Simon Pegg interview
Updated on 04 September 2007
We talk to Simon Pegg as his new film Run, Fat Boy, Run pleases audiences and critics.
Critics have said it gives hope to mildly plump blokes everywhere - it's the latest British comedy to hit cinema screens.
Run, Fat Boy, Run marks the directorial debut of Friends actor David Schwimmer - and revolves around the attempts made by an overweight man to win back his former girlfriend by running the London Marathon. Cue plenty of physical comedy and some very tight shorts.
Joining us in the studio now was the star and writer of the film, Simon Pegg.
"I was actually very thin when I shot this. I had to wear a fat suit."Simon Pegg, star and writer of Run, Fatboy, Run
Simon Pegg interview
You've got a massive constituency here of slightly overweight men - and I use "slightly" in comedy sense - who will identify with this film obviously.
It's a big cheat though because I came off the back of Hot Fuzz to do this film and I got into really good shape, so I was actually very thin when I shot this.
I had to wear a fat suit. I didn't have time to do a De Niro and go and eat lots of pasta, so I had to wear a latex tummy to deliver it, but it still means the same thing.
Was this new comedy territory for you to mine?
Yes, as opposed to what we've done before with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (yourself of course being a star of the former), it's a slightly broader more romantic comedy. And it was fun to play that aspect of it as well as the silly fat guy falling over stuff, which I love.
I wasn't offended not to be asked to be in this one. I presume that was David Schiwmmer's fault. What's he like as a director?
He's great actually. I was impressed with David on a daily basis. I know him as an actor so when he came to this I was thinking, "Well, is he going to be asking 'What do I do here and there?'". But his technical know-how was completely in place.
He knew what lenses he wanted, what angles he wanted - he was completely au fait with the process. And also great because as a director it's also important to be able to communicate with your actors and let them know what they need of you. He was very good at that because he understood our position.
"Me and Edgar write and try to make films where we don't have to leave our home town"
You had come across him before on Band of Brothers, is that right?
We met on Band of Brothers because he was too famous and I wasn't. But also he was playing quite an anti-social character, so he kept himself very separate from the rest of us "grunts".
Shaun of the Dead made you in America. Are you now being recognised as a star in America of Ricky Gervais proportion?
Oh, much bigger than Ricky (laughter)...
No, It's been amazing. It's very odd to be in America and be recognised, have people come up to you. Here it's the home crowd and it feels kinda natural for people to say well done because you feel part of the same group. Whereas somewhere like America, which is a different market place in a way, it's exciting to then be recognised over there.
Are you now being treated as a Hollywood actor? Are you being sent lots of scripts?
Yeah, absolutely, I have an agent over there now. But then I don't know what a "Hollywood actor" is. The weird thing is that Hollywood is simply a centre of the industry.
It has this mythology around it, like it's this magical kingdom that you go to or defect to. But these days the movie industry is so global with films getting made here.
So you're not going to live there?
I don't think so. Me and Edgar write and try to make films where we don't have to leave our home town. Or we get to go back to our old home towns and we can stay in our familiar environments.
We have such an amazing amount of talent in the UK in terms of our crews. They are the most fantastic and they need to work - so we've got to keep it at home.
Simon, many thanks for coming in and good luck with the film.
