Happy Sad Confused - Simon Pegg Vol. II

Episode Date: April 3, 2018

Simon Pegg makes a triumphant return to "Happy Sad Confused" on this episode that hits all the proper nerd pleasure centers. Simon can currently be seen in Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" so of course that sends Josh and Simon down a Spielberg rabbit hole, including a ranking of the Indiana Jones films. Plus Simon explains why he's got a new view on potentially contributing to the Star Wars universe, why "Star Trek Beyond" was a tough experience, and how soon we can expect a reunion with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Please play responsibly. Today on Happy Say I Confused, Simon Pegg, on Stephen Spielberg, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Hey guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Said, Confused. As I said, the guest on today's show, one of my favorite human beings, Simon Pegg, nerd icon. I mean that in the most affectionate way. I would dream of being a nerd icon. The Man has been in the Star Trek franchise, not just been in, he's been Scotty for God's sakes and co-written one of the films.

He's been in Star Wars, Mission Impossible. And then, of course, we got to give thanks to the Great Cornetto Trilogy, Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, World's End, him and his collaborators, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost really delivered on those three films. And I think they'll, I know he and Nick are working on stuff, and I know he and Edgar are continuing to talk. So more to come from that trio, I'm sure, in the future. But Simon's always one of the good guys, easy to talk to. He's definitely cut from the same cloth, easy to geek out on all manners of pop culture, whether it's comic movies, sci-fi, action, adventure.

And that's certainly appropriate for this conversation on today's episode. Simon was in my little office to talk about Ready Player 1, which is currently the number one film in theaters, and it is indeed a Steven Spielberg spectacle. It is definitely Steven Spielberg doing things that only Steven Spielberg can do, directing action and adventure, and utilizing visual effects like very few people can. It is certainly worth seeing on a big screen with great sound. I've seen it once. I want to check it out again, at least one more time on the big screen, because there is a lot to take in to this film. If you've seen it, you know it's based on Ernie Klein's

best-selling book and very much a film about nostalgia, about 80s and 90s film and video games and TV with tons of cool Easter eggs throughout but also works, I think, just as a fun action adventure and cool cast, Ty Sheridan, Olivia

Cook, the great Ben Mendelssohn. If you listen to this podcast, you know I love me some Ben Mendelssohn and Simon Pegg in a key role that I won't talk too much about here for fear of spoilers. So this is a spoiler-free chat, so proceed without any worry. And I hope you guys enjoy. This is, we cover a lot of ground on this one talking about all the major franchises that

Simon has been a part of Star Trek and Star Wars, future involvement in Star Trek, what's going on with that Quentin Tarantino's script, what he thinks of JJ returning to the Star Wars franchise, why he hasn't been in a comic book film, lots and lots we covered in this one. Simon is one of my favorites to mix it up with, for God's sakes, we've battled about everything from, you know, Jar Jar Binks to the prequels, basically only the prequels. That's usually what it boils down to. We have heated arguments about the prequels. We don't really get into that here, so there was no bloodshed. This is just a love fest. So I think you guys will enjoy. Last bit of reminder before we get into the main event, as always, please spread the good word of HappySah Confused

via reviewing, rating, and subscribing to the show on iTunes. Those reviews definitely matter. Those ratings matter. They spread the good word. And if you haven't had a chance to go back into the archives, noodle around back there. Lots of cool fun stuff. Just most recently, we had Sean Penn on, guys.

Amazing. And now we're getting into the big summer movies. So some cool big-time guests coming from your favorite summer movies in the weeks ahead. Anyway, today's adventure for you guys is a, conversation with Mr. Simon Pegg. I hope you guys enjoy. Simon Pegg, in my office at last.

I don't think you've been here, right? It's a proper little nerd den, isn't it? It's like basically the Ready Player One office. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's like this is the most appropriate place for you to talk about Ready Player One. Always good to see you. You too, buddy. Congratulations on this one.

Your love affair with Steven Spielberg, is, further consummated and the glorious result. Ongoing? Ongoing, 10 years or something, right? Yeah, yeah, I guess we did Tintin in 2009 and then he came into a little cameo in Paul that year and then he were again. Is this

a little bit more of a stress-free kind of promotional run? Because it's like you're invested in this, of course. But it's not on your shoulders, it's not on your face. Absolutely. It's nice. It's not on your... The quill of your pen. Yeah. The kids are doing it as, you know, they're doing a lot of the heavy lifting as well, Ty, and Olivia and Lena and everybody and it's and it's also it's lovely to go out and be promoting a

Steven Spielberg film you know because just it's cool by association and one like this that is uh you know I know he's introduced this a few times and keeps talking about it as like a movie right yeah there's films and movies and I like his films that I also I love his movies he's the pains to kind of stress this is a movie of very much a kind of you know in the purest sense and a movie experience you know and um it is it's extraordinary so uh Let's reminisce a little bit about our shared collective love of Spielberg, because that's just a fun topic to have anyway, whether you're a Stephen Stilrich film or not.

You were, I was doing math, you were probably like, what, like 11 when Raiders came out. I was 10. 10, okay. So is that the first time you were aware of the name, Stephen Spielberg? I think it was, it's definitely the first time I saw of Spielberg film theatrically. Yeah. I remember the trailers for it were all over the TV at the time, and they kept saying from the producers of Jaws and stuff,

Star Wars. And I remember being like, oh, I've seen Star Wars and I love that. And I've heard about Jaws. This must be really good. Not knowing what a producer even was. And my stepdad at the time, I remember he said to me, we can go do two things tonight. We can go to the fair, which came to town every summer. This must have been August. Or we can go and see this film Raiders of the Lost Ark. And I remember making a direct choice. It was like, okay, let's go to the cinema. And I see that as a pivotal point in my life. Do I pick? 10 years old, you made the choice of a lifetime. Is it ephemeral kind of, you know, enjoyment, fleeting light shows, or is it going to the cinema to see?

