Happy Sad Confused - Simon Pegg

Episode Date: September 7, 2014

Simon Pegg meets up with Josh at the Toronto International Film Festival to talk about searching for happiness (it’s the name of his movie, calm down), Star Trek, and how his daughter saved the upcoming Star Wars film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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See Golden Nugget Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Hey guys, welcome to another edition of Happy Set Confused. I'm Josh Horowitz, and thanks for checking out the latest edition of my podcast. This week's episode comes to you from the Toronto International Film Festival. I am sitting in a nearly empty room at the lovely Fairmont, Royal York. I'm not staying here, but I'm doing some interviews here. It's been a crazy film festival. This is one of my favorites. Toronto always kind of a precursor to the Oscar season, and there are a lot of awesome films here. But challenging to find the time to spend 30 minutes with cool people for a podcast. Luckily, that's where Simon Pegg comes in. Simon, who is awesome in all things, is awesome in a new film called Hector and the Search for Happiness. And it was kind enough to agree to sit down with me for a lengthy chat for the podcast. Obviously, you know Peg's work from his work with Edgar Wright, in Star Trek, and Mission Impossible.

He's in fact filming the new Mission Impossible right now. But Hector is a cool one for him He's the lead of the film He really It's between this one and the world's end I feel like the last couple years We've gone to see a different side Of Simon Peg as a leading man

So cool stuff in this conversation To come Because I'm going to confess something I'm recording this introduction Before I talk to Simon I am a poser, I'm a liar But this conversation's going to be amazing I know it's going to be amazing

Right because it's Simon Pegg So I hope you guys enjoy this chat, which is about to happen, but has already happened for you. Whoa, my brain just melted. Um, enjoy this chat with Simon Pegg. And as I always, hit me up on Twitter at Joshua Horowitz. Let me know who you want to hear from and, um, enjoy. It's always a pleasure to see Mr. Simon Peggs. You see, buddy. This is, we've talked in a lot of different circumstances. We've talked New York, London, Dubai, but we've never been in a, in a creepy virtually empty Toronto hotel room.

In a shining style... It is kind of... Carpetitive war. Why are those two twin girls, by the way, sitting in the corner? They've been there all day. I don't know what they want. It's strange.

Are those your handlers now? Don't pan, they'll disappear. It's... You're here, actually... I've seen both of your films, by the way. I've got a chance to see both of them. I know Kill Me Three Times. And Hector, which is about to come out.

Hecker in search for happiness, which... Did that come out in the UK already? It did, yeah. It came out last month. just very very recently so you've got your your answers totally like figured out it's been a very yeah I mean the kind of promotion for Hector's been pretty fun in a way because it's thrown up a lot of philosophical kind of discussions you know the the subject matter is is pretty huge so it's actually been

fairly interesting therapeutic even I'd say talking about Hector which is which makes it change did you do you find that is that a weird thing like are you talking more about the subject matter of the film in a way after you've made the film than in the prep for the film? Because I mean, do you take it on a more literal basis when you're about to do a film, you know, know the lines, know the intent,

but you don't necessarily, I don't know, need to know the philosophical ramifications of the storyline. Yeah, that's absolutely true. I think we did a lot of talking during the shoot about, you know, happiness and what makes you happy. Usually as simple as that, you know,

why, what makes you happy. Whereas afterwards, there's been real room to sort of ruminate on the, the grander sort of implications of it all. And also, you know, getting to the end of the filmmaking process, which was a journey in itself, and realizing that this whole idea of happiness is being something which you're chasing is,

you know, it's the wrong way to look at it. It's not, it's not, because it's a rainbow, it's something that you're running after that you're never gonna get to. Right. You have to kind of understand that it's the running that's the thing you're supposed to savor, you know. Exactly. Which is an interesting idea.

So in the middle of, you're nice enough to carve out you and Team Peg have been nice enough to carve out a good chunk of time for this podcast today but you're doing I know probably a lot of like short form the crazy junket things which I hate you know it's just not ideal you barely get time to sort of like

it's insane yeah it's the worst so what's the go to junket question what's the what's the one that I would be asking you in a normal four minute slot with you it tends to be what makes you happy that seems to be the do you say getting out of this room knowing that I'm going to be living the room in three minutes No, because, you know, the funny thing is, is the answer to that question is not a short-form answer.

It's not as simple as that answer, because happiness, it's not as easy to grasp as, you know, it's not something that you can achieve by, say, you know, going on a walk on the beach. You have to be happy before you go on the walk to enjoy the walk on the beach, if you know what I mean. You can paper the cracks with certain things. You can, you know, wear this or drink that or whatever, but ultimately, If you're not happy before you do those things, you're not going to be happy afterwards. Right.

