SIMON PASSES HIS SCREAM TEST
As Shaun of the Dead premieres on Sky movies, co-writer and star Simon Pegg reveals how the hit British horror comedy made it – and him – big in America
Did you expect Shaun of the Dead to be such a success? No matter how proud you are of a piece of work, you never know how it will be received. Having said that, why shouldn’t it have done well? It’s bloody marvellous!
How did you audition the zombies in the film? We had them walk across the room to some spooky music, then got them to attack our producer. A couple got carried away and actually bit her. Sadly, she is now partially eaten.
The film was a huge hit in the States. Were you treated like a Hollywood star? Yes. I bathed in Liza Minelli’s tears and ate gold hamburgers.
Er…Meet any celebrities? You get starstruck a lot in Hollywood because so many famous people live there. It’s like a safari park where all the attractions roam free. Jeff Goldblum tore off my windscreen wipers.
What are you doing now? Working on our next screenplay, about a police officer. At the moment it’s called Hot Fuzz!
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? The night Shaun of the Dead was screened at the Arclight cinema in Los Angeles was one of them. We went for a drink at a bar called The Cat and the Fiddle in West Hollywood and when the director, Edgar Wright, and I walked into the bar it erupted into cheers. It bought a tear to my eye. We also went to Toronto last November and did cameos as zombies in George A Romero’s land of the Dead. He directed the original Dawn of the Dead, one of the films we grew up loving, so me and Edgar were in Hog heaven.
Typed up by Beverley (WaitinforSimon)