You always have the long game in mind. I know, right? Ironically, nowadays, most cinema is an ephemeral light show. This is true. But back then, it was, you know, and I did, and it was an extraordinary experience. And I remember coming back and just telling my mom all about it and trying to recount all the, you know, the melting Nazis and whips and stuff. That's all the kid wants is melting Nazis. We're easy to please at the end of the day.

Yeah, the Indiana Jones films are probably the best example of just, like, pure entertainment. Amazing. I actually took, well, I showed my daughter the four Indiana Jones films recently, and we started with Raiders, watched them all in order, and I was really interested to see her how she took to it. What was her favor? I'm curious. She likes The Last Crusade the best,

which I think because all the father-son stuff is really fun. Right. And I must admit, watching, Crystal Skull with her Made you appreciate it a little more? Made me appreciate it a little more. And seeing it through her eyes Actually, I got it a little better

than I did the, you know, when I saw it. I will say... As a cynical adult. Well, you know, and you're friends with Stephen, so you can't probably say it only so much. But the first 20, 30 minutes of Crystal Skull, I think is pretty good. Yeah, it is. I think it starts well. It falls apart a little bit with the monkeys

and the, you know, it gets... Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you have his ear. So talk to him. him about this. I wouldn't dare. Why? Part of the joy of Indiana Jones is the locations. And that feels like they were on the soundstage.

We'll never know. We'll never know. You know, the funny thing is with him is that I think you could probably easily discuss stuff like that with him because he's very humble and he's not particularly, you know, and he also is very happy to talk about his work. But I just love him so much. I'd hate for him to kind of put him on the spot about something that he felt embarrassed about. So it's, yeah, nine years into the relationship,

I feel like it's time for me to ask the tough questions. I've buttered you up enough. Can we talk about Indy 4? So how would you rank? We know we're 4 is obviously the 4th best. But how do we rank the other three for you? For me, it goes, in order, Raiders. I like Temple of Doom.

I know it's quite an angry film, you know? They're sort of divorce movie and it's a bit nasty. It's pretty racist, to be honest. That's true. You know, but that aside, for me, maybe it's an emotional thing. But, yeah, I rate them in order of their release. The opening sequence of Temple of Doom

remains one of the great sequences ever. Yeah, Club Obi-1 and him in a white tuxedo and stuff. Fantastic. Nice try, wow, show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the best. Do you think you have a better shot of being in West Side Story or Indy 5?

What are your next collaboration for Spielberg? I don't know. Every time I see him, like, at the moment when we're doing press, I almost say, so listen, if you're doing anything else, so I'm always around, but I stop short. I don't know. It's a weird one. It could be like Denham Elliot's nephew.

You could be like... I could be Marcus Brody Jr. Exactly. That would be amazing. I don't know. It's weird, you know, getting to be in these things that I grew up watching. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to infiltrate every world, you know. I managed to be on...

And weirdly being in Star Wars kind of spoiled Star Wars for me because I was on the set and I was in it, like probably. in it. We're in the desert and there were gonged droids everywhere and stormtroopers and it was like having a totally 40 Star Wars experience and it and afterwards I felt like I've done now I don't need any don't need it anymore and I do feel that in a weird way. So I wouldn't want to do that to Indiana Jones. Fair enough, fair enough. That being said, if he calls out there. Marcus Brody Jr. does suddenly have a nice ring to us. Who would be as meaningful for you to meet at this one? You've met probably many of your heroes growing up.

Have you interacted with Harrison at any point? Yeah, a little bit on the Force Awakens and you know, that was fun and funnily enough today it's a slightly different realm but I was coming out of my hotel here in New York and Mike D from the Beastie Boys came out behind me and I didn't see him until he was gone

and I almost chased him and I was ready to like be a proper photo asking fanboy and open it up with you know I put sabotage in Star Trek you know I'm not just a nutter, but he got away. When I was growing up, my brother's

name is Adam. So, growing up in the 80s in New York, we got a fair number of Adam Horowitz Oh yeah, of course, yeah, yeah. Phone calls, very disappointed people calling the Horowitz household. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Not finding a beastie boy there. That's amazing, of course. So,

so yeah, that's interesting that you talk about sort of like, you know, that yin and the yang of being in the things that you revere and not wanting it, and ruining the experience, I'm still, I'm sure you enjoy, you enjoy Last Jedi, I assume, as a fan. So, but you were, you know, that doesn't go away. I went, when I saw the last, not the last Jedi, what was, the Force Awakens, I, I had an odd sense of ennui during it.

Like, I felt kind of disappointed and, um, I couldn't figure out why. And it ended at the premiere. And I, I felt down. And I was like, why do I feel down? And I realized it was because I've been in it. Yeah. I'd read the script. And I'd even.

contributed a little bit to the script here and there so I'd been involved in it and so it wasn't a big surprise so I watched the movie knowing everything that was going to happen so when that big thing happens to one of our favorite ever characters it wasn't a surprise and I realized that what

the payoff for being in it was to have the experience of seeing it removed and I wouldn't swap that because it was an amazing experience but you know it was a strange one so for this experience with Stephen I can call him Stephen because we've never talked

for more than three minutes at a time. I mean, Tintin's obviously a much different kind of experience. Yeah, yeah. You know, we won't ruin, you know, their avatars involved for most of the actors in here. We're not going to ruin different surprises. But for to say, most of your stuff here is live action. Yeah, yeah.