And we're sold these quick fixes all the time. Retail commerce, it's all about, particularly in these sort of affluent societies that we're lucky enough to live in, because life isn't about survival, it's about consuming, we're constantly led to believe that if we do certain things

or buy certain things specifically, it will help us to achieve happiness. And none of it is true, you know? Right. It will give you a brief relief, or it will give you some sort of amusement or comfort, or something that can stand in for happiness, but happiness

is something a little more. Except for a good piece of. Except for a good bit of pie, sure. That is true happiness. Absolutely. Let's not. There are exceptions to the rule, of course. Pie being the main one. Right? I'm like crazy here? I mean, it's a great film

and on a personal level, like just as a fan of yours and being friendly with you, it's exciting to see you in this kind of role because it's a, you know, obviously you're the guy in this. A, that's always cool. But it's a, it's a, you get to play. a real arc for this character and he's in the middle of the existential crisis or comes to one pretty early in the film yeah yeah I mean give me a sense of sort of like are you looking is it important for you at this stage to kind of like get a chance from here

and there to kind of be the guy in a film as opposed to in an ensemble yeah absolutely I mean I find you know I often see myself referred to as a comic and I'm not I haven't been a comic for 15 years you know I'm sort of I I stopped doing that I would say I'm an actor now and a writer and acting is not necessarily just about, and I don't just do comedic acting, even in our comedies, you know, they tend to often drift into dark territory, you know, which we do to color the, you know, the palette,

and that's what Hector's all about, is that you have to have everything. If you wanna have happiness, you have to have the whole deal, you have to have unhappiness, you have to have fear, you have to have loss, you have to know exactly what each color of the emotional spectrum is in order to keenly understand which color happiness is, you know. Right.

And that's literally broken down at the end of the film, when Christopher Plummer's character sort of has this machine where he assigns a color to each emotion kind of thing. So as an actor, to get to play the full spectrum as I got to in this film is great. It's a bit of a gift because you get to flex different muscles. By the way, let's talk Christopher Palmer for a second, okay? You know what the conversation is going to have to immediately go to General Chang.

Yes, of course. Talk General Chang. That was my way in with Chris. I mean, it would be from me too. Amazing. One of the great Klingons, I patch. I know. What did you think of his performance

in Undiscovered Country? That sort of Klingon out of time as well. He was kind of a different take on that. Not the Christopher Lloyd, like crazy. No, not the Bach-Bach kind of Klingon. He was more sort of thoughtful. Shakespeare-loving.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was my, when I first met him, I was like, hey, we're both in Star Trek rather than, you know, anything else at the sound of music or it was just, yeah, I went full Klingon straight away. Does he embrace? Does he okay?

with Star Trek? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah? He's cool. Chris, he's funny because he likes to be contrary, like, for fun. So he will, you know, he's apparently he hates talking about the sound of music. He doesn't. He's very proud of it. You know, but he loves the fact that if you do bring it up, he'll go, oh, it's terrible.

He knows it's not. He's just having you on. Amazing. So, talk to me also about, I assume you didn't shoot this all, like, an avatar and a green screen somewhere. You actually, you traveled the world for this one. We did. We shot it in green screens across the world. No, we started off in Vancouver

and then Vancouver actually stood in for lots of places in the film. Every single location we went to is there's a little bit of Vancouver there you know, the interior of some of the places in China and South Africa are actually Vancouver but we then went to London shot all the exteriors in London

then we went to South Africa to Johannesburg and sort of suburban and rural Johannesburg and then to Shanghai and Chengdu and Tibet and crazy. Yeah, it was a real I mean it was such a journey, a literal you know, physical journey that I think there was like a parallel growth in me

I think to Hector's. It was pretty amazing job. Are you recognized virtually in all these places at this point or can you go? Are you big in South Africa? You know the funny thing was in China, every time we get to an airport there'd be like a group of like 20 girls and they'd all have

stuff for me. They'd all have like, they'd have a sign and each one of them would have a lovely little gift of they're probably usually made or at the very least a sort of stuffed panda and it became like it was it the same 20 at every airport

because they have a lot of disposable income they would follow me around they'd be on the same plane of them on it they'd come out behind me no it was the there's a genuine interest in China in sort of Western culture and you know there's

plenty of Benedict Cumberbatch fans in Beijing and obviously I'm sort of like a cut-priced Benedict Cambermatch, so... You're a way to get closer to Benedict. Yes. So that was interesting, and in South Africa, too.

Yeah, I guess... I guess there's... You don't realize that you are having a... ...effect globally until you get to those places and people know who you are. Yeah. Which is nice, you know. I want to talk a little bit about...

You mentioned kind of throwing people... Doing more dramatic work, you know, obviously first being known as a comic, And I think you were alluding to this, especially in the Coronado trilogy, and especially in the last one, World's End, which I feel like, for me, even going in, I felt like it was a misdirect. It was, but in a great way. Like, I mean, obviously by the end, what you realize is that that's one of the most complex, fascinating characters you've played, Gary Kear. And I think a lot of people, I think you might have confused a lot of people in a good way. And that, like, oh, wait, this was about something much deeper and much more profound than maybe I thought walking into the theater.

