Geek of the Week: Simon Pegg

Simon Pegg

British funnyman Simon Pegg started as a stand-up comic, and after a few small television roles, landed his own series on BBC 4, "Spaced".  Along with co-star Jessica Stevenson, he wrote the series, placing himself in the role of Tim, a slacker graphic artist with dreams of creating his own comic book.  After working with Edgar Wright on "Spaced", the two decided to write a romantic zombie comedy (or "rom-com-zom"), which became the acclaimed Shaun of the Dead.  This film launched Pegg into the international mainstream, making him a geek icon and allowing him to live out some childhood dreams, including snaring a cameo in George Romero's Land of the Dead and appearing on a "Doctor Who" episode ("The Long Game" in 2005).

Pegg went on to do several films, including playing Scotty in the 2009 Star Trek reboot and voicing Reepicheep in the latest installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Pegg's likeness was used to create the character Wee Hughie for underground comic The Boys, and he quickly became a fan despite the fact that the comic's creators had used his image without his permission.  He even wrote the introduction for the first compiled volume.

Pegg's latest film, Paul, also stars his frequent collaborator and best friend, Nick Frost (Mike in "Spaced", Ed in Shaun of the Dead, and PC Danny Butterman in Hot Fuzz), and centers on two comic book fanboys who have their own close encounter with a wise-cracking alien.

Pegg turns 41 on February 14th (tomorrow!) - wish him "Many Happy Returns" on Twitter @simonpegg.