So is that, what's it like to be on a Stephen Steelwork set? How does it compare to other sets you've been on? It was great. And it was interesting because my, obviously, as you say, my first experience was performance capture. And with that, it was, you know, he was learning a new craft at that point. It was his first movie in that realm.

And so he was sort of feeling his way. But it was a different kind of energy to live action. With this film, there was a little bit of performance capture where now he'd learned that he could just sit back, watch the acting, and direct it later. Back in the day, when we did Tintin, he was holding the camera, this sort of performance capture camera, looking at it and sort of shooting it as we went.

You don't need to do that. you can actually, you shoot it later. You get it as a 3D event in the computer and then you own that event to shoot however you want. I know it still kind of blows me away. And then the live action stuff, some of that was kind of supposed to be

archival sort of nanny cam, you know, footage or something. And he wanted to be able to scroll around it and you were looking at it on a tablet. So he came up with this way to shoot it with eight cameras in a semicircle and shoot a wide. and a close and then stitch it all together in the edit

so you could literally kind of spin it round. Got it. So that was kind of like a cross between performance action and performance capture and live action and then when we shot the stuff when it was just normal live action then that felt new

because I'd never done that with Stephen before and it was brilliant. It was a privilege. And most of your stuff is with Mark Rylance who isn't amazing. I mean, he can do anything. He's annoyingly, sickeningly good. Yeah.

And he's doing something in this. I mean, I've never seen him do this and it's a choice it's like a bold kind of like take on like this kind of eccentric um god i don't even know how to describe him as aspergic to be honest i think he plays him as a character and that was you know halliday's thing was that he was um socially awkward and that was probably a result of his being on the asperger's spectrum you know and as such my character ogden morrow is is the kind of face he's the jobs of the you know to his was and is the guy that can talk about product and be the face of it, whereas Halliday is a little bit awkward.

And so when he does speak, like, it's interesting when he's his avatar, he's very gregarious and sort of in character. But as himself, he's incredibly awkward and weird. And Mark just plays that. I mean, it was, it's kind of frightening when you act with someone like that, because you just think all the time in your head, you're panicking, thinking, you've got to be really good in this scene, otherwise no one's going to be looking at you. I can't deliver the usual B, I need to actually go B plus A minus.

I don't go full A. Damn, it needs to work today. So you've seen the film twice, you were saying. I saw it just last night, and you said it best. I mean, it's kind of an overwhelming experience, and that's part of the joy of it. It's such like a, it's like a perfect film for these times, first of all. It is like a celebration of nerddom, for lack of a better term,

and there's something in there for everyone. I probably got 20% and I'm a full-on geek of the references. And I'm saying to you, like, as soon as like, there are, for God's sakes, there are like multiple Bukuru Banzai references in this. I'm like in a mainstream Spielberg film. There's some deep cuts in there.

Like, I mean, that's crazy. Were there any, having seen it a couple times that you took a special pleasure in that like, for me again, Buckaroo Bonsai, that hits right into my heart. For me and Edgar Wright,

it was the fact that there's a moment when somebody throws the glave from Kroll, you know, the spinning. I didn't notice that. Yeah. And I noticed like in H's workshop, there's one of the pods from

2001 in the background I mean and there's so many video game references that I made a point of trying to remember a few when I saw it on Monday night and now I can't have all gone As a Star Trek fan I would I appreciate the there's a funeral at some point

I think you know I find it really awkward saying this because it feels like a cynical marketing thing so I'll say it you know in whatever however this happens at some point in your lives You don't have to go and see it three times at the cinema this weekend

if you don't want to or you can't afford it because it's very expensive to go to the theatre. I know that. But at some point, watch this film as many times as you can because there's so much detail. Don't do it in the first watch, sit back and enjoy the story. Then you can literally go back and start playing bingo with virtually every cultural touchstone of the last 40 years.

Has your daughter seen it yet? Your daughter's what, eight? She did, yeah. She sat next to me at the premiere in London. And she just got it on a purely visceral kind of level of wonder and excitement. I would think for that age, that's probably the level you appreciate. She's on the first time round for everything. It's not like she's nostalgic about, I don't know, what, things like,

kid shows from the early team. The Bellarthorn show from three years ago. What was that show she used to watch when she was here? It was amazing. It was a kid show. Ah. And it had lots of characters in. and there was a guy called DJ thingy

and had big glasses and this is your world I wish I could remember it's okay so what's next on the list to expose her to this so you're getting you're in the fun years now we have the best time

I've shown her all the Amlin films you know like I we were watching everything like Goonies and Back to the Future all the Stephen Spielberg produced films you know explorers and I've also shown

like Raising Arizona and we have these movie nights and she got very familiar with Spilberg and she became very obsessed with watching Jaws this was her, you know, she wanted to see Jaws determined and she was seven and I was like, you can't see Jaws, it's not suitable for you. And she's like, yeah, but, and I've seen things of it on YouTube and I realized she was watching

clips of the ride at Universal Studio. Same difference, basically, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I said I was... She's watching Jaws 3D. Yeah, the classic, everybody knows go right to the third one. I said to her look I'm working with Stephen Spielberg Why don't you come and meet him and you can ask him

And we'd seen BFG that weekend So she was sort of primed Very aware of his work And she came on the set And he's of course He loves kids He's got seven of his own And he's brilliant with them

So he came over to chat with her And they were talking about BFG And I said look Why didn't you ask Stephen that question You were going to ask him And she said all right Can I watch Jaws please And he sort of said well how old are you

She said seven And he thought about it went, no. And I was like, she was totally okay with it. Now she's eight, she's like saying, can I watch it now? Yeah, she's mature.

