Simon Pegg: The Nerd Who's Done Well

I shouldn't be on this show. What is this word? Young? Ridiculous. It's a bizarre experience this handsome thing. It used to be about being sort of 12 inches of me. What the hell? I felt a bit icky about it. Uh Okay. It sounds like I'm a bit up myself, but what are you going to do? I get it, okay? I get it. Enough.

I'm Oliver Travina here at the Young Hollywood Studio with this handsome man, Simon Peg.

Bless you for saying that. I I mean it mean every word I say. This handsome thing. You weren't sure if it was a man or a girl. Is it a girl? It is a girl. It is a girl. And because of the reason that no one ever knew I'd put a bow on Georgie. You know what? Which is going to complement.

I sympathize with that. I have a miniature schnauzer and we put a pink collar on her because everyone, oh, what a lovely boy. Yeah. And it's because she's got sort of a mustache actually, because they have that, you know, that that look. Yeah. And it, I felt bad for her. I would get angry with people. I'd say, it's a girl. Like, you know, it was my baby or something. No, it's a girl, yeah. I'm really saying that the whole female thing now, actually. She's definitely female.

I get it. Okay, I get it. Um Enough.

Moving on from that. Yes. Um Nerd Do Well. Your new book. Your first book.

It is my first book. Yeah, yeah. I didn't intend to write it, really. I didn't intend to write a memoir. I felt a bit icky about it. I thought, oh, you know, it's kind of like you see them all the time and you sort of like, they're written by other people and and they're a bit cloying and desperate. Look at me. If I was going to talk about stuff like my childhood, then then maybe try and uh relate this story of being a kid who was a fan of the kind of stuff I'm now working it, you know, and and there's lots of little moments in my life that have been quite ironic in that, you know, I was a big fan of Star Trek when I was a kid and then now I'm in Star Trek, you know, so that kind of stuff is I felt might be a little bit interesting.

And also the action figure bit that I saw that you loved, the smell of plastic. Yeah. Unwrapping action figure and then I thought, he's got his own figures.

I know I have. That's bizarre. Pretty mental as well. I discovered the Shaun of the Dead 12-inch talking me in Dublin. I didn't even know it was in the shops when I saw it. Which is a bizarre experience to walk past a shop and see yourself in a box. Yeah. What the hell? 12 inches as well. 12 inches of me. Um Okay. And so I bought it and then

We won't go there.

I I remember looking through the the cellophane, the you know, the plastic front and just to be in that box was was quite a journey. So that's kind of what the book's about, really.

Nerd Do Well. The title. Where's that come from? Because Was it because you're you were a nerd?

The the word nerd comes from the phrase nerd do well, which is an old old word meaning never do well, which means sort of like, you know,

Yeah. Quite negative.

Yeah. It used to be about being sort of, you know, with skinny with big shorts and

That was in fact your impression of someone skinny.

Yeah, that was that. I just did that. I think it's slight It's a slightly self-aggrandizing title, to be honest.

Love it.

It sounds like I'm a bit up myself, but what are you going to do?

What's the uh strangest thing you've ever signed or strangest place you've been asked to sign?

I signed a guy's arm in New Mexico once and he went

When that sentence started, that wasn't I didn't think that was where you were going.

I signed a guy's arm in New Mexico and he immediately walked into a tattoo parlor and had them tattooed over. He was like a burly sort of like a fireman or something. It wasn't like there was nothing sort of nerdy weedy weird about him. He was quite but it was

Never judge a book by its cover.

Never judge a book. Particularly this one. Yes. Much better than the cover.

Your friend and guy co-stars a lot with you, Nick Frost.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You went out on a curry night. That was yeah, that was when we kind of like cemented our friendship over the noise a little noise that a droid makes in Star Wars. Oh, yeah. Like the one that Chewbacca roars at. As a little comedy moment when that little thing comes up and he roars at it and it goes It goes That's the noise it makes. And if he's going to be friends with you after that, he is a long-term friend. It was the thing was like he made the noise or I made the noise. I can't remember which one of us did it. A whole table of people just carried on eating curry. Me and Nick just looked at each other and it was like, you know, because we had this little connection. We could be friends because I've kind of got a Chewbacca reference as well, because

Is that is that that's capacious, that is, isn't it?

Yeah, that is a Yeah, people point that out in LA quite a lot. I've realized that I'm one of the few to develop chest hair.

It'll do you well here.

It will, right? Yeah.

In the seventies a bit more, but you're still rocking it.

Thanks. I'm glad.

And you mentioned your look is for something coming up as well. When I say look, I mean the the my lack of look. Your tache. I like it.

I'm growing out my uh my beard for a a film I'm I'm making called A Fantastic Fear of Everything. And I actually do like the tache. Maybe keep it. Keep it after.

You know what? Is it uncomfortable? You've got quite a nice lantern jaw. Do you know what I mean? You've got a nice square jaw.

I've got a Sorry, I didn't Can you repeat that?

You've got quite a nice lantern jaw.

Thank you. I've got a very weak chin. I'm 41. I shouldn't be on this show. What is this word? Young? Ridiculous. It's just a myth. Um, well, why don't you just put it out there? What you want? Cuz everything else seems to be happening. Yeah. Just say lantern jaw. I'd like a lantern jaw. Next time I'll see you, you'll be like, Simon Peg.