SmartLess: "Simon Pegg"

Sometimes you gotta dig deep. Sometimes you gotta look in the glass, and you gotta ask

yourself, how much do I want this? Why did I show up today? Why did I want to put it

all on the line? What are my goals, and what am I willing to do to reach them? I want you

to look at me, and I want you to repeat. S. M. A. R. T. L. E. S. S. Smart. Less. Smart. Less.

Let's go! Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less.

Are we rolling, Jimmy?

Shawty.

Yeah.

Sean.

Sean.

Sean.

You guys, this is crazy that you're speaking in British accents. Go ahead.

What are you doing?

I know, I know, mate.

Wait, Sean, are you London?

Oh my gosh.

No, I'm not.

Well, Jason's not. Neither of you guys. That's both of us terrible.

No, that's great.

It's going to be so insulting to our guest, but wait, let's get...

Of course not.

Is our guest British?

Yeah, well, what made you think that the 50 times that he went like, I don't know?

What were you saying?

Shawty, next week, I know we shouldn't do this on the podcast, but dinner in New York, yes? Tuesday?

Guys, what are we doing?

You're not doing anything. You're staying in...

I'm home.

Yeah, Tuesday.

100%.

In New York dinner, right?

Let's...

Hold on, listener, we're making plans.

You guys have your Rolodex's out? You want to wait for that? Enter it?

Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about golf?

No, I just... I'm not going to make plans with my buddy on the listener's time.

What are the rules, Jay? Why don't you come out and join us?

Finally, come out.

No, because I'm married. I have two children and it would just be too disruptive.

But they won't know this.

Oh, to New York. To New York.

To New York.

I already tried to get him to come to New York.

And he just gave a classic Jason, no, I don't want to hurt my feelings.

And I apologize for that.

I've had long discussions with my wife over the last 12 hours.

And what I need to work on is checking in with other people that are associated with the plan

that might not see it through the prism of one.

There you go.

And so maybe ask them what they would like.

Right.

And then, you know, because I just think, well, they're asking my opinion.

So it's just about me. How do I personally...

Well, my personal opinion is, no, I wouldn't like to do that.

But if I check in with you, I might change that, you know?

Right.

Or maybe, and you can, even before you check in, you can go like,

Hey, maybe this is something that somebody else wants.

And it's not just, I don't want, I want, I don't want, I want.

Yeah.

And you go like...

Because there's a we in this world.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

No, it's a great note.

And I think I'm learning it just in time at 54.

Jay, do you want to go out to dinner next week?

Yeah, no, thanks.

Old dog, new tricks.

It's going to be in town.

But if you guys want to zoom me in from the table.

We sure do.

That would be a right.

I'd love to watch you.

I want to say one thing.

As you know, SmartList Media launched Bad Dates,

which is out right now with Jamila Jamil.

Yeah.

Which is fantastic.

It's a great show.

But we have a new...

And just Jack and Will launches June 22nd.

Well, I wanted to say that so that you didn't have to promote your own show.

I don't know.

No, sorry.

It's Will.

It's our show.

It's our show.

You and Jack Black are doing a podcast?

No.

No.

It's the characters Jack and Will from Will and Grace.

So it's Sean, Hayes, and Eric McCormick doing just Jack and Will.

And it's a rewatch podcast of Will and Grace.

Sean, I'm getting to it.

I want to say it so you don't have to.

Thank you.

So you can take in all the praise you deserve.

Thank you.

Do you want to know what I'm most excited about with that podcast is that...

Saying no to coming on?

My daughter.

Saying no to everything.

Actually, listen, I think this means I'm coming on.

My daughters, your good friends and mine, Franny and Maple, 16 and 11 have never seen Will and Grace.

And they're bananas about you.

So I just keep thinking, wait till they see you do your thing.

And so this is going to give us a great chance to start watching the show together.

Yeah, that's a great...

And then listening to the podcast, doing the rewatch, and then coming on.

Maybe I'll bring them both on.

And we'll give you notes.

That would be so fun.

Because you guys aren't locked yet on those episodes, right?

We're recording them now.

We've recorded a bunch of them.

No, no, no.

The Will and Grace episodes.

If we give you notes, you can go back and reshoot stuff.

Yeah.

Okay, good.

It'll match.

It'll match.

By the way, it's the 25th anniversary of Will and Grace this year.

Is that right?

Silver anniversary.

Isn't that crazy?

Yeah.

25 years ago.

You know what, Shawnee, JB and I saw Jimmy.

We were always yesterday.

Yes.

Oh, no way.

He was playing golf.

He was playing with Al Michaels, our other good friend.

He said, say hi to Shane.

I think you guys are doing a great job on the...

He said, Shane, I loved working with Shane.

He was the best.

I'll never forget him.

He said, yeah.

He said, Shane's the best.

And by the way...

He said, I'll never forget him.

We said, who?

And he said, what?

Do you know what I mean?

So, Tracy, that's the director of Will and Grace.

Well, he's been...

He's a friend in...

Yes.

He directed every episode of Will and Grace.

Listen to his episode.

Just note, yes.

So, I want to get done with this so we can get to our guest,

because he's been so kind to wait.

So, it premieres on June 22nd.

All new episodes are out every week,

or here to week early on Amazon or the Wondery app.

And it's super exciting.

And it's really, really fun.

I'd never seen...

Watched the show, really, after being on it,

because my excuse was like, I was there.

You didn't watch it when it was on for America?

I didn't, really.

Really?

I mean, I remember, like, bits and pieces,

but Eric watched it a little too much.

So, it's kind of...

It's really fun to do the show with him.

Anyway, it's just Jack and Will.

Yeah.

Our guest today makes me laugh so much.

He's actually born the same year as me,

which means he's born the same year as Will as well.

A 53-year-old man from England.

Yes.

I consider him British royalty,

since he's such a major figure in the comedy world.

And sci-fi, which, as you know, is royalty to me.

He undoubtedly has both Spielberg and Tom Cruise on speed dial.

But his greatest achievement is reaching the Holy Grail

of Nerdum status.

That's a real thing.

That's terrible.

Or the nerd trifecta, as some people call it.

This happens when you have portrayed prominent characters

on Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars.

Guys, it's the brilliant Simon Pegg.

I knew it was going to be Simon.