The lot's changed. Yeah. She wants to watch that Stanley Kubrick film that's heavily referenced in Ready Player 1. And we're not going to ruin it. That's probably the most enjoyable. I know. And I'm like, I'm like definitely.

No, no, no, no, don't do that. Don't do that. She's a bit of a horror buff though. She likes, you know, she's a big Tim Burton fan and she likes the sort of dark, weird stuff. Is there anything that you've return to in your elderly years now that hasn't held up? That's a good question.

No, you know, because generally stuff I pick. It's not like there's been a 20 year gap. You return to it. It's stuff like stuff that you get a kick out of when they enjoy. Like we watched Bill and Ted one and two. And she liked, she's a big fan of bogus journey. I'm like all about, you know, I love bogus journey. I think I'm with her.

The excellent adventure is very good. So it's really fun to watch stuff like that and see, be validated. by her enjoyment, which is nice. We watched Avatar the other day that was an interesting one. Yeah, and she was pretty... Although, you know what her favorite film is, is Titanic.

That's amazing. Yeah. Well, I saw Titanic five times in the theaters and I was pretty much an adult male, so, you know, it works for everybody. It works. Watching Titanic, I realize that it is this incredible combination of the best and the worst film.

I mean, you watch it, and you can see how it's so sort of cheesy and terrible. It's teetering on the edge of... It's very satisfying. It's so satisfying. All the Avatar hate out there, and I get it. It's like, he's a very earnest filmmaker. Yeah, well, Avatar was, Avatar had a story that was very, very basic.

And a little bit patronizing when you start to realize the proxies that are involved. But I think with a visual sort of palette, that extraordinary, the story has to be a little bit easy to swallow, you know. And it is very kind of binary. Are you ready for four more? I don't know. Zoe Saldana's at it at the moment. And, you know, every time I speak to her, she's like, got dots all over her face. It seemed like a good idea at the time 10 years ago.

But she loves it. You know, she could be near the kids in L.A. She's just, you know, wearing a one-zoo and enjoying herself. Sounds like the dream, basically. Yeah, yeah. So, can we talk a little Star Trek? Yeah, yeah. I think one of the last times I sat down with you at, like, probably was for Star Trek Beyond,

which you talked about this a little bit, but I remember going into it. And you've been kind of critical and honest about the marketing and whatever. And I would agree with you, though, because, like, going into it, I was worried. I didn't know if I was going to like your movies. Yeah, well, I felt, I know, and I've kind of got into, not hot water at all,

but it's been picked up on a lot recently because I mentioned that I wasn't happy with the way that the film was marketed, but it was a big year for Star Trek. And it felt like that wasn't ever embraced, you know. I think sometimes people get scared of the Star Trek fan base as being, you know, a kind of close shop.

And if we were to mention Star Trek in some way, then it would turn all the other people who haven't seen Star Trek off. I don't know. It just felt an odd thing to do. It is. It seems like Paramounts always had that. There's a push in the pole

of like how much to embrace the hardcore fans and the fan base and how much to like, because yeah, it was marketed and part it was because of the director like as a Fast and Furious movie in space basically. And I think that can't. I think the person responsible for that

is not there anymore anyway. And I, you know, I, enjoy working with Paramount. And enormously, there are people there that I really love and respect. And I'd hate for them to think that was being ungrateful. But I think in that moment, it could have been done better. Was that a stressful time to be promoting that?

I mean, there was a lot going on. Antonin had obviously passed very recently. Yeah, that obviously threw an incredibly dark shadow of everything. And we'd sat and discussed whether or not we were going to actually go ahead and, you know, promote the film at all at one point. But then we realized that if we didn't, we would be neglecting something,

you know that Anton did and yeah um but making it was more stressful than uh you know was a tight timeline on that one yeah yeah yeah yeah making it was the thing because we we had a you know there was there was a script that we were all we were all waiting to read and then suddenly they went we're not going with that script did you ever read that one yeah eventually i had to because of arbitration with the wGA but they never gave it to me and dug before we wrote beyond um so because they wanted just to start from absolute scratch you know got it and so eventually Eventually, when I read it, I could see why it didn't work. You know, I could see what the issues were with it.

But we had six months to write Star Trek Beyond. And there were people knocking on the door saying, what are we designing? What are we building? We're three months out from shooting. Right. Whatever. It's interesting in a way, somehow Macquarie on mission seems to have crack that code because that's another franchise that demands you to almost like start on set pieces

simultaneously to create the story. Like they are kind of like, and it's, sound, usually this is a negative, like building a story around set pieces, but by God, this guy knows how to do it. He does. And he thrives in that situation. You know, they come up with ideas for, you know, big moments and aren't entirely sure how they link. But McHugh, if anyone's going to get that, it's him. And he, he does it. And he scratches his head and he, you know, you ask him, is it ready yet? And it, no. And, and then eventually he cracks it. And, and it all makes brilliant sense. You know, he's a really, really gifted writer. And I think he,

He prefers fixing to starting from the blank page. I think he really thrives in the melee of trying to make sense of something that already exists, you know. I trust him after seeing. I mean, arguably, I think the last mission was probably maybe my favorite even since I have a soft spot for the DiPaumel one just because I love what he did. Yeah, and I think so does McHugh. You know, I think McHugh loves that kind of old world spy feel, the statecraft kind of intrigue. but he also appreciates the the big moments of which there are multiple in the new one in fallout it's just kind of bananas what we did and it makes me always makes me fearful for what's going to happen if we do another one you know oh yeah yeah I mean does Tom know that you've stopped filming because he just jumped out of an airplane apparently last week yeah they were doing he knows that that it's time to stop they went to Abu Dhabi after we wrapped the film kind of officially to pick up this splinter um just a little pick up up shot of him jumping out of a plane.

