Life

Life, Romance, Pubs, and Zombies, actor/co-writer Simon Pegg takes a bite out of the British box office hit
SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Reported by Joseph B. Mauceri

Already a smash hit in the U.K., SHAUN OF THE DEAD, a “rom zom com” (romantic zombie comedy), follows the bloody funny adventures of underachiever Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best mate Ed (Nick Frost) as they cope with a zombie invasion of North London and attempt to rescue Shaun’s girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and his Mum, Barbara (Penelope Wilton). It’s going to be one hell of a weekend because all that stands in their way are hordes of the flesh eating undead.

Writer and actor, Simon Pegg co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the U.K.’s Channel 4 sitcom “Spaced” The show was nominated for Best Sitcom and Best TV Newcomer, Pegg, at the British Comedy Awards, and also received BAFTA, Montreux, and International Emmy Award Nominations. Simon has stared in a variety of BBC1 dramas, including “Final Demand,” “Dan Doyle,” and collaborating with his “Spaced” and SHAUN OF THE DEAD colleagues’ director Edgar Wright and Jessica Stevenson on “Asylum.” His other notable television appearances include “Doctor Terrible’s House of Horrors” and the classic miniseries “Band of Brothers.” His previous film credits include “The Reckoning” for director Paul McGuigan and “24 Hour Party People” with director Michael Winterbottom. A former stand-up comedian, actor and writer Simon Pegg made a brief rest stop at a New York pub where we caught up with him on his world wind to promote SHAUN OF THE DEAD.

W.O.F. Where you ever sitting around one night wondering what it would be like to be attacked by zombies?

Simon Pegg: Kind of. Every person should have his or her escape route plan. I think everyone has their apocalypse fantasy where they think about what they would do at the end of the world. Nick Frost, who plays Ed, and me, who were sharing a flat at the time, always thought about where would we go and what would we do first. I think near us was one of the few sporting gun shops in London. We don’t really have guns in the U.K., but you can buy shotguns if you are a farmer or whatever. So we had this gun shop near by and we thought we’d run down to the gun shop and then head down to the pub and shut the doors.

There was this pub we loved, called The Shepard’s, and when 11 o’clock came round – there are these weird draconian licensing laws in the U.K. that say the pubs have to shut at 11 o’clock – they would shut the doors, close the curtains, lock it all up, and turn the lights out. Then we would carry on drinking. From the street it look shut. Every single night, and particularly on the weekends, we’d still be in the pub till 3 or 4 am drinking. That was fantastic. It always felt like this would be a great place to hide out because no one knew we were in there. So that’s where the idea came from.

W.O.F. Did you write SHAUN OF THE DEAD about your favorite pub?

Simon Pegg: Yeah, The Sheppard’s was our favorite pub in the U.K. It was our kind of Graceland. We stayed there all the time and never really felt the need to go anywhere else. This became slightly annoying to my girlfriend, and our friends. They would always ask, “Why can’t you come into town and meet up with us there?” Nick and me were like, “No! Why would we want to? This place is perfect.” It was a proper old English pub. It had a sticky carpet, a dartboard, a dog, and a jukebox that wasn’t that good but had some great crap songs on it. The landlord and lady were like segregate parents. The beer was cold and the company was great. Loads of different people would go there. You’d end up hanging out with 17 year-old women and guys you would never usually mix with socially. So I am a bit passionate about it, but it’s shut now actually.

W.O.F. Did you grow up watching those classic zombie films – “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” and “Day of the Dead?”

Simon Pegg: Oh yeah, they were some of my favorite films growing up. I’ve always loved horror, and that’s one of the reasons why we decided to make the film. We were nourished on those types of films, and that made SHAUN OF THE DEAD a labor of love.

W.O.F. From “Night of the Living Dead” to “28 Days Later,” critics love to talk about how zombie films are really social commentary. Having had the chance to watch your own film, are you surprised by any subconscious messages that made its way into the film?

Simon Pegg: I don’t think there is anything subconscious about Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.” He was talking about people shopping and the automation of consumerism. It was a joke and a very funny one. In our film, we are definitely making a point about what it’s like to live in a big city and how you can get lost in the collective and become an automaton. In SHAUN OF THE DEAD the zombies are about apathy and lack of direction. There is the danger that Shaun might literally be consumed by his own city. There’s nothing Freudian there, we mean it.

I studied film theory at university and I love it. It’s great fun to dissect and pick apart films to see what their social impact is. I wrote my thesis on a Marxist analysis of “Star Wars.” It was great fun! I’m a huge fan of the first three films, but not particularly the new ones. “Star Wars” was an expression of post-Vietnam, Regan era, kind of desperation of trying to get back to being heroes when after this time when good and evil had been so difficult to distinguish. Suddenly you get these big grand bad guys, and grand good guys. The good guys are young, white American people and the bad guys are these older English Imperialists types. It’s all there on the page and it’s not difficult to dissect. I’m a big fan of that stuff.