Simon.

I knew it was Simon.

Hello, Will.

I knew it was Simon.

Hello, Will.

Will, you didn't have that, Will.

I did.

I knew it was Simon.

What did you say it?

I don't know.

It was just...

You didn't want to spoil it.

But it's not crazy that you guys started talking

about the hypes.

I thought they were really good.

Listen to that speaking voice.

No, you didn't.

Simon.

I know.

Good Lord.

Hey, Simon.

Hey, man.

Great to see you.

Hey.

You too.

I'm such a fan of this podcast.

I feel kind of strange being on it.

No, you've never met it.

I've never met you.

Absolutely have.

I have.

Sean, we've never met.

And I just want to say I'm a big Sean Hayes fan.

Well, likewise, I'm massive.

By the way, before we get going on all of that,

I want to say, Simon, I see over your right shoulder

spaced, which was the show that you and Edgar did.

And I want to talk about space.

I loved, as you know, and I've told you,

I've embarrassed you before, how much I loved spaced.

Oh, thank you.

And for a number of reasons.

But walk me through a little bit,

because that was your guys' first, like,

big thing that you all got to, you and Edgar and Nick.

And Nick Frost.

And Nick too.

Nick wasn't really an actor before that, right?

Simon, I remember you telling me this story once years ago.

No, he was a waiter.

Yeah.

And I moved to London with my girlfriend,

and she went to work at this Mexican restaurant

called Chiquitos.

I don't know if you've ever eaten Mexican in London.

It's amazing.

They're known for it.

She came home from work instead.

I think it's where Guacamole started.

It actually is where it's invented.

Cricklewood.

He's really funny, and he wants to be a stand-up.

And I was kind of dabbling with stand-up at the time.

And we sort of, we met.

And he was the funniest, is the funniest human being I know.

And I tried, he tried stand-up.

It didn't really fit for him.

It couldn't quite sort of convert his hilariousness into a routine.

But we came to, we got spaced, and I said,

look, come and be in this TV show with me.

We can hang out.

And he had this character.

He'd come up with this sort of, this army guy called Mike.

And we wrote into the show and convinced the producers

that he was an actor, which he wasn't.

And I think there was another guy called Nick Frost

on our sort of equity.

So they looked him up and said, yeah, he checks out.

And that's how he got into the show and how he started his career.

Wow, that's amazing.

And then you, what happened with you and Edgar?

Like, how did you guys get that show off the ground?

We, Jessica, Heinz and I, who wrote it.

Oh yeah, Jessica, of course.

I'd worked with Edgar before.

And he was like the only guy that we could imagine

who could sort of make the show.

And he came along and we put it together.

And he showed us all his sort of storyboards and stuff.

And we were kind of just blown away because, you know,

Edgar's got this incredible vision.

And we took it to channel four and they like,

this is not a really, we were so lucky, you know,

as a time when you could sort of just pitch something.

And they go, yeah, sure, let's do it.

And we were on right after Friends.

And, you know, this strange sort of, you know,

this slightly surreal, surreal show,

but it really found its audience.

And that was where the idea for Sean kind of came about

and where our sort of relationship began.

So yeah, that was the beginnings of it all.

Do you know the number of things

that you, Nick and Edgar have done together?

I could probably count them,

but it might be boring for the podcast.

Less than a dozen.

One, two.

Probably what we did to Space

and then three Cornetta films.

And then we did Tintin.

Tintin, that's right.

Like five or six, I guess.

And we've done other stuff as well.

I wanted to ask you about, because like, you know,

your credits, you know, like talking about fandom.

I'm like a creepy stalker fan of yours

because you're in everything I love, right?

So I, like the fandom you're associated with by default,

how often do you check,

because you're not on social media,

like you're not on anything.

How often do you check in to see what's being said

if anything, or do you avoid the internet?

Because you, you're, you know,

you have those iconic stories that you constantly tell

from everything you're working on,

but you have no outlet to put them.

So people must just be like, you know, salivating.

Well, I've got an Instagram now.

Oh, you do?

And I follow, I follow smartless.

That's what I follow you guys.

What?

Yeah.

I was kind of upset when I saw you.

What are we saying?

Oh, we'll follow you back.

What have we been saying on there?

Yeah, what?

Terrible things.

But you do, do you ever like look at what people are saying,

or do you not, you're like, I can't, I don't care.

I'm not.

Sometimes.

I was on Twitter for a while and then I left that

because it just felt like, it just felt like a party

where everybody was drunk and angry.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I sort of checked out of that.

I've kept the account just for sort of info.

Twitter's like my house growing up just drunk and angry.

Yeah.

I remember you and Nick and the reason I got,

the person who showed me how,

who actually set up my Twitter account.

Physically did it on my phone was Pete Serafinowicz.

It was Pete.

Yeah.

And we were in Vancouver and I kept,

and I was arguing against it.

It was like 2009.

Yeah.

2009 or 10 or something.

What month?

What month?

It was actually.

No, no, no.

Simon, he knows this stuff.

It's crazy.

No, it's no joke.

I'm not joking.

Just give him two seconds.

He'll drop it.

It was February 2010.

That's crazy.

It probably was.

It probably was.

It just inverts me every time.

It definitely was.

Simon, did you, so you're born in 1970 on Valentine's Day.

Before I get into all your career stuff,

because I can't wait.

Do you have any crazy story about hooking up on Valentine's Day,

which is your birthday and it turning into something?

If it's a bad date, save it for our sister podcast, Bad Dates.

Yeah.

No, I spoke to Jamila about doing that,

but I don't have any bad dates really.

Really?

I couldn't think of anything that would make the podcast fun.

It's fine.

The mailman who delivers my birthday cards thinks I'm a stud,

obviously, but otherwise, you know.

That's hysterical.

We should do it.

I thought Bad Dates was more about like December 7th, 1941.

That's so stupid.

That was a bad date.

That is so dumb.

That was a terrible date.

Wait.

Okay.

So you're born, you were born Simon Beckingham,

but why, Peg, tell me about that.

Well, my mum remarried.

My parents split up.

My dad, I kept in touch with my dad, which was good.

There's a dad.

Sorry to gloat, Sean.

See, I do listen to the podcast.

Simon, I think your dad just had a slower car.

That was awesome.