I'm doing like a 25,000 foot skydive or something. Me too. No, whatever. Anyway. And it was supposed to be like a week of shooting and it turned into three just because who knew the practicalities of shooting at 25,000 feet without an airplane? Yeah. We'll come back to that in a sec.

But more on the trek point because there's a bunch, obviously there's been a lot of talk about sort of where this franchise goes. The box office wasn't probably what everybody was hoping for on beyond. So there was kind of like a pause. It felt like a moment to kind of digest. and there was that intriguing concept of like Hemsworth coming back in, which I don't know like if there was ever a script or how involved you were on that side of it. No, Doug and I were never going to write the fourth one.

You know, that was never the deal. Doug and I are doing something together at Bad Robot, which I probably can't talk about just yet, but familiar property or something? Okay. I'll tell you when you turn the mic off. Fair enough. It's, yeah, and so Payne and McKay, who had written the, um, abortive third script with

the previous director they are writing a fourth one and that as far as I knew was the kind of Hemsworth thing that's as much as I know and then of course the news came in JJ we all got an email

the other couple of months ago from JJ saying oh Quentin Tarantino came into the office with an idea so we're putting it into a writer's room I don't think Quentin's going to direct it because he's got his California movie to do and I think he's only going to do one more movie after that

according to him, yeah. And I doubt he wouldn't be able to get around to directing a Star Trek film for another two or three years. Right. So are you is that intriguing as intriguing to you as to some fans about the prospect of? I know a lot of people have joked like this is going to be, you know, a Trek film loaded with, you know, motherfuckers and Sam Jackson and stuff like that. Which I think is an incredibly reductive way of approaching Tarantino's

work. You know, I think he's a big fan and as a very smart filmmaker and writer and I think he would approach it with the respect it deserves I don't think it would all just be kind of when you've absolutely got to stun every motherfucker in the room

the joke's right themselves no he's legit I think like his favorite is I think he references like city on the other forever yeah and it doesn't kill Bill starts with the Klingon proverb yes exactly exactly So you don't obviously not going to tell me anything, but do you know what the basic gist of the idea is?

I have a feeling. I have a vague memory of him talking about it years and years ago because he sort of adopted me, Edgar, and Nick, back in the day. He was so lovely to us, and we hung out at his place and watched loads of films. And I'm sure he mentioned that. I'm sure it's an idea he's hung on to for quite some time. But I don't know.

I really don't know. And JJ hasn't told us, and I think probably so that we don't. tell anybody else we get put in this situation. Would you want to eventually the beyond experience for good or for bed, would you want to dip your toe back

into that universe as a writer? Yeah, absolutely, 100%. Gotcha. So, let's go back a little bit. And we've talked about this in the past, but like, you know, we've talked about mission. Yeah.

And mission, your first mission came after Sean, right? Sean did, but before Hot Fuzz. So in some ways, obviously, Sean is the film. that changes everything for you three guys. It did, yeah. But in almost as important way, in some ways, mission probably did for you too.

In terms of my sort of career here in the US, yeah, absolutely. That kind of, that was the film that, even though it was a very small cameo, I think what that film did was introduced me to JJ and JJ then when he was casting Star Trek. I still get the feeling he was like,

I can't be bothered to look for an actor to do it. Let's... Climbing. That's the closest one I know. Yeah. I can pull it off. It was, because he literally sent me an email that said, do you want to play Scotty, question mark?

And it was one of the most, it was like being asked to have sex on, before the first date. Do you know what I mean? It was like, at least take me out for some food and we'll watch a movie. Let me enjoy this. It's not that I don't want to have sex with you.

I just don't know if I should right now, you know. It was kind of, I felt angry at him for sort of putting me on the spot. And it took me like three days because I didn't feel like I could say yes, like yeah you know I didn't feel like I had an email back sure that felt like it's too big smiley face back again yeah go out of the room and come back in and ask me again and I'll get all ready and then I'll come give you my answer did being on the set of mission feel like I mean because

you know doing Sean and doing spaced you were in a world that you were very much a creative collaborator in that you had helped foster yeah did it feel like um intimidating a Oh, my God, yes. I mean, even though I was made to feel very, very welcome, I got there. I wasn't in a great place anyway, personally. I was sort of a bit kind of doughy and drunk. And I, you know, Tom and Ving came on the set,

and I was like, that was my first meeting with them. And JJ had sent me this massive long speech about the rabbit's foot, like the day before we shot it. And I've been in a hotel just going mental for like eight days, waiting to shoot, not knowing how this all worked. and got to set and I don't think I barely did a full take of the rabbit's foot speech without getting something wrong

and it was just terrifying and then Tom went off and I did all this stuff kind of talking to him when he's in Shanghai and he's running through Shanghai and that was a bit more relaxed because he wasn't there even though he was so lovely very very generous as he always is and then further down the line

I started to get more comfortable or we did Star Trek it was more comfortable And now it's kind of, you know, whatever. Now you're just totally jaded. I mean, you mentioned giving up drinking, which was, what, like seven or eight years ago? Nearly eight, yeah. Did that partially spawn World's End? Is that, do I think?

