“The source of it all”: Simon Pegg’s two favourite science-fiction movies of all time
British actor Simon Pegg has had quite the career, working his way from modest appearances on Channel 4 television shows to starring in massive blockbuster hits alongside Tom Cruise. With a wide range of genres under his belt, as well as gigs as a writer and an actor, Pegg has enjoyed a varied tenure in the entertainment industry, which doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
During the early days of his career, the actor appeared in many great British television shows, like Black Books, I’m Alan Partridge, and Brass Eye. However, his most sizable role was in Spaced, which he co-wrote with Jessica Hynes. The pair starred as unlikely flatmates, with Edgar Wright in charge of direction. The show proved to be a hugely significant moment in Pegg’s (and Wright’s) career, with the surreal and offbeat comedy paving the way for future projects.
Pegg and Wright, along with Spaced star Nick Frost, then teamed up for a trilogy of movies that would come to define 2000s-era British cinema. Starting with 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, Pegg found himself starring as a man who gets caught up in a zombie apocalypse, with the movie practically redefining the comedy horror genre. That was followed by another comedy horror, Hot Fuzz, before the Cornetto trilogy ended with the sci-fi comedy The World’s End.
In fact, as Pegg’s career progressed, he started to pick up more sci-fi roles, such as playing Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in Star Trek and several sequels. But what are his favourite sci-fi movies? The ones that inspired his love for the genre?
It seems unsurprising that Pegg picked 1977’s Star Wars as one of his favourite movies of all time when talking to Rotten Tomatoes – the classic film is a beloved piece of cinema, and for the actor, it truly marked a time of childhood wonder and cinematic discovery. “I’d go with the first Star Wars just because that was the source of it all, even though Empire is essentially a slightly more grown-up, often seen as the better film. But I think Star Wars, really, as the kind of ground zero, has to be the one. A New Hope, as we’re now supposed to call it after all this sequel bullshit.”
Pegg’s childhood dreams surely came true when he was cast in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which saw him play Unkar Plutt; perhaps the actor wasn’t so bothered about sequels once he was offered the chance to be in one of them. Even better, it now stands as one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
His other favourite sci-fi movie is a more recent pick in the form of Ex Machina. Directed by Alex Garland, the movie sees Alicia Vikander play an artificial intelligence-powered android, and it was widely acclaimed upon its release in 2014. Pegg called it “a brilliant, brilliant film,” adding, “it was such a great reminder of how smaller, more thoughtful, more intense, grown-up… It’s an example of the combination of those things, in a way, a kind of more science fiction in the vein of 2001, a more cerebral, literally cerebral kind of science fiction film that was and just how beautifully performed it is.”
He also praised Vikander’s performance, concluding, “It’s a film that I’ve watched many times because I just, I don’t seem to tire of it. I think it’s excellent.”