Was that, do you think it was interpreted in the way that you guys hoped and kind of like appreciated in the way that you guys wanted it to be? I think the people that we wanted to, you know, we made it for people who were able to decipher that kind of stuff. I mean, on one hand, it's a film about guys fighting, you know, robots. But on the other hand, it's about much deeper things. And it was always really nice. You don't want to spell this stuff out. You never want to kind of have to say this is what this is about. So when people pick up on it and they get it, it's really nice because, you don't want to spell this stuff out.

because it means that you've kind of done your job. Now, not everybody will, but unless you spoon-feed people, that's always going to be the case. So for us, we made the film that we wanted to make, and we made it on our own terms. And so it's been really gratifying when people say, oh, I get it, you know. I get that it's actually about a suicidal alcoholic.

It's kind of, it's not just guys fighting robots. And people that miss the point, I'm like, well, whether you like it or not. Right, right. talking a little bit about, so you meant we talk, we kind of geek out a little bit about Christopher Plummer, General Chang and that kind of thing, and I ingest. But like, what I appreciate about you, I feel like, is that you, you're able to kind of operate both sides of the brain at the same time. And like, we're in that, you obviously can carry the scene

with him and whatever, but you're never losing sight of, like, the privileged position you're in and the, whatever, the 12-year-old kid that remains inside. Is that something that you feel like is important to you to kind of like keep in check and like realize that you know being in a few franchises like you are working with the caliber of directors and actors um let's not forget that this is it's work but it's also living kind of a dream for a lot of people it's this is and it's a thing that which is key to this movie as well because it's about remaining in contact with your childhood self and that's not to say that you should ever be childish or arrested in your sort of development as an adult but we set a lot of our kind of emotional

parameters when we're young we have a very pure view of the world when we're young it's not burdened by cynicism or responsibility or the you know the inevitabilities that we come to terms with as an adult if you stay connected to that it enables you to enjoy life on a on a purer level you know so I try and whenever I find myself in a situation like meeting Christopher Plummer or whatever or being in Star Trek I always try and think now what would I have thought of this when I was seven or something you know and try and get a vicarious sense of that by you know sort of role-playing that in my head and it always leads to a sort of like oh my god I would be amazed by this and it's it makes it makes my life more enjoyable if you don't if you can't access that emotion then you're not going to enjoy life as much you know I think what would my seven-year-old self say you know I went to see Jejo on the set I was for a certain film recently and I was like what would my seven-year-old self say if he could see himself looking at that particular spaceship you know what I mean it would

be the first expletives you probably ever explained and it helps me to understand just what a joyous situation yeah that is you know I was talking to Matt Reeves recently and he was saying that JJ's as excited as he's ever been I mean he the weights on him obviously as it was with Trek yeah yeah but more so I think I think because his first his love you know he he's connected he came at Star Trek as a kind of you know he he hadn't always been a a dedicated fan like he he was of Star Wars and he was was able to approach it with a level of, you know, removed kind of objectivity. Whereas with Star Wars, yeah, I've never seen him so kind of like energized and excited

and also kind of, you know, concentrated and it's very exciting stuff. So you're playing Jar Jar Binks. I'm playing the son of Jar Jha, yes. Wait, the son of Jar Jar, oh, that's exclusive because the reports are that you're Jar Jar Jar Jar, but you're actually... Jar Jar Jha wouldn't have made it past 30. I mean, his mates would have killed him. I was joking.

I saw Benedict, actually, this morning. He's in town for imitation game. Yeah, I saw him last night. He, did you know he does as good a Jar Jar as I do? He does? I swear to God. We've done it back and forth. It's actually, you think.

What fun you guys must have passed. You think it's horror. Yeah, so never. I can imagine a more awful room. Trying to act, jar-cha each other. You can talk to one of us at a time, but if you see us both in a room, get the fucking a dodge. Absolutely. Thanks for giving me the heads out.

Yeah, just trying to help you out. Are you hoping that we're going to see more of Khan? What's the, I mean, in this next, I don't know. I mean, you know, as far as I know, what I'm hoping, and these are kind of unconfirmed things from the grapevine, sure. We're hopefully going to make it next year. And that, by my math, would bring it out on the 50th anniversary,

which would be really nice. I don't know if that's, that's not a, you know, a promise. I know that we're now on the five-year mission, you know, that's been set up. So we're off into space now. I don't know where they're storing Khan or whether he could come back, But obviously, you know, Benedict was a great presence in that movie. And Leonard came back for Into Darkness. And of course, there's community.

Who knows? Who knows? You never say never is a thing. Okay, so as a fan, and I'm a huge track. I went to conventions. I went to my first one this year. Did you? Yeah. Okay, well, I literally, I have like Gene Ronenberry's autograph as a kid.