The World's End is kind of a biographical movie, you know, for me and Edgar combined. It's about, you know, partly about nostalgia, which is the same thing Ready Player One is about in a way. And also much more of a sort of cautionary tale both of those films are than people think. You know, Ready Player 1, everyone's saying, oh, it's just a kind of, you know, a pointless look back at ephemeral, cultural nonsense. But in actual fact, it's about the dangers of living

in a fake, nostalgic world, you know. The world's end was as much about how addiction can govern your decisions to the point of risking, you know, endangering your life, you know. And there's a thread in the world's end which is purely about alcohol. alcoholism, you know. And, uh, and so that was that for me, that's why the world's end is my favorite film of the three. It just feels like a, uh, it was like therapy. Yeah, no, you definitely

yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, what, what, what have you replaced, uh, uh, alcohol with in your, in your, your self-destructive life? Are you, uh, do you have any vice to that, that compares to that? Uh, crack. Uh, crack. Uh, crack. Uh, crack. Uh, crack. No, we, uh, crack. No, we, I mean, boringly, with keeping fit, with being alive. You know, I started, I started Mission Ghost Protocol about two or three months after I got sober and, and I had to get in shape for that. And I suddenly started thinking, hey, this feels good to be thin and happy. And then since then, you know, I've made that part of my life and I really, really enjoy it. So I know it's boring, but now I just, I train dangerously.

Miss Doey Simon. You were so relatable now. Now I can't, I just don't get it, man. So are you and Edgar, I feel like a year ago there was that you guys were starting to talk about maybe doing something? We're always talking about it. I mean, the fact is, you know, Edgar's like part of my family, you know, so it's not like we don't, we only come together when we work and we talk all the time. And same as Nick, you know, there's a deeper relationship there that goes beyond just professional. And so I see Edgar whenever I'm in L.A. or he comes to London.

and we always have dinner and we hang out when we can we text most days and generally speaking and every now and again we'll go oh yeah so what are we going to do what are we going to do

and it's not about wanting to do it or not wanting to do it it's about when and how he's off doing something now Nick and I have just started this production company any of a film coming out

yeah yeah slaughterhouse rules is coming out later September I think and we've also got our slate to kind of we're now like businessmen it's so weird we've got all these responsibilities that we've done

Don't take too too well. But when we can do it, we'll do it. It feels like it's something that's going to have. It's the only certain thing in my life that we'll work together again. Do you feel like you guys have zeroed in on the idea of the thing that you want to explore? We're not zeroed in. We're definitely sort of skirting themes, you know, and possible kind of scenarios. Wow.

How vague can that be? it will be shot on I can't even say that you've got to make a film who knows it probably will be if he can if he can sort of

find any in a skip in a you know was it fun to enjoy baby driver as a audience member yeah I know because I get very proud and kind of

you know I root for him obviously and I watch it as a collaborator and a friend as much as I do

as a creative you know so I'll sit and enjoy it and I'll also say hey well you should do that maybe you didn't know but um but it was so great and i it was such a virtuoso piece of directing you know and it just makes me feel really just really good and happy yeah and i was i was so happy to see

him take wins and baffles and be academy nominated you know that was just great were you uh jumping around topics surprised that jj came back for episode nine i imagine they probably made it so that he couldn't say no. And I know JJ cares deeply about the characters and everything. And, you know, as he said, you know, he's closing out nine films. You know, he's not just making a sequel to The Last Jedi. He's making the closing film. And he has to, yeah, and he and has to embrace all nine of them,

or eight of them, rather. Yeah. So I was a little surprised because after, after the Force Awakens, you know, he'd go to bad robot to work and he'd just be hanging around without a bit of a beard I was like, what are you doing? I don't know, you know, he'd just be sort of,

I don't know, I felt like, I felt the same way after Star Trek Beyond. I felt like, I don't know what I want to do now. And I literally said to my agent, don't call me for six months unless Stephen Spielberg rings. And then who knew? The hotline rang. And then it rang.

The bat phone went off and which was hilarious. And I didn't, you know, for a second, and consider not doing ReadyPlayer one. But I think JJ was just like scratching his chin about what am I going to do now? You know? And I think when this came about, obviously the idea of managing to close out

the stories that he began with The Force Awakens must have but felt like, you know, eventually too much to resist. What's, what's you, we won't talk about Jar Jar Jar as Hot Bud and Star Wars topics. We'll see that we've covered that to death. But we can talk about Ray's parentage. What do you think about,

that decision that's right well i know i know what jay kind of intended or at least what was sort of being chucked around i think that's kind of been undone slightly by the last one um i don't know i don't know you need time to digest i think uncar plut is raised real father wow scandalous seems like a good dad yeah seems like a good father thing just trying to keep you know it's difficult obesity is a big problem on jacu we don't know his race race, he could be thin. No, he is something. I can't remember what he is.

He's a Balupean galupa blocks. You just made that up. Yeah. But he was worried about Ray gaining weight, so he didn't want to give her too many portions. You know, he just limit that. So it wasn't going to be,

though, it was different parents that was bandied about on set when you guys were chit-shadding? Well, there was some talk about, you know, a kind of relevant lineage for her. Got it.