By the way, if your dad runs into my dad, let me know.

They're good friends.

Yeah.

When my mum remarried, I remember, I was seven and I remember thinking,

I don't want to have a different name to my mum.

And she married Richard Pegg.

And I just made that decision.

I thought, I want to have the same name as my mum.

I don't want to come into my school and then to say,

hello, Mrs. Beckingham and have to correct the teacher.

I remember making that little calculation when I was a kid,

which is a strangely adult.

Will, do you have a shot?

Sean, I was going to say this.

Sean, didn't you one time say on the podcast,

hey, to anybody out there, if you happen to run into my dad,

make sure to reverse and run into him again.

By the way, we were going to talk about this a while ago.

This is a total sidebar.

My dad showed up to Good Night Oscar in Chicago.

What?

What?

Yeah.

Isn't that crazy?

But he didn't come backstage or anything.

I didn't see him.

Well, I guess he didn't like the show.

He probably didn't.

That's very strange.

No, isn't that what you're supposed to infer?

No, no, no.

And then he showed up on my sister's Facebook and said,

I love the show.

Yeah, but he said something weird.

He said something, he said something like,

Oscar Levant, just like I remembered him.

Yeah.

But no, like that's my son.

Oh, so it was like humble bragging.

Not my son, just like I remembered him.

That's my son.

He's got a clearer memory of Oscar Levant than he does of you.

He doesn't remember you waving from the window.

You should show up to his house as Oscar Levant.

How have you been?

Oh my God.

It's no funny.

Okay, so by the way, this is what's so cool.

I love this.

I did this exact same thing as you, Simon.

I doubt it.

So you started acting at like 16.

You went to Stratford-upon-Avon,

but you just studied English literature and theater.

But as a boy, you would listen to John Williams' scores.

And I used to listen to them all the time.

And so did my husband, Scotty.

I'm obsessed.

Yeah.

He's the greatest.

It was one of my most sort of,

my proudest moments, I think, ever in my career,

was with Tintin, was seeing my name come up on the screen

and then music by John Williams come up.

Yeah, that's insane.

Which, you know, because for me,

I used to listen to it and imagine myself in movies.

And it was the soundtrack to my childhood.

You know, I loved him.

I still do.

He's the most incredible composer.

We go.

Scotty and I go every year to the Hollywood Bowl

to watch him conduct with those lightsabers.

Did you ever been there?

It's insane.

No, I wish I had.

Oh, you got to come.

You got to come.

You're just going to alienate Jason the woman.

Fuck, man.

Invert it again.

You know, John Williams plays a few holes of golf

every day at four o'clock.

Still?

Where will I play?

He's 91, right?

Yeah.

He drives down the hill in his golf cart.

And he hits it a few times.

And that's his routine.

And we saw him about two weeks ago.

And just out of, just barely hear him say,

if you see Sean Hayes, tell him he's an asshole.

That sounds, that's interesting.

We weren't sure.

But I think he's pretty sure that's what it was.

Tell him to stop nerding out about my music.

He sounds like a fucking loser.

Stop fucking mentioning it.

Stop identifying his entire fucking life

based on my fucking music to my movies.

And get a fucking life and have some real life experiences

other than talking about fucking nerd movies.

Wow, he had a lot to say.

Was that in between holes?

That's all I caught.

He kept going.

Wait, Simon, would you have a favorite John Williams score?

The Empire Strikes Back.

Oh yes, of course.

Without a dime.

Of course.

It's my favorite.

I love that.

What is that held up as one of the all time greats

in that sort of, in the John Williams canon?

I think so.

I mean, you know, it's just,

it's got so many sort of classic themes on it.

And, you know, it was the first time we had the Imperial March

and Hanon Lair and all these sort of incredible,

it's just a beautiful, beautiful score.

That's pretty much mutually agreed that that's the best

of the Star Wars movies, right?

Absolutely.

I think so, yeah.

And there were, in what, nine?

I can't remember now.

There's been a lot.

Well, it was 77, it was 80.

It was like, we were, Simon, you and I and Will were like 10 or 11.

Can I just say this?

Can I just say, I hope they make nine more.

You know what?

I probably, they probably will.

They are.

They are.

I saw the first one in 1977,

and we've talked about this with somebody else.

I saw the first one four times in the theater.

It's the only time I've ever seen.

And then, and then I start because, you know, I got older.

So, let me just, Simon, I want to go back.

Hang on.

Will you turn to eight?

I turned eight.

And once I turned eight, I was like, what am I fucking doing?

I'll never get laid.

Oh my God.

And we will be right back.

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And now back to the show.

Simon, I remember before we met, which was many, many, many moons ago,

if you remember, I picked you up somewhere and you were staying at Lermitage.

We went over there and had the first time we hung out.

I remember I was, you know, because I'd seen, Edgar had told me about rest development

and I'd resisted it for a while.

You know, when you're in comedy and I know you've resisted it forever, Sean,

but I was like, you know, you kind of resent stuff when you're told it's good

and you've got to see this show, it's incredible.

And I'll give it a look and I sort of didn't.

And then eventually I kind of begrudgingly watched it.

And I just sort of like, you know, sometimes as a funny person,

you watch comedy like somebody watching a physics lecture.

You just sort of, you know, waiting to not like it.

Yeah, this is it.

This is why the fuck do anything ever again.

This is too fucking good.

Jason and I at one of our Sunday dinners sat down and pretty much almost all the same things

neither Jason and I have seen.

It's like a list that we both made.

It's not because I don't want to.

No, exactly.

I feel overwhelmed to get started.

Well, sometimes it feels like homework, which is a bummer.

It comes with a slight pressure, doesn't it?

It does come with pressure.

And you have shows that are really good, that are mutual.

Friends have done and you're like, fuck, I should watch it.

Everybody says it's great.

And part of you is like, I don't want to watch it also.

I don't want to have an opinion in case I run into them.

It's like, it's like going to see somebody on Broadway.

And then after the show, you got to go up and you got to be like, yeah, you were great.

Sean, like whatever, just for lack of another name.

But you've got to say whatever the name of the person is.

But wait, Simon, Sean was incredible.

By the way, if you're in New York, go see it.

I'm not joking.

I have to say all things aside.

I'd love to come, Sean.

Honestly, I'm going to be there with Mission in July.