Like, I did it the whole thing. What did you make of? Because I honestly, I'm not just saying this because you're here. I liked in darkness a lot. But I know the hardcore fans, a lot of them didn't. for whatever reason and like were you caught off guard by that or are you just so in your to all that and you're like I get whatever you want it's fine I can see that point of view I understand why when you love something as much as you know the

hardcore fans of any franchise do you have a particular way I mean I'm you know listen to me and my my dislike of the prequicles you know I'm venomous about them and there are people out there who love them and probably hate me because I don't like but I within to darkness I got it when I read the script I just loved the fact that they'd created a sort of companion film to Star Trek 2 it was like it felt like a bit of a love letter it was an acknowledgement I think the the hardcore fans were a little bit disgruntled that we it was still quite earthbound we hadn't quite gone off into space yet we were still hanging around

and our own solar system I get that but it was such a kind of fun adventure and I like the fact that Kirk is is shown to be very human in it and vulnerable and kind of make some mistakes and my here's my quibble I kind of want I feel like they should have let him actually die for I mean obviously at some point come back whatever like oh what you can't at the stakes of it I felt like you we were robbed in the end I feel like it's it's an emotional moment it's a it's a really emotional scene it's nice but then like 10 minutes later magic con blood brought him back that was my own oh I think Kurt saying dead yeah it's such a I know but that would have been too similar to

the arc of yeah because the next one would have to be about bringing him back I like the switcheroo there. I like the kind of, but in order to do that, there had to be quite a convenient way of fixing it quite quickly. And the calm blood kind of worked because it was, you know, of course, it's genetically modified. It makes sense, yeah. So we kind of had our cake and eat it there.

But sometimes you cheat a little bit, you know, just to, sometimes a moment is worth fudging the details for it. And I love the, I love the, when I read that role reversal of the death of Kirk, and it's parallel to the death of Spock, I just, I thought, I thought it was, I liked it and it appealed to me as a fan but these properties are so delicate and I respect

I'm famously quoted as saying fuck you to a survey that they did at one of the conventions where they listed which actually I was kind of saying it to the journalist we were doing the interview I think it was the first one of the afternoon I'm quoted to saying it was the first one in the morning I think it was the first one of the afternoon

and the first thing this guy told me he kind of just sort of surprised me with this question Oh, guess what? A bunch of Star Trek fans think you're shit. And what do you say to that? And I was like, well, fuck you. And it was pretty much to him. I was saying it.

I get it. I totally get it. It's not an icebreaker. That's not what to start off a conversation. It felt like a divisive way to start a conversation. And I was a bit like crabby after my lunch to my nap, you know? Well, let's also be frank. I mean, you can have quibbles with it.

I've seen all the truck films. No matter, it's not the second worst. Oh, it's come on people. Absolutely not. I mean, come on. Even, I mean, William Shatner would tell you that, the... Final Frontier? Yeah.

They did have a campfire scene in that and make marshmallows, so it was nice. Row the boat. The rock monsters he never got, he probably would argue that that's the worst. Do you know who's supposed to play, the rumor has it, was supposed to play Saibok in that one? No. It's supposed to be Sean Connery. Really? Well, because, you know, the planet they go to, it's called Shakuri.

Literally, there you go. I can imagine him in that role as well. Right, the same beard, basically. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's a good concept. The whole Laughing Vulcan thing, that was an interesting. There are great things in all the movies, you know, the execution varied. But for me, you know, Into Darkness was such a fun film to make.

Fan quibbles aside, you know, it's something that I'm really proud of. You should be. And from franchise to franchise, because you have seven going always at once. You're in the middle, you started mission, right? Yeah, we're at the beginning. We just, we started in Vienna like three weeks ago, and we're currently, They're currently in Marra. I left them in Marrakesh fighting evil.

I'm going to be on a t-shirt. I'm going back to work on Thursday. We're having a blast, actually. It's really good to be back. Chris Macquarie at the helm. It's had such an eclected group of directors this series, you know, from De Palma, right through John Wu, JJ, Brad, of course, yeah.

Such a smart move from the beginning to let it, I suppose the bond, which also obviously mixes up directors often, but still kind of has a consistency. And this does, too, the characters are consistent. But even down to look and tone, there's always a slight, it's like you get to feel the director's stamp on it, which is nice. And that's all Tom, in a way.

He kind of, he's at pains to evolve the series and have it be a kind of, each one be a stand-alone. I mean, if you look back through the bonds, I would be hard-pressed to name five directors of James Bond films. Or like three, maybe. Some guy named John Glenn, but like what we know, it's like... I know.

Wasn't he a Space Man? Did it all. Yeah, so these, it's an interesting thing to be part of, and each one has a different feel. We have a new female character in this one, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is so much fun. Classic Swede, really, really pragmatic, very funny,

incredibly beautiful, just like Stellan Scarsgard. All the Swedes are beautiful. I just went to Stockholm on vacation, actually, a week ago. And I walked to the airport, and literally there was like, this is what I dreamed. I would hope when I walk into a Stockholm airport, giant poster, Stellan Scars. Yeah, he's the president, I think.