But I honestly don't know. And I don't know. Anybody knows, you know, we shall see. I would like to still, like many fans, I have just undying curiosity on what George Lucas's treatment was on the trilogy that we'll never see. Yeah, I, yeah. Maybe it would be horrible or not, but I don't know.

Everybody got, including myself, we all got very sort of down on George because of the prequels, but I feel like... Not me. No, not you. We know where I stand. And who's laughing now? I think it's like, you look at Star Wars,

look at the first three, and you have George Lucas, working with a Gary Kurtz or whoever, people that are kind of there to manage his incredible imagination and his ideas and sort of practicalize everything, you know? And I think that combination was what made it all so special and so great. Then you had the prequels, which, in my opinion, you know, maybe George's untethered a little bit.

Yes, exactly. Brilliant wasn't sort of reigned in enough. And his thirst for new technology. And, you know, maybe it didn't work as well for me. It didn't work as well. And I feel like I miss George a little bit, you know? I know. I hope he's making the secret, like, personal films he's been talking about for years.

Like, if he dies in 20 years, I want to find, like, just a box of, like, bizarre, weird shit he's been making. Well, I think he's a visionary. And I think, you know, when you realize that it wasn't just Thai fighters and cat hats and seeing things like that, again, do not a Star Wars film make, you know? it's kind of, there's a, there's a spirit there, and I hope the guys that are now in charge. You know, I know JJ obviously does, keeps that alone. They're handing out Star Wars films in TV series left and right now. Have you had a meeting with Kathy Kennedy? Have you thrown your hat in the ring of a creative type?

I don't know if I care enough anymore. And I think that's down to the, to the Force Awakens kind of what you were saying about. The coming together of my childhood dreams. Right. I felt like it was like a sort of post-org. ghastmic malaise, you know? It's a lot of sexual analogies to the inside. Now I'm just like, hey, there's a Han Solo movie.

Is that? I'm not kind of, I don't feel like it's for me anymore. You know, I'm, I'm, and I'm not beyond it in some way. I just mean that there are, it's for other people now. Yeah. And God bless them. Do you find, may the force be with them. Oh, that has a ring to it. When you're walking around in your day-to-day life, you know, we were going to do like a silly

sketch at one point that was kind of talking about, kind of like your place in fandom as like a nerd icon like are you just like at starbucks are these the conversations that people want to have with you and it get to be a little like I like to talk about this stuff but at some point yeah I like not to talk about this stuff too oh yeah I have a whole kind of life which has nothing to do with any of that stuff do you know what I mean and I feel sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud I do you know I've managed to be in these films and and and and I also feel qualified to talk about them I grew up loving them right but also there's there's more to my life than that.

And I do feel a little bit sometimes like these things are, you know, the preserve of younger people. And I have things that I like which are for grownups. I don't know. So is that part of the production company you and Nick have started? Possibly, yeah. And Slaughterhouse Rules is the first production? Yeah, which is a kind of a comedy horror film.

Nick and I are in it in sort of camera. A cameo, as is Michael Sheen and some other surprise people as well. But it's about these kids. It's a bit like Ready Player 1, you know, the core group in the film, a group of up-and-comers, including Aza Butterfield and a whole bunch of other great kids. And so that's our first sort of co-production we've done with Catalyst and Sony. So what's the slate that you're hoping to kind of put together? What kind of, is there a mandate that you and Nick have kind of like paid for yourselves? Well, we kind of want to make things in line with our own particular sensibility.

probably will be mainly television really films now and again for the love of it but tv now is such an incredibly exciting kind of broad prospect you know in terms of how cinematic television can be how you can tell stories along across greater periods of time you know in the same kind of visual terms that you can with cinema it's it's it's kind of exciting you know i was kind of surprised when i was thinking about chatting with you that you haven't gotten your 10 episode kind of creative oh it's all to come yeah yeah we've got we've got a we've got a sort of sitcom we're writing called truth seekers which nick's going to be and i don't think i'm going to be in it but um we're writing it together and um it's a sort of paranormal investigation sitcom it's really funny we

wrote the pilot episode if i do say so myself i laughed a lot um but mainly that's because i find myself hilarious right uh no i find nick hilarious nick makes me laugh more than anyone in world and I cry with laughter whenever I'm around him. But there's other stuff. We're adapting third-party IP as well. You know, we have some books we're going to adapt and it feels like a beginning of a new era of sort of creativity for us. Nice. So and I think last time you were on the podcast a few years back we were talking about directing potentially. That's happening at the end of this year. Yeah. Oh yeah? Yeah. Hopefully I'll start prep for that in after I finish press a mission. Got it.

Where around the world are you going for mission? Where am I tagging along, hopefully? Oh, for press? I don't know. I think we're definitely start in Paris because we shot a lot of it there. I can do that, that's fine. And then we usually go to all around.

Right. Yeah. Yeah, thanks to, between the mission franchise and Transformers, Paramount has let me see Dubai, Hong Kong, Austria. I mean, it's great. They're great like that. I know. It's brilliant.

