Pegg Is A Self-Described Sci-Fi Geek

Simon Pegg considers himself fortunate to be working on a show of which he is a fan and looks forward to doing it again every three years.

As reported by TrekMovie.com, from an interview posted by Collider.com, a fateful email lead to his role as Scotty in Star Trek XI. "I got back from New York and switched on my phone to find an email from J.J.," said Pegg. "It read, simply, 'Do you want to play Scotty?' I didn't say yes straight away. I called J.J. and said, 'this is a huge commitment. I don't know if I should.' J.J. simply said, if the worst thing that happens is we get together every three years and have a great time, what's to worry about. I was convinced after that."

Pegg is sensitive to the fact that his character Scotty was done first by James Doohan. "I'm very aware that the character of Scotty belongs to James Doohan," he said. "The man is a legend and it will always be his. Anything I do is a tribute to him." He met with Chris Doohan, son of James. "I actually got to meet his son Chris, which was a real treat," said Pegg. "He told me a few stories from the old days, not least actually being on set when they were shooting 'The Trouble With Tribbles'. He gave me a little bit of dilithium crystal from the show. I felt honored."

Being a fan of Star Trek means that Pegg has his favorite Star Trek series. "I would say the original [series] because it's the original," he explained when asked to rank the shows in order of preference. "[Then] TNG because it reignited the franchise, Voyager because of Seven of Nine, Deep Space Nine because of that fantastic throwback episode, the cartoon [The Animated Series] because I remember it vaguely, and lastly, Enterprise because I never saw it." Pegg went on to give "an honorable mention...to Star Trek: New Voyages which can be found on the 'net which has to be one of the most amazing examples of fan based dedication out there."

His favorite Captain was (not surprisingly) James T. Kirk. "I would say Shatner's Kirk is my favorite Captain because he created such a brilliantly charismatic character."

To read more of the interview, head to the article located here.

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