It's amazing. So, yeah, so that's a great. I love, I'm not one of those actors who does one for them and one for me. It's not like, I'll do a hector in The Search for Happiness and then go off and I have to do Star Trek. I'd love doing those movies. They're so much fun, and there is much part of our cinematic culture as the most earnest art house movie. And anyone who says it's not as a snob, you know, there is room for pure entertainment. and pure entertainment is a valuable thing.

So I enjoy doing both the kinds. Was getting the first mission kind of a shift in the career? I mean, obviously you were well on your way to great stuff thanks to Sean, et cetera, which was probably the biggest shift. But in terms of getting a foot into kind of, quote, Hollywood, big time kind of filmmaking, of that sort. Absolutely. Was mission kind of like a turning point there, you think?

Yeah, that was my kind of my big opening into that kind of realm. How did that happen? Is that through, is Tom just a, is JJ? Yeah, that's because JJ's very much, you know, he likes to cut through the kind of the bureaucracy of filmmaking. Like if he wants an actor, he'll go and ask them rather than ask their people to ask the people who know the people. And so he called me.

I was writing with Edgar, I was writing Hot Fuzz with Edgar, and the phone rang in the office. And I said, oh, JJ Abrams is on the line for you. And I'm like, we're alias, JJ Abrams. And like, yeah, yeah, he wants to talk to you. I'm like, what? So I went and took this phone call and he literally said,

hey, I thought it'd be fun if you were in Mission Possible 3. I remember going back to the table and Edgar going, what was that about it? And I'm going to be a Mission Impossible 3. And the mushrooms in the other room are fantastic. You know what? And I'll tell you, in terms of relating it back to Hector, I got to L.A. to do the movie.

Having never done a film of this kind before, I sort of hold up in this Beverly Hills Hotel and just sort of waited for information. I went out to see JJ, they were shooting some scenes, kind of met him. I was very jet-lagged. I wasn't in a particularly good place then, personally. I was a little bit sort of,

I was in the midst of a personal crisis of my own, you know, just in terms of what I wanted from life, from my own happiness, and I remember sitting in this hotel thinking, okay, so I now, I'm in a movie with Tom Cruise, I'm in a Hollywood film, this supposed to, you know, kind of nirvana that you were supposed to head towards if you're an actor. And I really am not happy as a person, you know.

And I realize that those things don't bring you happiness. You have to be in the right place to enjoy those things. I've since sorted all that out. And I remember going back to JJ later. I'm going, do you remember that when I did, wasn't it difficult? And he's like, yeah, I remember. And now I'm like, I've got a handle on everything. And I understand my place in the world,

which I think is the kind of key to happiness, is knowing being okay with yourself, you know. Right. But is there a balance, though, like in terms of, because you want to, I would think, for many people it's useful to set goals to strive for more to kind of push yourself but if we become

too goal oriented does that lead to just daily frustration why am I not I've gotten to this level but why am I not getting that film why are they going to this guy first? I think if you yeah if it like I say it's if it's about the goals you're going to get into trouble if you actually enjoy the journey

the goals don't really matter you know because it's about getting to each one and if you know if you reach one then sure so often another journey but always enjoy the journey don't think that it's the end of it that's gonna bring you the joy. It has to be getting there, you know, that sounds very trite. I think, you know, this job is a series of journeys.

And as an actor, you know, whether it's the physical traveling or playing a character or hanging out with a particular group of people for three or four months, you're constantly on these journeys. You're abandoned all the time as well because you get to the end

and suddenly these friends that you've made that you got very close to, they all disappear into the wind. That was also nice about making the world's end and then doing Hector with Rosamund because at the end of the world's end, we just said, see you next week you know it was lovely so we didn't have that usual

has she snuck you a peek at Garn girl yet I keep asking her about it she's Rosamund so cool because she's she's not sort of like she's nervous about it because it's like it's huge everyone's talking about it you know early reports are amazing it's Fincher it's a huge role for her it's a it's a major I remember when she was showing me stuff early on she showed me stuff on her iPhone of some of the looks for the film and you know just just seeing the kind of things she would be doing, you know. It's going to be amazing for her. I'm so proud of it. It's going to be awesome. This might be the moment, the fuck you moment for me. But I'm curious, just like when

you look on the, on the trivia and stuff, were you, you almost didn't glorious, right? I did, yeah, yeah, yeah. You almost did, should we thank you for Michael Fassbender's career in a sense? Because that was, that was, I mean, he had done some amazing stuff already, but I think that's where the radar, he got on everybody's radar. And that was supposed to be your role, right? Well, yeah, and I'm glad. And I've spoken to Quentin since then, and he sort of said thank God you couldn't do it and rightly so you know because Michael a Michael was able to one of the biggest challenges of the role was to speaking German right Michael has some German and was able to you know pull it off so convincingly I had a bizarre week here's a

here's a nice problem to have I I'd said yes to Tintin and you know was very excited about doing that and then Quentin Tarantino offered me that role in in glorious bars and I had a week when I was having to choose between Stephen Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino Now, that's not a terrible problem. We have P.T. Anderson waiting on the wide and Fincher in the other room, too, by the way. I was agonizing over it, and I was actually quite sort of, like, frustrated and sad, and I suddenly stopped and thought, this isn't like, are you going to die or not? So in the end, because I committed to Tintin, it was like, it was a simple decision.