Oh, great.

Come on.

He's incredible.

You're straight.

But Simon, we first met and I had just seen Sean of the Dead.

And that movie for me stands out.

And I've watched it recently with my kids and it holds up

because it's legitimately great and funny.

That's a great movie to see with the kids.

And I found it so inspiring at that time.

I felt like you guys were doing something that not a lot of other people were doing.

You were, it was smart and it was silly.

And it was, and it was really tight.

Whenever I saw, right, whenever I saw you will, whenever that, that movie came out,

it's all you talked about to me all the time.

For real.

For real.

For real.

I still hold it up as such a great, every moment of it, the writing is really good.

It's really well shot.

It's really well directed.

It was incredibly acted like every single moment of it, man.

And that must have been such a huge turning point for you, Sean of the Dead.

Yeah, it absolutely was because, you know, we got some sort of exposure over there

and a lot of sort of cool kind of directors came into bat for Edgar

and we managed to get a theatrical release over there.

Thanks to, I think it was thanks to Ain't It Cool News, you know, Harry Knowles' website.

Oh, wow.

And so, yeah.

And so coming over and, you know, not to sort of bat it back to you guys,

but I kind of felt the same thing about Arrested.

You know, it was like these guys, we all say, Nick and I always say, people know something.

If you see someone who gets it, who is kind of, you feel like they're the same kind of person as you,

you say, hey, they know something.

And it was, you guys were just doing something that was just so that and it was inspirational.

And I also, Sean, not to leave you out, I always thought on watching Will and Grace

because you always kind of, you know, not to embarrass you, but you always stole that show, I thought.

For sure, 100%.

I always thought, I'm sure he knows something because Will and Grace is a big, you know,

it was a network comedy, it was massive, you know, it wasn't sort of an alternative kind of thing,

even though it was an incredibly progressive show.

And then you popped up on like Port Landy or something and I was like, yes, I knew it.

I knew he knew something.

Yeah, I love that show.

By the way, when you say that, and it's so true, Sean, you did steal that show all the time.

Well, amongst a bunch of scene stealers, you were a scene stealer.

I remember Nick, Nick has one of those, I hold Nick as one of those guys, he's so naturally frost,

he's so naturally funny in one time.

And just for really quick, for Tracy, Nick Frost is a comedian and actor.

He's a hot fuzz, Paul, the world's end, your bestie.

Hot fuzz, my God, what a great movie.

Hot fuzz.

And we were one time standing outside this restaurant in LA and I was having a cigarette with Nick

and there were these two like really douchey guys.

I don't know if this story will translate.

Standing right there.

And as we walked, they were just having the worst conversation, LA conversation.

As we went inside, Nick goes, all right, talk to you later.

He didn't even know them.

We didn't know them.

We hadn't talked to them at all.

And as he's opening the door, he just looked at them and went, all right, talk to you later.

So funny.

Fuck me.

It was so naturally funny and it made me laugh.

Like driving home, it made me laugh.

I kept thinking about it.

Will, you love that dry sense of humor, that British sense of humor.

Was there a lot of that up in Toronto at being a British colony at one point?

Maybe.

I don't know.

I was always a fan.

I know I've been accused of being an Anglophile for many years and I do enjoy.

I just think that there's something to, you know, when I was 17,

I saw with Neil and I the first time and I was like, this, this is the kind of shit I like.

And it's, and I don't know, it's always just seemed smarter.

And again, I know so many funny, smart, amazing American.

The style of that just never asks for a laugh.

No.

You know, it makes you.

No, you're right.

Yeah.

You just go right past it.

I heard you once describe your Nick's relationship to my fair lady or something like, what's the

comparison?

What is that?

Yeah.

He was like this kind of like rough around the edges.

And I was this university graduate who'd moved to London from Bristol and found him in a

Mexican restaurant and taught him in the ways of, you know, high culture.

I mean, Nick was, you know, he was like, he was, he would be the first to say he was

like a little thug.

But he was just so gifted, so funny in a way that still to this day, he makes me laugh.

Like, you know, when I listen to you guys, it reminds me of my relationship with Nick

and Edgar just because it just runs on laughter and it never gets tiring or boring.

It's just, it's constantly hilariously funny.

Well, and respect, like massive respect.

Yeah.

We had a big dinner years ago.

By the way, you're going to fucking freak out when I tell you this.

You guys are going to be so bummed out because I think it was November 2005 in London.

I remember we had that big dinner with a bunch of us, Simon, and it was me and Amy and,

and you guys and, and Darren Brown, the magician.

Yes.

Did you remember that?

Yeah, of course.

Yes.

A long time ago.

And I think I, did I tell this story about, about who, about saying whether or not you

could be hypnotized?

Did I tell this hypnotized?

No, no.

So we were at this big dinner and Simon and I guess Darren wanted to come.

He was a fan of arrest development because he liked, he was a magician or whatever.

And there were a bunch of guys there.

Who else is there?

He wanted to meet an illusionist.

Yeah, he did.

Joe Cornish, I think was there a bunch of, bunch of them that and, and Pete and.

I asked around the table.

I said, I said to Darren Brown, the hypnotist, his magician, whatever I said, can you tell

if somebody's really susceptible to being hypnotized and being persuaded?

And I said, we went around.

I said, everybody go around the table and say whether or not you think you, cause he

sort of said, yeah, I can kind of tell.

And so everybody went around the table and I remember I said, like, I definitely could

be persuaded to do probably anything.

We ran around and everybody had different answers.

But I remember Amy Polar at the time going, there's no way you can't get me.

Just in that very Amy way.

It's like, no way.

There's no way.

I'm like, no way, no fucking way.

You can't persuade me anything.

And we're at this really fancy restaurant in Mayfair.

The check comes and Amy looks at me and goes, we got this.

And I go, when do we got this?

It's like 3,000 pounds.

Expensive dinner.

So like, no, no, no, we got it.

So we're in the cab on the way back to the hotel.

And I go, he got you.

He convinced you to pick up the check.

And then she looked at me and she goes, do you think?

And I go, fuck yeah.

It'd be great if she turned to you and said, wait, I paid for the check.

Did I ever tell you that, Simon?

No, I didn't either.

That's amazing.

I find it, he's weird to be around Darren, you know,

because you're constantly worried that he might do something strange to your mind.

