, directed by Brad Bird, he had to get fitter than ever before. This meant he had to train for months. The movie was a huge success and is seen as the best of the franchise. In 2013, the last part of the Cornetto trilogy hit the cinema. This third movie is called "The World's End" and Simon plays the role of Gary King. Gary is a man child, who tries to bring back his old friends to attempt an epic pub crawl. His plan: 12 pubs, 12 pints and end up in the last pub of the Golden Mile, called 'The World's End'. What follows is an epic adventure with a bizarre twist. The movie has a great cast and besides Simon it also stars: Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Pierce Bronson, David Bradley and many more. It is seen as the most mature movie from the Cornetto trilogy.  In 2013, Simon also returned to the "Star Trek" universe as Scotty in "Star Trek Into Darkness".

In 2014, Pegg stars as Hector in the adventure comedy "Hector and the Search for Happiness". he also voiced Herbert Trubshaw in "The Boxtrolls". In 2015, Simon joins Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames for "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation". He also voices Benji Dunn in the video game "Lego Dimensions". Also in 2015, one of Simon's lifelong dreams comes. When growing up he was obsessed with "Star Wars". He was 7 years old when "A New Hope" came out and he described seeing it for the first time as a religious experience. Through his friendship with J.J. Abrams, Simon got his own 'circle of life moment'. when Abrams was hired to direct "Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens", he reached out to Pegg and offered him the role of Unkar Plutt. Playing this role meant wearing a massive foam latex suit and an animatronic mask (which took hours to apply each day". Simon said that being in "Star Wars" was one of the most emotional experiences in his life. Being on set in the desert of Abu Dhabi and looking at the Millenium Falcon gave him goosebumps. He said he was literally crying in his mask. His tears weren't the only fluid that ended up in the suit, because he must have been sweating like a pig in the suit. Temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius while filming. Simon, however, couldn't care less; he was in "Star Wars" and jokingly said he would have done it for free.

In 2016, he returned to space for the other space franchise and he reprised his role as Scotty for the third time in "Star Trek Beyond". In 2018, Simon plays the role of Curator/Ogden Morrow in Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One". He also joins Margot Robbie in the dark comedy "Terminal" and steps back in the role of Benji Dunn for "Mission: Impossible - Fall Out". In 2019, Simon voices The Chamberlain in "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance". From 2019 until 2024, Simon plays the role of Hughie Campbell's (played by Jack Quaid) father Hughie Campbell Sr.In 2020, Pegg teams up with Frost again in the paranormal parody "Truth Seekers". In 2022 he plays Danny Patrick in the series "The Undeclared War". In 2023, Simon voices Professor Black in the video game "Hogwarts Legacy". Besides this he plays Benji in the first part of the final chapter of the Ethan Hunt saga "Mission; Impossible -  Dead Reckoning Part One", followed by "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two" in 2025. 

It is so cool that Simon Pegg will be a guest at FACTS this weekend and we are crying so very hard that we will be there on Sunday only.