I get to work with one of my favorite ever directors, and I work with Quentin at a different time. And thank God I did because Michael was so good in that movie, you know. Let's bring it back to the important stuff, Star Wars. Your child is probably approaching the age when she can start to appreciate a Star Wars show? Well, I showed her, I couldn't wait. When she was three, we got to act. I played her the music in the car and we used to listen to it on the way to preschool and stuff. And she would...

The Imperial March. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She still sings that. There's a song that she sings. It's our dog's name which she sings to the tune of the Imperial Mars. to the tune of the Imperial March. It's a complex story to tell. But we listened to the music

and I would tell her what was happening like an audio book to the soundtrack. And then she said, can I see the film? So we watched the first Star Wars. She really liked it, a little scared at the sand people, a little scared at the canteener, got bored towards the end.

Empire Striots Back, she really liked. I think that was her favorite, weirdly. Return of the Jedi, the Emperor, was too scary. We'll go back to them. But the key moment watching Empire Strikes Back, and I told JJ this story, And JJ took this story into meetings about the new Star Wars in terms of how he wanted to make it,

a decision he'd already made. This was a nice little bit of ammunition. We were watching the film, and Yoda came on, the Frank Oz Yoda, and she'd never seen Yoda before. She'd seen pictures of him, and I think she'd probably seen him on the Cartoon Network in Clone Wars. So she'd seen the animated Yoda, the CG Yoda that was currently advertising Vodafone on UK television.

she'd never seen the puppet and the puppet came on and I saw her kind of sit up and look at the TV and she looked at me and she said oh daddy he's real that's amazing and I kind of like I literally teared up I was like

oh my daughter you're raising her right I know so I told JJ this I said listen you know and I was I was at Pinewood one day and visiting JJ as I would of course abuse my friendship

with him to go and see what was happening down on set and one of the puppeteers you know because Jojo's using, it's a well-known fact, I'm not giving anything away. He's being very old school about his approach to the film making. He's using a lot of physical effects, a lot of masks, a lot of real stuff that's there. One of the puppeteers said, oh, are you the guy whose daughter saved Star Wars?

And I was like, wow. Wow. And I've tried to explain it to Tilly. She's too busy talking about, you know, Barbie and stuff. Still, I think that they're going a step too far that they're using the giant Mark Hamel puppet instead of Mark. I mean, it's just rude. I know. He's still around.

He's good. I know. He's looking good as well. He is. I've sort of, a few of his sort of Instagram shots of him with his beard. He looks awesome. There you go. Clearly a little Alec Guinness influenced.

Well, he's the same age as Alec Guinness was when he made the first one. Is that true? That's insane. Which makes... It's crazy on both sides to think that Alec was that young. Exactly, yes. Guys at that time were older when they were younger. And to think that Harrison Ford is 10 years older than Alec Guinness was when he made the original

Star Wars is a mind-blank thing. That kind of math is, I mean, it still strikes me. I mean, even going back Harrison Ford makes you think of Last Crusay. Like, Sean Conner, he's only like 10 years older. How he's playing his dad, I know, I know. Amazing. So, needless to say, you have not shown her the prequel. No, no, no.

She hasn't really... I don't think she'd enjoy them. I don't think that... I think she'd be pretty bored by them quite quickly. Any peg of worth will not enjoy the... No, I know. I honestly don't think... I haven't watched...

I can't really... I like to watch films with Tilly, and I can't really watch those films with that going, ugh. I'll later through it. But I just think that, that very honest reaction to a physical puppet, for me, really... underpins the importance of using physical effects,

not overusing CG. I think CG is a brilliant tool. It's so great and it's settled now into it. It's like, for me, it's like synthesizers when they came along in the 80s. Everybody was like, drums are dead, man. No more guitars, that's it. It's all been burning more.

And there was that period when everyone was using synthesizer and then gradually they took their place in the pantheon of musical instruments. Now, computer generated images are used cleverly and subtly and can be used to augmenting. augment stuff they don't have to be everything right because they can be quite airless and the the overuse of them in the prequels made those films feel like sort of like cartoons in a way sure and they lost a little heart I think do

you feel like obviously you've written co-written several of your projects is it important for you to always kind of have your foot in that realm to be developing your own material to be creating work for yourself yeah it's it's I I feel it's a vital for me I don't think you know if you if you subtract my own films from my body of work then and, you know, I have a flimsy career. It's kind of, I'm very proud of this stuff I've done away from Edgar and Nick, but those films form the heart of what I do,

and I want to be able to keep doing that and working with those guys. You know, Edgar and me are already talking about what we're going to do next. And I said, foolishly said in an interview, oh, we made three films in 10 years, we could do that again. And then the next thing I see is, oh, a new trilogy coming. No touch to you. I know, which is not the case. But we could, you know.