So Simon, your level of astonishment is greater on the sets of Star Trek

or Mission Impossible as far as execution, scope of production.

Probably Mission Impossible.

Just because of the stuff that Tom Cruise does, you know,

that we are witness to on the day of him jumping off a cliff on a motorbike or whatever.

I mean, that just sort of is genuinely terrifying.

Right.

And your stunt crew and safety crew and second unit,

all that stuff that just must be like rocket scientists.

Yeah, hundreds of, you know, cameras on,

when we did the bike stunt, which is in Mission Impossible, Dead Rocking Part One,

there was a take he did where there were cameras mounted on the bike he was riding.

So when he jumped off it, the bike just sort of cartwheeled away and caught him every time it spanned.

And then they had to go down into the bottom of this quarry and find the bike

and retrieve the cameras and find which ones were still working.

And sure enough, they picked up this incredible footage of him

just sort of like disappearing upwards as the bike fell away.

That's crazy.

The take he did on all departments of those movies is just insane.

That's so crazy.

By the way, you know, I just found yesterday that I've actually got a second unit.

Oh, good for you.

Yeah.

So it was super tiny.

You just discovered it.

Lucky boy.

But it counts, but it counts.

So wait, listen, I want to talk about.

So it was from Mission Impossible three.

JJ just called you out of the blue.

JJ Abrams just called you out of the blue and off to your part.

Yeah, he did.

Because of Shaun of the Dead, right?

Because of Shaun.

Me and Edgar were writing hot fuzz and the phone rang and it was JJ Abrams.

And he just sort of literally said,

Hey, do you want to come and be in Mission Impossible three?

And I said, yeah, okay.

Please, please.

Yeah, okay.

Why not?

And I didn't know.

Let me finish.

I'm just set me mate.

Let me finish.

I was kind of in the same way he emailed me about Star Trek and just said,

do you want to play Scotty?

I think he got bored of looking for someone and just thought I'd get that other guy

that I got last time.

Wow.

I mean, it is unusual to be part,

it is unusual to be part of two such big kind of iconic Frenchos

that are very different.

Yeah.

Unless you're Harrison Ford.

Unless you're Harrison Ford, that's right.

Yeah.

Harrison Ford is the king.

You're the British Harrison Ford.

I've heard that before.

Thank you.

Would you say your biggest regret was hiring Bateman for Paul?

That was a huge regret.

Let's get to Paul.

I was listening to Hader the other day on the podcast talking about those

jalapeno shooters and you weren't there that day.

It was me, Nick and Hader and they gave us these tequila shots with jalapeno juice

and we shot lava the next day.

Oh my God.

You were there for the sake of your bottom.

He doesn't remember where he was yesterday, so that's the good news.

Do you remember when we gave you a Teen Wolf 2 poster?

Yes.

At least on your rap gift.

I do.

You all signed it.

I do remember that.

I was very warmed by that.

Where is it, Jason?

I sold that.

Bind.

Yeah.

Bind.

Immediately bind.

Jay, get that framed.

How unbelievably rude.

No, I think it came framed.

It was framed.

But then you unframed it.

I thought you told me you unframed it.

It's you just sell it easier.

You use the crunchy roll as nothing else.

Wait, I want to go back.

So in 2009, you completed the second installment of your nerd trifecta, which again is a real

thing, with Star Trek.

Who helped you with your Scottish accent?

Was it hard?

Do you have Scots in your family?

Yeah, I'm married to a Scott and a Glaswegian.

So her dad helped me a lot.

Sean's married to a Scott too.

Yeah.

There you go.

Nice, buddy.

Lovely.

Yeah, I got help from the family on that, because they're the first people to...although

they kept trying to make me put, like, tawdry little Scottish rudeness into the script.

I did actually try a few things, but JJ came up to me and said, Simon, they've got to understand

what you're saying.

Let's hear it just a little bit.

The rudest thing you could say since Scottish.

I do actually say there's a famous Scottish Glaswegian saying, which is getty fuck.

Instead of like, you know, shut up or get out of it, it's getty fuck.

And in the first Star Trek, I do actually say to Deep Roy, who plays my little wingman,

you hear me go getty.

So anyone who's Scottish would know exactly what I was about.

That's great.

That's great.

Oh, wow.

That's crazy.

And then you got to write one, like in six months.

Yeah.

How did you get to write?

That was like someone giving you the keys to a really, really expensive car.

It was the hardest thing I've ever done just because we had no time.

And Justin Lin, who was the director, who's a brilliant, brilliant guy, but he's not a

verbal communicator.

And it was really hard to understand what he wanted at first.

And there's some people know it's Star Trek Beyond.

Sorry.

Star Trek Beyond.

Yeah.

And myself and Doug Jung, we wrote that script together, but it was loads of fun.

And Doug came to stay with me in the UK, and we'd write during the day.

And then at night, we'd watch episodes of the original series just to try and get little

Easter eggs to put in.

And we eventually ended up.

You know, weirdly, it was the first time I'd faced the idea of being rewritten by someone

else.

And it's wild.

You know, we worked really hard on it.

And then our producer, Lindsay, called and said, we're going to get some fresh eyes on the

script.

And I was like, what the fuck?

Like I'd never experienced that before.

And I was so incensed and angry that, how dare you?

Right.

You know, I come from my cushy little British filmmaking background.

Well, Sean's mom used to get fresh eyes about every two months, right?

Is that right?

What we did was we'd get, Justin Lin would send us the rewrites.

And then Doug and I would secretly rewrite them and then send them back to Justin.

Justin would deliver them to Paramount as his notes.

So we would secretly rewrite the rewrites.

If you're listening to this Paramount, then it all worked out.

Okay.

That's fucking great.

What a great way to rig the system in your favor.

Yeah, that's why I just, I just can't believe it.

Did you get rewritten at all on Paul?

No.

No.

And it shows.

No.

No, the Lorenzo.

No, we didn't.

We were lucky.

What was the Lorenzo?

Lorenzo.

Lorenzo.

When we came up with your character name, we took the day off.

It was the deepest cut.

That's enough brilliance for the day.

It was Nick's idea.

Lorenzo's oil.

Right.

Then how do I, how do I reveal that?

Like, aren't I being at least near the end of the movie, right?

