Biography

Simon Pegg

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English actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Gillian Rosemary (Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. His parents divorced when he was seven. He later took his stepfather's surname "Pegg." He was educated at Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School in Gloucestershire and went on to Stratford-upon-Avon College to study English literature and performance studies. He then attended the University of Bristol, and earned a bachelor's degree in drama. In the early 2000s, Pegg moved to London and began forging a successful career in stand-up comedy. Television opportunities followed including roles in Six Pairs of Pants (1995), Asylum (1996), and We Know Where You Live (1997). In 1999, Pegg and Jessica Hynes teamed up to write and star in cult sitcom Spaced (1999), directed by Edgar Wright. The series also featured Pegg's best friend Nick Frost. Pegg's breakthrough in film came with the zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead (2004), which he also co-wrote with director Edgar Wright. Again, the film featured Nick Frost. The trio also scored a hit with police comedy Hot Fuzz (2007). Further film successes followed for Pegg, notably in the iconic role of Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in Star Trek (2009) and alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III (2006) and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011).
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

When asked by a journalist whether England had not become too small for him after the worldwide success of Shaun of the Dead (2004), he replied "It's not like I'm going to be starring in Mission: Impossible III." Six months later, he was cast as Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible III (2006).
Nick Frost, who co-stars with Pegg in Hot Fuzz (2007), Spaced (1999) and Shaun of the Dead (2004), is Pegg's real life best friend and former flatmate. Before they first starred in Spaced (1999) together, Frost had no formal training as an actor, but is now a top comedy name in the United Kingdom.
Simon is friends with the rock band Coldplay and has played drums and harmonica for the band, as well as appearing in some of their music videos.
His character on Spaced (1999) once remarked that "It's a fact of life sure as eggs is eggs and every odd numbered Star Trek film is s---." He later appeared in Star Trek (2009) which was the eleventh film. He later said "Fate put me in that film to show I was talking out of my ass.".
He was cast in the role of Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible III (2006) after Ricky Gervais was unable to take the role. J.J. Abrams, director of the film, is said to be a huge fan of Shaun of the Dead (2004).

[on seeing Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) for the first time as a child] It was like an awakening.
You know what, despite my complaints about The Phantom Menace and Episode II, when Episode III comes out I'll be first in line. I genuinely love it.
Every person should have their escape route planned. I think everyone has an apocalypse fantasy, what would I do in the event of the end of the world, and we just basically - me and Nick - said what would we do, where would we head?
I always loved horror and that's sort of the reason we decided to make the film. We were nourished on those sorts of films, so it was a labor of love.
Chris Martin's a good friend of mine. I'm actually Apple's godfather. He's an old friend and we've been mates for quite a few years now.

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