We're not necessarily going to launch into another. the three-part thematic film cycle but we might make I don't know you never know and I feel like our own experiences away from working with each other only compound our love of getting together and making films you know now now that I mean the whole debacle was too strong a word yeah what that what happened with the Ant Man incident the Ant Man incident as we all we shall call it now so were you gonna be in it were you gonna get any role no no I I think it's important for Edgar when he makes films for all of us for Nick Edgar

and myself, when we make films away from our little group to have some distance between what we do there and what we do elsewhere. And I think that's why Nick and I weren't in Scott Pilgrim. You know, it was a very, you know, Edgar was very, we didn't expect to be. It felt like the right thing to do was separate. And I don't think with Ant Man,

there was never any plans for Nick and I to be in it, you know, it was something that, because that would be a little gimmicky, I think. You know, if Edgar makes a film and asks me to be in it, then I'd always, say yes, because I love working with him. But, you know, that's just the way that turned out. I'm sure it's going to be, it'll be a great addition to the Marvel universe.

Like, are you going to be able to watch it? Like, I mean, this is not even particular to Ant-Man, but I'm curious, like, when you get to, again, a level and know the participants and know how the sausage is made, are you able to kind of appreciate films in the same way? You feel like, again, going back to seven-year-old Simon. Is anything kind of, like, detracted in terms of your enjoyment of films you think at this point? Well, you have to, I think, there's a critical,

faculty that you have which you can never switch off but you have to kind of background it a little bit you have to ignore it like noise and that that comes from being like a film student and learning about not just being in the industry but learning about film and knowing the entire intricacies of the technical process of making a film when you watch a film you have to suspend your disbelief a little bit more just to ignore that stuff you know you can hear ADR and you can see stuff that's been reshot and you if you really want to enjoy something you have to make sure you turn that stuff off if you do start

noticing that it's because the film's not entertaining you enough right that's true yeah yeah um you think you'll direct at some point I'd love to I really I found something recently that I I really wanted to direct and I investigated had meetings about it unfortunately the timing didn't quite work out but yeah I would really love to that's something I'm excited about doing I mean do you know I've talked to so many actors about different kind of like what they look for in a director you've got a final one in and Hector and Peter Peter Chalston.

Like, what's, how much direction do you want? Like, what do you, do you want to be given total free reign? Or do you want them to come up to you in between takes and say, do this? Do you ever want a line reading? You know, I mean, how far do you want it to do? I like I like I'm there, you know, the director is the captain of the ship. It gets a little dangerous when the actors start thinking they're more important to the director, I think, from filmmaking. And I like to be told either that I'm doing the right thing or what he or she needs of me, you know.

And, like, working with Brad Bird was really interesting because he came from a medium where he could manipulate his actors literally. You know, he was from animation, so he could change their very facial expressions. And he kind of was like that. You know, I remember him first, the first thing we did on Ghost Protocol, he came up to me and was telling me exactly how he wanted me to do the line. And I was like, all right, okay, I like this. You know, this is sort of, this means if I get this right, it's exactly what you want. It's fine as long as he says, like, and now I want your arms to expand, like 15 feet. Like, wait, do you realize we are...

You know, I'm human, right? Yes. Physics does enter into this brand. I'm sorry to say. I think you also learned a lot from, like, collaborating with someone like Tom, who, Tom Cruise, I don't know when I'm calling him, Tom, because he's my best bud, but like,

but even just from my side of things to see how he carries himself and see how he, he's the first one at a premiere. He's the last one out. He's a consummate professional, Tom. It's amazing to watch. He's so old school and maybe I don't even know if back in the day they were like this or he's just unique. I think he is that I was talking to a producer about,

this recently about him Tom being like the last of a particular breed of movie stars and it's because he applies himself a hundred percent to his work and he loves that's what brings him his happiness is is is that endeavor he is so committed to what he does yeah it's inspiring and and he's also a producer so he's more than actor when he's particularly on a film like Mission Impossible which he has a vested interest in it's a personal film to him you know he's also doing producer things on set he's he's aware of every facet of the production and And being around him, he's fun.