Like under the spaceship or something?

Your reaction to that, I'm not saying, I'm not just saying it.

Your reaction to that is one of the most supreme comedy double takes I have ever witnessed

in any comedy forum.

Well, it wasn't a joke that like, it was the first time I'd really heard it said.

And I was like, oh, fuck.

What?

You go, we go agent, you say something like, thank you agent Oily.

You go, call me Lorenzo.

And we go Lorenzo's oil.

And you go, yeah.

Then you sort of do this.

Like you suddenly heard it for the first time.

And it's just fucking sublime, Jason.

It really is.

It really just, it's just textbook.

It's not surprising that I remember a little of that because I think it was a night shoot,

if memory serves.

It was a night shoot.

Yeah.

We were up on the, on the Ski Bowl with Sigourney Weaver.

And, and Douse as Kristen Wiig used to call it.

Douse.

That's right.

So Edgar Wright, who we've already established is one of your besties and does a lot of stuff.

He, I didn't know, I didn't know this.

I didn't know he wrote and directed Baby Driver.

I loved that movie.

Yeah.

I loved the movie so much.

Really?

I mean, that is a masterpiece.

He had that script for a long time.

Yeah.

And he'd do somewhere, an impression of him.

Can you do just a little bit of Edgar Wright?

He'll listen to this and he'll kill me.

He does listen to it.

His voice is quite high.

That's terrible.

He gets quite drunk and he's talking in your ear quite loud.

Oh, my God.

Edgar has a right to come on the show now himself and for,

We've got to get him on the show.

He does.

He does send me reviews of episodes sometimes via text.

After my phone number's still the same?

Where's my...

Not reviews, but he'll say, I really enjoyed it.

I could listen to you do that for nine hours.

And Nick does it really well as well.

It's gonna be very high.

It's kind of like a pterodactyl.

Oh my God.

But he is, you know, I mean,

I've counted one of the luckiest moments of my life

meeting Edgar just because he is such an extraordinary talent

and, you know, I love him to bits.

So I'm sure he'll forgive me for doing his voice,

quiet like this.

We'll be right back.

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And now back to the show.

I remember like it was yesterday,

although I'm not sure of some of the details,

but I'm pretty sure it was a screening of hot fuzz

that I believe you were there with me, Willie,

that we got invited to and I met you and Nick and Edgar.

And Edgar, all you guys had loved Arrested Development.

Like that's why we were there.

That's how we got invited.

And then I remember that as being one of the first times

that I thought, oh, this show is being seen by cool folks.

Simon, I think you're thinking the same thing I am.

It was a screening of the movie

that you did with Mike Judge.

Oh yeah, it was the screening of...

Oh, Extract, really?

Extract, yeah, that's it.

Simon, did we go together or something

or we met up there with Edgar or something?

That's right.

And then afterwards we were in the bar

and there was you, me, Amy and you guys and Amy and me.

And there was some...

I remember there was some paparazzi shots of us all

kind of like hanging off each other and smiling and drinking.

And I remember being really...

Was I drinking?

I don't know.

I was still drinking at that time.

No, you weren't.

Jason, you were not.

No, I was still on it in those days.

No, well, Paul's when you got sober, right?

Around that time.

Just after Paul, yeah, I was pretty drunk through Paul,

but it was like a year after that that I got sober.

Good for you, yeah.

I have to fan out because I'm not gonna...

Go, Sean.

So Star Wars universe and Star Wars world

and growing up was that surreal,

getting invited into that world

and then being around Carrie Fisher and all of those people.

And was that you behind the thing?

Four, six portions.

Was that you, that big guy?

Yeah, that was me in the big fat suit, yeah.

And was that all CGI?

Or was that just...

They CGI'd my face a little bit

just to make me look less human,

but it was a big suit.

And yeah, he was called Onkar Plutt

and he owned the Millennium Falcon, which is like...

I was very happy the fact that I have now owned

the Millennium Falcon and been the engineer

on the Starship Enterprise.

That's so insane.

That's a personal triumph.

But wait, so growing up and were you a fan

and then now you're in it and you're around Carrie Fisher

and Harrison Ford?

I mean, were you like...

Yeah, it was extraordinary.

You know, I mean, that set as well of The Force Awakens

because it felt very much like the first sort of,

you know, the first Star Wars,

the Star Wars I grew up loving.

And to be around those guys,

I was on set the day when Harrison Ford

and Hannah and Chewie came onto the Millennium Falcon again

for the first time.

Crazy, I cried.

I cried like a child.

And then I had a great...

I've told this story before, but it's a good story.

It's worth telling.

I had a massive crush on Carrie Fisher when I was a kid.

I mean, she was the first romantic love

that I remember feeling, you know,

and I would kiss her picture before I went to sleep

and I was just so in love with her.

This is the pre-return of the Jedi before even, you know...

Well, you had a poster

and you'd make out with a poster or something?

I kind of kissed it quite sort of coyly

because I wasn't, I was seven, eight,

I think I was when I saw Star Wars.

It didn't get to the UK until 1978.

So I'm on set with her and we're walking around the set of the...

Just like at Will's face,

just trying to come up with a,

what would the poster that Sean was?

Oh my, oh, oh, Sean?

Yeah, just Sean.

Lightsabers.

We were walking around the set of the Resistance Base,

arm in arm,

and I was kind of chatting with her and stuff

and I stopped and I looked at her in her eyes

and I said, you know...

And the thing was it was the same fucking eyes.

It was the same,

I know that's an obvious thing to say,

but it was her eyes,

the eyes that I had just dreamed of ever looking into as a kid.

And I said, you know, I've always loved you, don't you?

Oh, God.

And she looked at my wedding ring and she went, fuck you.

Oh, nice.

Really?

This is so funny.

She said, you know, the one thing she said to me

when I first met her years and years and years ago,

never met her my whole life,

was sitting right next to her at this dinner

and she goes, you know Han Solo

and I were fucking the whole time.

And I was like...

I was like, what?

It completely shattered like everything.

There's that roast she did.

I think it's a roast of Harrison Ford or something,

but she starts talking

and she starts talking about how nervous Harrison Ford looks

because he doesn't know what she's gonna say

because obviously, you know, shit happened.

All right, all right.

Wait, really?

Hang on a second.