W.O.F. For years, many of the great horror writers and filmmakers have talked about how great tales take a familiar story and then flip it on its head. You spend the whole first act really building these characters and don’t even hint about what SHAUN OF THE DEAD is going to evolve into. Most horror films begin with a bang and are relentless. What were your thoughts in the blending of the story elements and the pacing?

Simon Pegg: We wanted to lull people into a false sense of security. By the time Mary, who is in the garden, falls on the post you’ve forgotten you’re watching a zombie film. It’s a shock when she stands up and there is this whole through her stomach. There are loads of clues all throughout the first act. There is always a siren in the background. If you listen carefully, the news footage is always talking about weird things happening and there are clues on the television. We definitely wanted this period to set the story where the characters didn’t know what was going on. Again, that’s about living in a big city. In London you can go to work in the morning and not make eye contact with a single human being. Shaun doesn’t really notice what’s going on around him, as does everyone else.

W.O.F. The film feels like it’s driven down this narrowing alley that leads you to the emotional, serious climax. Some times you write a story and there are others times a story tells you want to write. Was the serious dramatic turn at the end of the film intentional?

Simon Pegg: We had to do it. We setup this naturalistic, or be it comic, universe where people are reacting very honestly to things. We wanted everyone’s reactions to always be true. As soon as people start dying you can’t have them forget about it. Shaun loses both his mom and step dad and he has to react accordingly. I think if we hadn’t done that we would have been shortchanging the audience, or we would have appeared very flippant. When it came to shooting that scene, particularly when you’re acting with Penelope Wilton, who is a fabulous actress and looks a little bit like my mom, how can you not react?

That scene actually came at a point in the shoot when we were tired. We’d been working in that pub set for three weeks. It wasn’t easy to just burst into tears. We also wanted the film to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Once you’ve got an idea of what you think this film is suddenly it’s tragic. I like the reaction. One of my favorite bits in the film is when Barbara, Penelope, stands up between Shaun and Liz and she has become a zombie. I like the fact that people have hated that. I love it that people have come up to me and said, “We love the film but you shouldn’t have killed the mom!” It’s like, well, why not? I must say it was the director’s, Edgar Wright, idea, and when he told me what he planned to do it was like he was going to kill my Mom. It’s a dramatic moment and it’s not what you expect.

W.O.F. Many folks feel there is a link between comedy, especially extreme comedy, and horror. As both star and co-screenwriter, what do you think that connection is?

Simon Pegg: I think that the joke and the ghost story have a similar setup in that it’s a similar kind of setup, but has the payoff of a laugh and the other a scare. We enjoy being scare, in a safe environment, as much as we do laughing. I guess they’re both genres that elicit an emotional response, which makes the quite similar.

W.O.F. In all the classic zombies movies they called the walking dead zombies. I was wondering how the joke about not calling “the living dead” in SHAUN by the “z” word came about?

Simon Pegg: It was the idea that if they actually admitted to themselves that there were zombies outside they’d go mad. It’s the very British thing of reserve. We used the line about “shutting the curtains” several times in the film and that’s what people in Brittan do with their emotions. They’ll “shut the curtains” on them. So the idea that if anybody ever said “that’s a zombie” they’d just freak out. It would be too much like admitting the truth about what was going on, and that was the joke.

W.O.F. As a fan of those classic “z” films, I was wondering if you guys were able to get a copy to George Romero and heard what he thought of the film?

Simon Pegg: We’re amazed because he loved it. We sent him a print of the film and he watched it in his holiday place in Miami. Edgar and myself waited a nervous hour and a half before we got the call to give in a ring. He really, really liked the film. He was very complimentary. I think he was flattered because I think he might have expected to see a student spoof because of the title. The title is the worse joke in the film. He actually saw a proper movie and was flattered. He said, “It was my favorite zombie film ever, apart from my own.” That’s the greatest praise we could ever get.

W.O.F. Has George invited you up to the set of his latest zombie film?

Simon Pegg: Yes, and we’ve already had our faces cast by Greg Nicotero of KNB effects in L.A., who is also a huge fan of the film. We met Ken Foree, who was in the original “Dawn of the Dead.” He’s become like my uncle now. I think we’re going to go over to Toronto to be zombies in “Land of the Dead,” which would be great.

This is such a dream come true for us. Over in L.A. Tarantino came over and gave me a hug. David Carradine bit Edgar’s neck. It’s like what the hell happen, this is crazy! It’s really amazing.

W.O.F. It struck me that the military presence in the film is no different then the zombies. They come across as this single-minded force. I was wondering if that was maybe a bit of subconscious social commentary seeping into the story?

Simon Pegg: I suppose. When there are prevalent issues in society you’ll see them. Who knows if that was a subconscious thing just because it is something that people are thinking. I know that when we were writing things where happening in society, no more then here obviously. These things creep through. So maybe that was something that was on our minds but we didn’t necessarily intend it to be. But even if it wasn’t, it’s valid that someone should read it like that. It means that you’re thinking, and that’s the most important thing anybody can do when they go to see any piece of art.