It's like the last boondogel of a junket left in the world is Paramount's giant speck. spectacle film, so I will always support. Not to mention I love the mission films. Of course. So we alluded to this before. This is the first time that a director has returned for Mission Impossible. Yeah. And I feel we're in safe hands with McHugh, as you call him, Chris McQuarrie. And I'm excited also in that, like there's some linkage to the last film, it would seem. Yeah, and I think he sort of was at pains to continue that the sort of diversity of look that has happened across the series by hiring an entirely new,

sort of team in terms of the DP, the costume designer. So the film feels a different. So he recognizes part of the beauty of the franchise, has been mixing it up. So it's not just like Rogue Nation Part 2. Even though to some degree it is a continuation of that story because it's still, you know, Sean Harris is back, Rebecca Ferguson's back. But we also have Henry Cavill as well and his wonderful mustache. Haven't heard about that, right?

That was so funny. you know what i really love henry he's great fun and uh i remember asking him i won't put him on the spot but after he got back from his justice league press we were in makeup and i said who's to blame who's to blame henry is it us for making you keep it or them for not you know for having to do reshoot so late in the day i won't tell you what he's okay i'll follow up with that when i see him not since yeah carrie russell cut off her hair for felicity has there been such a controversial yeah but it's

It's like, you know, the truth is, is that we were, you know, deep into our shoot, and Henry had some, some difficult stunt work to do. He didn't really have a full beard, so, like, it's difficult to mimic stubble. Right. You know, and it just, it just, by that time, he was ours. He belonged to us then. I'm sorry. We own you, Henry Cavill. I'm sorry, Warner.

At least they got an amazing movie out of it in Justice League. I haven't seen it. Okay. I mean, that is kind of so. surprising you have not done a Marvel or DC film. I think it's a funny thing with Marvel. I feel a sort of odd kind of allegiance to Edgar. Not that there's any love loss between Edgar and Marvel.

I mean, you know, it was a very amicable, or at least a mutual agreement when he walked away from Ant Man. But I'm sort of like, as his sort of dad on the side, like, well, I'm not going to watch any of your films. Having said that, I thought Ragnarok was such a hoot. I've seen that like three times. I love it. got, you know, that's me being daft.

Yeah, it hasn't come up. But I also want to keep doing small stuff. I'm going to do a tiny film in L.A. soon called Lost Transmissions. I have this film coming out that I did with Margot Robbie called Terminal, which is... I want to ask you, I just watched a teaser for that. That looks... Yeah, there's a big teaser coming out later today. Oh, cool.

I'll be online when this is heard. Yeah, that's like a noir thriller. We shot it in Budapest just before Blade Runner went in there. I watched that again on the airplane coming over. Blade original 2049. I liked that. It's so good.

I mean, it's brilliant. And I would say, the worst thing I could sling at it was that Denny Villeneuve fared it hard to kill his babies in terms of just making it a little shorter. But my God, being on the plane and having the time

and the inclination to, I watched it again, having seen it before. And I really love it. As a sequel, I just think it's such a brilliant evolution of the first story. Very sad.

fine. It's not a retread and yet it has the right level of familiarity without leaning on that too much to be relevant. You know, like some things these days will just, it'll just be about spotting what you've seen before. It's like, oh yeah, there's that. That's why I like this. You know, whereas this is, and Ryan Gosling is great in it. Prospect of him doing Dune is intriguing to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What did you think of the David Lynch Dune? I love it. I have a lot of spot for that soon. David Lynch, for me, did you watch the new Twin Peaks? of course. Yeah. I felt like that made everything that's been on television ever before. So you tried. I used to sit down and watch it.

And there was that little fizzy logo at the beginning for the, you know. His production company's logo, yeah. Yeah. And I'd get, like, excited when I heard it. I'd get like a Pavlovian, Pavlovian sort of tingle. Because anything was possible the next hour. Oh, my God. Episode 8 was like the greatest piece of television I have ever seen in my life.

I agree. I was screaming at the television, like, how can this be? B my mantra the like the six months before that show was coming out was like guys it's all going to be okay the world might be going to shit we have 15 hours of David Lynch content coming I know but it wasn't just like what was amazing about it was that it wasn't just like twin peaks too and there were lots of lovely moments of like of familiarity and returning to the time the familiar theme kicked in well this was a victory lap for everything he's ever done I mean there was like everything was in there Mulhound drive and lost highways and wild at heart and there

was stuff in there that, oh my God, it was just an absolute delight. Yeah, I had Kamaglachlan in here as the finale was going up. Did you? It was just a blast. I saw, I saw Naomi Watts at something, it was a pre-bafter thing. Yeah. And I totally, and I couldn't get to her and I just wanted to go out and fan out on her and just tell her how brilliant it was and what a, what a privilege it must have been for those guys to be part of it, you know? Totally. All right, so go check out Twin Peaks, the new season, everybody, and see Ready Player 1 three times is the minimum? Try and see it three times this weekend.

Can they sneak in and just like wait in the theater? You're making them spend 50 bucks? Absolutely, yes. No, do. Sneak in. Don't download it because that funds terrible things. But if you can get into the cinema twice without having to pay, do it. I spent a lot of time sneaking into theaters in the kid. I don't know about you.

Yes, no, congratulations, as always. It's always good to catch up with you. Not that this film needs our help, But, yeah, Stephen Spielberg, doing what Steven Spielberg can do, like, no one else. And it's a spectacle in the best possible way. So see it on a big screen loud and in the best possible projection, et cetera. And 3D. I would never usually recommend 3D.

I'm ambivalent about 3D. But because the world is so immersive, in the same way that Avatar was, actually, when you're in a world that you will never see in three dimensions, anywhere else, see it in 3D, because it's extraordinary. It really is. Yeah. There you go. Simon, always welcome here.

Good to see you. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Goodbye. Summer movies, Hello Fall.

I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos' Borgonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine,

Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes the running man starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.