So there you are.

So now you're...

It was Force Awakens, is that what you're talking about?

That was what I was in, yeah.

Yeah, Force Awakens.

Because that was like 30 years after the Battle of Endor, right?

And...

Fuck you, Will.

No, hang on.

So they're on the...

I'm just trying to think

because there's that pilot which is named Poe Dameron

and he's on the desert planet of Jakku.

Are you looking at Wikipedia?

Yes, he is.

No, what?

Yes, he is.

Moron.

I can't believe they were on Jakku

that whole time, that guy.

By the way, did you notice...

Did you notice that some people say in that movie,

some people say Jakku

and other people say Jakku?

Of course I fucking noticed it, dude.

It's Jakku.

Of course.

It's Jakku, right.

It's a double K, come on.

Of course I noticed it.

And then I went and I bought a rope and I bought a chair

and I was like, what would be a good spot for this?

Fuck that, L.

Okay, so, but wait.

I say that.

Oh, I would love, you know that I love it.

Wait, so sometimes, so after the Star Wars

or one of those 27 Star Trek's, whatever,

you said, I read that you went on vacation

and you said, don't, I don't want,

you told your agent, I don't want anybody to bother me.

No, I don't want any phone calls.

Only if it's Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg actually fucking told you.

And tell you what.

Oh my God.

He phoned and said, will you come and be in Ready Player One?

Yes, I love that movie too.

And which is obviously an incredible call to get.

And we'd work with him, you know,

because he does a little cameo in Paul as well.

So I'd work with him on Tintin

and then he came in and did his little bit in Paul

and then I got to do Ready Player One

and to work with him is a dream, you know,

he's just the most extraordinary.

Yeah, of course.

I mean, he's everything that I loved about cinema

as a kid and as an adult.

And he's very willing to sort of chat

about his career and stuff.

He's really, really, I love that.

Without crowing, you know, he'll just tell you stories

about jaws and closing counters.

And it's just, it's such a privilege, you know.

He was at Sean's opening night.

Oh, did he go to your play?

Yeah, he's an investor in it.

Nice fella.

Oh wow.

Has he been on, has he been on the show?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Last year.

Super nice.

Wait, so Ready Player One,

you talked a little bit about the English.

You talked about a little bit

like American humor versus English humor

and like how something about like,

something about like how we always say

just kidding or something.

But Americans like.

Yeah.

Well, that's sort of, there's a weird thing.

And it comes from a lot of sort of snobbishness

in British comedy circles sometimes

that you hear our Americans, they don't do irony.

And it's such a bullshit statement

because Americans do some of the greatest irony ever.

You guys just don't use it so much socially.

Present company accepted, I mean, Jason particularly

because you've got a British mom, right?

So you're just drier than many a desert.

And I'm usually grumpy, so it's kind of a double negative.

So yeah, you're virtually very hungry.

He's hungry, so hungry.

But because British people are very ashamed

of their emotions, they just wrap everything in sarcasm

and irony socially, you know.

But I think American people generally

are just a little less uptight.

And so if they do say something dry,

they'll qualify as just kidding,

just in case that person thinks that they were being serious,

which is fair.

Right, right.

But you only have to watch.

I mean, Arrested is a great example

of a brilliantly dry comedy show.

I actually started showing my 14 year old daughter

the show the other day, which was great

because it meant I could sort of go back to the beginning.

And it's such a good example

of like dry American humor at its best.

Well, but it pales in comparison to all the Monty Python stuff.

I mean, the British office, I mean,

that whole style of not winking

and just playing everything as a drama,

but a deeply flawed character in a drama.

Then you've got real good humor, yeah.

Wait, so another Mission Impossible

coming out soon on July 12th.

Didn't you guys just do two in a row?

Yeah.

Are you filming the second part now?

We're in the midst of doing two in a row.

Oh my God.

We've stopped filming now

so they can finish Dead Reckoning part one.

And then we go out on a big press tour over the summer.

We'll be in New York,

free tickets to your show, please, Sean.

The Velasco Theater.

And then, any time you want.

The Velasco, the Tabasco Theater.

Tabasco Theater.

Tabasco Theater.

Hotel in there, spicy shows.

Another show.

And then we go back to shooting in August

and then we complete part two,

which we'll be at next year.

And it's been a hell,

I mean, we started shooting this one in 2020.

No way, wow.

In the September of 2020.

Wow.

I mean, it's taken us three years to shoot this movie.

Wow, that's amazing.

Wow, right in the thick of the hoax.

I mean, we kind of...

I mean, we kind of...

pandemic.

What did I say?

You said hoax, yeah.

I mean, Simon, you haven't stopped,

you haven't stopped making great stuff for like 20 years.

Yeah, I know.

I mean...

I want to get to that.

Like, do you geek out like I would if I were you,

when you get the scripts that you get

or you produce or make?

Like, are you a fan of the genre like I am?

And you know what I mean?

Like, you're like, oh, this is so cool.

Yeah, I think I am,

but I feel like I've aged out a little bit of stuff

that I've not kind of kept up

with all the new sort of Star Wars TV shows and stuff.

And that's not to say that it's not because I'm sure...

I have.

I can catch you up.

I'll catch you up.

I'll catch you up.

I'll catch you up.

I'll catch you up.

If you bring afterwards.

Wait, yeah, Simon, what kind of stuff

are you watching comedy-wise?

Because I'm trying to think if I watch any comedies,

really, it's been a while.

Is there anything that's kind of...

I started watching a show last night.

I think you should leave on Netflix.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I've heard about that.

Yeah, it's great.

I'm writing it down.

It's ridiculous.

Yeah, it's really good.

I think you should just...

I just re-watched it with somebody

because it's so...

Because the episodes are like sort of 16 minutes long.

They're not that long.

And I just got when we were in Atlanta,

I got Eli to go through and I watched them all again with him.

And they were just brilliant.

Yeah, it's really strange and but hilarious

in a way that like Python used to be.

You know, like sort of slightly baffling.

It's a British show.

You're not sure exactly why you're laughing.

No, he's American.

He shot here.

Tim Robinson is a brilliant, brilliant guy.

And as you know, the very nature of...

We had a lot of people from SNL on here

over the last few years.

The nature of sketch comedy is that it's really inconsistent.

