Simon Pegg is an actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and author. Best known for his roles in
Spaced,
Shaun of the Dead and
Hot Fuzz, he also plays Scotty in
Star Trek.
His new book is
Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy’s Journey to Becoming a Big Kid.
From Pegg's Q & A with Jessica Grose at
Slate:
Slate: At the beginning of your book, you emphasize how reluctant you were to write an autobiography. Were you really so reluctant?
Simon Pegg: I resisted actually doing it initially and decided to try to put together some kind of production diary, something less personal. But it was just boring. You go to work, you do your job, and that's it. I realized the really interesting stuff was the more relatable stuff about being younger. So then I had to kind of like, wrestle with the idea of talking about personal things. And I realized my biggest problem with that was usually you have to do it. You're asked questions in interviews by journalists who want to get into your private life. And the reason I resist that is because then it's theirs to disseminate, then they can interpret it, or it can be spun. But if it comes from you, you have complete control over what's said and you are the horse's mouth. I kind of figured, OK, I'll relinquish some stuff that I'm not precious about or I don't feel threatens me or my privacy. And once I got into it, I had a brilliant time. Because you realize your memory is like a zip file on a computer. There's so much stuff you just compress.
Slate: You're particularly vivid when you talk about your early romances with the girlfriends you call "Meredith Catsanus" and "Eggy Helen." Though you talk about wanting privacy, was it easier to talk about your first sexual experience with Ms. Catsanus because it happened so long ago or because it no longer impacts your life?
Simon Pegg: I think a bit of both of those things. My relationship with Meredith...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue