Oct 1, 2008 - While doing his press duties for the MGM comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame was, of course, tossed a few questions about the upcoming return to the big screen of Star Trek. Pegg plays Scotty in the 2009 film, with Chris Pine taking on the role of James T Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) as Spock, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. JJ Abrams helms this new vision of Star Trek which takes a step back in time to focus on younger versions of the show's most popular characters.
On Entering the World of Star Trek: Asked what it was like to walk onto the Star Trek set, Pegg laughed. "Oh, it's boring. No, it was amazing. I remember the first time I stepped on set in my…whatever. I was sitting next to JJ and I did a very deliberate step onto the bridge and it was one small step for man, one giant leap for geek-kind."
On the Accent: Scotty's, obviously, Scottish and Pegg found inspiration for the accent very close to home. "My wife's family, kind of western Scottish – kind of Glaswegian, west coast Scottish accent, which is very different from the east - and indeed, the north and south. But her family is from Glasgow and I've spent a lot of time in Glasgow so I've tried to do that," revealed Pegg.
Knowing When to Keep Quiet: Anton Yelchin's spoken about taking on the role of Chekov and Chris Pine's talked a little bit about playing Kirk, but Pegg's not willing to spill the beans on Scotty. "I've got so many [stories] but I can't let any of them slide. It's all under wraps so I've got to stay true to my secrecy agreement," said Pegg.
On JJ Abram's Other Projects: Pegg's a fan of Lost, which Abrams helped create, writes, produces and occasionally directs, and even tried to get the inside scoop on the series while on the set of Star Trek. "I'd love to do an episode of Lost just so I could find out what's happening," admitted Pegg. "I've been trying to get information out of JJ on the set of Star Trek about Lost season 4 and he would never tell me. He's brilliant at keepings secrets. I'd say, 'Come on – tell me who the Oceanic Six are at least?' And he'd be like, 'Nah.'"
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Star Trek hits theaters on May 8, 2009.