It's so hard to, from sketch to sketch,

to always be strong or always be good.

And that show, I think you should leave

those first six episodes.

Oh, you told me about that one.

Consistently good.

Every sketch, sketch to sketch.

I did watch it.

Yeah, it is funny.

That was a while ago.

Yeah, brilliant.

Simon, wait, I just...

I'm sorry, this is the last Mission Impossible question

just because I'm upset.

Do you get to...

Because it's so...

Your character is so funny and like it's so natural

that do you get to write your own lines?

Like are they cool with that?

Because it sounds like...

Not really, I mean, we don't really have a script.

It's a very strange way of working.

Really.

We kind of make it up as we go along.

I don't believe it.

But...

That's crazy.

It's true.

I have not ever read a script for the film I've just made.

What?

Tom and McHugh, Chris McQuarrie and Tom Cruise,

they know the story.

They know the big set pieces.

They know that those set pieces get shot first usually.

And then Chris McQuarrie, who is a genius

at sort of like solving problems,

he will come up with the connective tissue,

sort of grow the story kind of organically as we go.

But they're so complex.

And we'll get the pages.

I know, but we get pages on the morning of shooting stuff.

And I have to say, where have I been in the previous scene

and where am I going?

And it can be frustrating, but it sort of works.

And occasionally I get to kind of ad-lib silly stuff.

Like when we were shooting a scene for Fallout

when Tom was, I was sort of guiding.

I'm basically like a GPS.

That's my job in Mission Impossible.

I just read that directions for where Tom Cruise needs to go.

And it, all the stuff about having the map upside down

and the 3D thing that was all kind of thrown in

in the moment.

Oh, really?

McHugh is a brilliant writer.

You know, he's an Oscar winning writer.

He wrote the usual suspects.

What an incredible director.

He just somehow thrives in that situation.

Yeah, incredible.

I love, I am so in love with those Mission Impossible movies.

All of them are so.

They're always great.

They're so good.

And you're always great in them.

I mean, yeah, and it's so hard.

You're so great in them.

And it's hard to believe that something that's so,

that has that kind of scope, as Jason said,

that's so good and complex and stuff

that you guys would sort of improvise in that way

or not really have a full understanding to me

on something so big.

I don't know.

I tell you where that when it washes on,

is on the oceanic planet of Achtow.

No way.

You can close the wiki window.

No, you wouldn't be able to get away with it.

Yeah, just shut that window down.

Well, on that note.

Beautifully done.

Simon, you are like a dream.

This is taking too much of your time.

This is so nice to have you show up.

I feel like we just got started.

Let's keep going.

I don't know.

It's been so lovely.

I could do it too, Parker.

I know, I know.

Will you say hi to Nick Frost, please?

I will, I will.

Get him on.

Get Edgar on.

And say hi to Edgar too.

You know who put me onto this podcast was Naira Park,

who you know, Jason, she produced Paul.

Oh, please tell her hi too.

Yeah, she's Edgar and Edgar and my producer.

She's done everything we've ever done.

And last year, she said,

oh, you listen to smartness, right?

And I was like, no.

So I had the whole of the back catalog to sort of like,

which I literally have been like,

every time I go to the gym

or every time I go for a drive,

it's just become like the sand track.

And then like, however recently,

the idea of actually doing it came up.

And man, it's just so, I love you guys.

I think you're so many hearts.

Ever got any ideas of people we should have on the show?

Please let us know.

Yeah.

Yes, I'll send you some British people

then you can leave.

Please.

It's great to see you, man.

You too guys.

It's so nice to meet you, Simon, and such a fan.

You too, Sean, it's a real pleasure.

I'm serious about coming to see Good Not Oscar.

I'd love to come see it if I can.

Anytime.

Don't miss that.

Yeah, you'll be blown away.

Simon, we love you.

Okay.

Did I just slam this lid?

You slam it.

Yeah, slam it.

All right.

You take care.

Love you guys.

Bye.

Love you, buddy.

Well, that's, listen, that is a round peg in a round hole.

Oh, nice.

That peg's no square.

No.

What else?

Those are really good, actually.

Thanks, man.

I'm coming up with a bye as we're talking.

How are you?

You know what I'm thinking about is this friend of mine,

I'm not kidding.

This is not getting to a bye.

I've been trying to connect the dots on,

I was thinking about Scotty.

Yeah.

Because we were talking about Scotty.

Yeah, I told him.

I told him Simon Pegg was going to be on a freaked out.

And then remind me, I never told you this

because this is not a joke.

One of my best buddies growing up is,

his name is Scotty Bear.

And then I thought about your,

I swear to God.

Oh, really?

Yes.

That's funny because Scotty's a bear

and you like Boney there.

Right.

So.

I like Scotty's bone and bear.

Anyway, so wait, but Simon Pegg,

I've always wanted to meet him.

I can't believe you knew him.

I didn't know you guys knew him.

I knew you worked with him in Paul, Jay.

Yes.

But I didn't know you knew him.

He seems really fun.

Jay is looking up a bye right now.

No, I'm finding that my brain needs to completely shut down

and focus on that.

And I can't hear you guys right now.

Jay B, how fucking weird is that?

So remember you thought it was a screening of hot fuzz

and that I remembered it was a fucking screening of extract.

And I remember going to the restaurant next door

with Mike Judge and you and Amy and Simon.

What does that say?

Is it say anything?

I'm looking for something that might be good for me.

Is there something good that I don't remember?

It was a screening for me, my movie

that I'm thinking it was for him and his movie.

Does that say something nice about me?

No.

Are you trying to get like brownie points?

Trying to fill up my own ledger,

own side of the ledger.

No, I don't think.

The good, no.

You know, as a kid, I used to-

Fuck me.

In Star Wars, you know.

This is gonna be, by the way, it better be amazing

because you are like 0 for 40 right now.

He's already lost.

Oh, this is a good one.

You know, when I was a kid,

I was used to mix up the pronunciation

of Luke Skywalker's mentor.

I didn't know, I didn't think it was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

No, that's, no.

No way.

I thought it was-

No way.

I can't allow-

I thought it was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

No, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and two malts.

What?

Sean, Sean.

Oh, bye.

Oh, bye, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Oh, bye, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

And two malts?

No.

Was that our out?

No.

No.

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