W.O.F. I think shows like “Monty Python,” “Absolutely Fabulous,” and “The Office,” have primed American audiences on British Comedy. Do you think that is part of the reason why SHAUN OF THE DEAD is being so well received by audiences here in the States?

Simon Pegg: I don’t know. It might be more of the case being that there is universality to comedy. Sometimes shows like “Python” and “Ad Fab” hit big over here. I think there are plenty of British comedies that American’s have never seen, and that they would really like. Sometimes things manage to just get through. I’m sure those comedies have paved the way for a greater understanding for the British sense of humor, but I don’t think it’s all that different from the American sense of humor at it’s best. The American sense of humor is the same as the British, which is to be very dry and ironic self-deprecating. If you look at a show like “The Simpsons,” “Larry Saunders,” or “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” they’re all sophisticated shows that we all absolutely love back home. I don’t think you guys need too much of an introduction. It’s just about what’s funny.

W.O.F. At the end of the day how do you think this successful British horror film will play here in the States?

Simon Pegg: I’ve been absolutely blown away so far at how American audiences have responded to it. We don’t watch the film any more because we’ve seen it so many times. We usually introduce it and walk out. We come back in around where I wakeup in the morning, walk over to the shop, and everything is changed. I just love listening to the laughter. American audiences are just so much more vocal and expressive when they watch a film then British Audiences. At home it went down great, but British audiences are a bit more reserved with their responses. Here people whoop, cheer, scream, and gasp. It’s hilarious. It’s nice to hear all that and I’m very pleased that it’s gone down so well.

It’s like I was saying, the main jokes in this film are big things – love, life, redemption, and zombies. We all get that. It’s playing very well in Holland at the moment and that’s not even an English speaking country!

W.O.F. You also wrote and starred in a British sitcom called “Spaced.” Is that ever going to make it to the states?

Simon Pegg: I’ve been surprised by the amount of people here in the States that have seen the show, and have come up to me and told me they loved “Spaced.” This is a show that really hasn’t been seen here. It’s own by the company that owns Bravo. It was shown really late at night once, but they chopped it up and ran only like two episodes. I think that with the film coming out there is a chance that they may show it.

In terms of it coming out on DVD in the States, there’s a problem with North American licensing of the music.

W.O.F. SHAUN OF THE DEAD feels like the British equivalent of an independent film. What was the timeline like from finished screenplay to finished film?

Simon Pegg: We started writing the film in the summer of 2001 and we went into pre-production in February of last year. We shot for 9 ½ weeks, from May until July, and the post-production took us up to April of this year, when the film us released in the U.K.

W.O.F. How did you obtain the financing?

Simon Pegg: Working Title, the company behind “Four Weddings” and “Notting Hill.” We were actually with Film Four at first, but they actually went bust midway through the production process and were very kind to give us our film back. There was a time when we were floundering a bit because we didn’t know whom we were going to go with. There was a consortium that was going to fund it. Then Working Title just came along and said, “Okay, we’ll do it.” We were nervous at first because their kind of film, romantic comedies, was the type of film we were spoofing. They were brilliant and really helpful. We got 4.1 million pounds, which is about 7 million bucks, and they were very hands off. They let us do what we wanted to and were very supportive.

W.O.F. Give the numerous number of sequels that the zombie genre has spawned, and the American film industry’s need for sequels, if SHAUN OF THE DEAD is a box office success here in the States would you be interested in making a sequel? Would you be more interested in the revisiting the characters in a new situation?

Simon Pegg: There was some talk about “From Dusk till Shaun,” I have to say. We did discuss it one set. The title is almost too good not to do. Edgar wanted to do this alternative universe version. So we almost did the film again, but Shaun took a different turn and it would be vampires, aliens, or body snatchers. But I think we wanted to do the definitive zombie movie, say everything that we could say, and move on. We’re defiantly going to try and make a sequel in tone.

In terms of those characters or zombies, I don’t know. I love playing Shaun. He’s not that different from me. Nick and me were Shaun and Ed for a while. We swapped roles as well.

Some times you can retroactively damage a product by adding to it. I think if you look a “Jaws” even. It was one of the greatest films ever made, but you can’t help thinking about “Jaws 4: The Revenge.” It’s dreadful. If you are going to believe in those characters, when you’re watching “Jaws,” you’re thinking that Brody’s wife is going to end up in the Caribbean with Michael Caine. It subtracts from the movie. Even with “Alien!” Now there’s “AVP” and whoever won we left! That kind of thing can damage a film, I think.

W.O.F. If you’re not that different from Shaun how would Simon Pegg do if there were a zombie apocalypse?

Simon Pegg: I’d be some much better then Shaun. For one thing, I wouldn’t go to the pub! I would have kicked the door down and gone upstairs at least. Not sat in the bar with the peanuts. Now I’m like a zombologist. I think if it ever happens I’ll be on CNN talking to Larry King about what to do in the event of zombie attack. I know my stuff now. I’ve got my route planned!

W.O.F. And what’s next?

Simon Pegg: We’re working on a screenplay and working on our next project. I love acting, but it’s nice to be able to write your own stuff. I think it will be an action film.