He's a lot more, he's a lot less complex than everyone thinks. They kind of see this mysterious character who's crazy, he jumps on sover. He's not really. He's kind of like a regular guy who does an extraordinary job. And it's funny when you get to that part of him, which is just the normal person. And you're looking at him and talking and just being normally think, Hey, you're talking about he also has that unique ability

as like you hear about like the, again, that 0.001% of movie stars where you're talking to him. there's nobody else. Like he's present, he's there. But that's all about, he's incredibly courteous. He was raised in Kentucky. He was raised in the South, and his mom raised him right to be like,

to have interest in when you're talking. He's not allowed his movie star kind of status to turn him into a kind of, you know, aloof, rude person. The part of that is just courtesy, which is nice. But I, yeah, I really like him. I find him to be a fun, fun person to be around just because he's fascinating. And he knows, I'll often say,

he'll tell me something and I'll go well of course you're Tom Cruise for God's sake and he always finds that funny but like the other day we were on the subway in Vienna and he said he said I made this movie called Risky Business and I was like oh did you look that one up did you really

let me just get on IMDB and check that of course I know you made risky business that iconic scene with you and insert 50 movies but he didn't he didn't do it to be he's not like you know I was in this little band called The Beatles you know it's just it's more like

he wouldn't assume that you knew it's cut his week. It's amazing. Enjoying anything in the TV realm right now? I know you're working, but are you binging on anything? I tell you what I really enjoyed was True Detective, and I enjoyed not binging on it, because I watched it week by week,

and I forgot how nice it is with serial TV. To give it a week, you know, and to spend a bit of time with the episode and which I had with the last series of Game of Thrones as well, because I was watching it as it was aired, so I'd have a whole week to kind of digest. And you don't get that with binge watching anymore. Have you seen Fargo, by the way?

I loved it. I just watched the first five episodes last week, and I was just, it's amazing. It's one of the best things I've seen in years. Martin is incredible. He's, he's so good as an actor and as a character. He inhabits that role, but Billy Wobb

and Allison, he plays the... Yes, I'm pointing out of her name, but she was nominated for an Emmy, and she's amazing. Wonderful. And just, how amazing it is it to take a film which was, it wasn't like that film was like, oh, we could do more with that. No.

Fargo is a brilliant Oscar winner. movie and yet they managed to somehow it's just a riff on it in a way it's just fantastic and it be this is happening a lot now they're making a series of Westworld you know they're taking which has an amazing cast yeah yeah and also there's another what else oh Hannibal is a very interesting show I've heard I haven't seen it but I've heard it's actually quite good you know you take a film kind of this is it's a very interesting evolution I think in terms of how TV and film are are becoming less discernible and you know the more our TV screens become like cinema screens the more theatrical film becomes like big light shows and things that

you have to go to see yeah in in a kind of big sort of theater the more these kind of like TV versions of films are happening it's it's an interesting once like fincher signs on the TV it's like all bets are off yeah yeah fin it's good enough for him it's good enough for literally exactly and how and how people kind of how people sort of enjoy television now it's there's there's a whole thesis to be written about it Interestingly, bringing it back to Hector, one of the things that I've really, really loved about watching this movie with an audience is the communal experience, which is one thing that people sometimes forget about theatrical cinema. They see it as being, oh, yeah, we'll go and see it on the big screen, like, that's all it is. There is something to be said for watching a film with a whole bunch of people you don't know.

Totally. An incredible community. And with Hector, because it's all about, because it's quite a spiritual movie, and people often come out a bit like dazed and smiling and sort of like having been through a bit of a bit of a, journey themselves. It's lovely to sit in a room full of people and go through that with them. And it's something to remember

when you're thinking about shall I watch this at home or watch this away. You will lose that on the feeling of sharing and experience of the whole bunch of people. We're becoming quite solitary as animals. The more we get like this,

the less we're enjoying those moments of togetherness. I sound like a hippie. This is what happens when you do a movie called Search for Happiness. I know. Peg is turned into a complete hippie. And you can't see it on the podcast, but he's not wearing anything, which seems a little extreme. He's wearing a single flower.

I won't say where. Congratulations on this one, my friend. It's always good to see you. Jar Jarroofs as well. I loved it. I watched that thing we did again on YouTube recently. The most divisive, it was like, what can I say to really annoy him? I cut right into the court.

To see your reaction when I first did it is a beautiful thing. I will never ever not respect you. for that decision. I thought it was a brilliant piece of journalism. Kind of the Mike Wallace in the TV. I was going to see, buddy. Thank you, buddy. Thank you, buddy. You too. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, Michael.

Hey, Tom. You want to tell him? Or you want me to tell him? No, no, no. I got this. People out there. People. Lean in. Get close. Get close. Listen, here's the deal. We have big news. We got monumental news. We got snack-tacular news.

Yeah, after a brief hiatus, my good friend, Michael Ian Black, and I are coming back. My good friend, Tom Kavanaugh and I are coming back to do what we do best. What we were put on this earth to do. To pick a snack. To eat a snack. And to rate a snack. Nemptically. Emotionally.

Spiritually. Mates is back. Mike and Tom eat snacks. Is back. A podcast for anyone. With a mouth. With a mouth. Available wherever you get your podcasts.