An interview with Simon Pegg about his new film A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Ahead of the release of A Fantastic Fear of Everything, we interviewed British comedy star Simon Pegg.

The film narrative centres on Jack and his incredibly irrational fears landing him in all sorts of bad luck. Do you have any irrational fears?

No, I don’t have any irrational fears. I have rational fears. Normal things like not achieving my goals and not being able to support my family. I wouldn’t call them irrational.

Those pants you have to wear are a bit of an eyesore. How do you feel about them being on every poster around the tube network?

[Laughs] I promise you they weren’t as grotty as they look and I suppose it’s nice to go to work in your pants every morning! [Looks behind his shoulder at the poster] Including that striking image of a bearded man strutting around in his pants everywhere I found was important for the film. I had to grow everything to really immerse myself in the character.

Tell us a bit about the film and what kind of film you and Crispian Mills, the director, were trying to make?

Well, I felt – particularly with this film – that there is so much hidden comedy that it is really dependent on repeat viewings in order to get all the jokes. I think there always should be jokes you simply cannot get on first viewing and have to watch again. A Fantastic Fear of Everything is darker, more avant-garde than anything I have done before.

How did this collaboration between you and Crispian Mills come about then?

I knew Crispian socially as he has worked with my wife on a few occasions, and we’d become good friends. He told me to have a look at the script; I read it and thought it was good. The film was actually directed by Crispian and Chris Hopewell (who did the animation and set design) and Crispian was in charge of directing the actors, so I spent most of my time with him.

Have you found a big difference between working in Hollywood and working in the British film industry?

To start, there is no British film industry. Actors over here are constantly active because they have to go out and look for work. It isn’t all in one place, whereas in Hollywood it’s much easier as it all comes to you. It isn’t a fairy-tale though, as a lot of people believe it to be!

I am a huge fan of your series Spaced that you did back in 1999 with Nick Frost. Do you have any plans to do any more television work?

I have just finished doing a cameo in an American TV show; but in reference to whether I would be doing anything like Spaced again, sadly not. I’ve got no plans to do any more television as playing the same character doesn’t really appeal to me. Spaced was great when we were doing it, but I like that I’m doing different roles now and diversifying a bit more. 

Richard Taverner

A Fantastic Fear of Everything is released nationwide on 8^th June 2012.

Watch the trailer for A Fantastic Fear of Everything here: