Summary

Simon Pegg reflects on his journey as Benji Dunn and the emotional impact of the series’ final chapter in an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub.

Pegg shares behind-the-scenes stories, including driving a speedboat and filming a major callback to the first film.

Pegg also talks about future projects, working with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost more in the future, and why he hasn’t watched Andor.

Simon Pegg has become a household name due to his work, with roles in films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz making him one of the industry’s most beloved comedic actors. Since Mission: Impossible 3, Pegg has also been bringing one of the franchise’s most popular characters to the screen in Benji Dunn, a role he reprises in the eighth and (allegedly) final film of the series, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, culminating nearly two decades with the character.
In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Pegg reflects on his journey as Benji, including the emotional impact of concluding the epic action saga, opposite stars like Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and more. Pegg shares the stunts he was able to do because of the franchise he thought he’d never have the chance to do, what he believes is truly the heart of the films, and the weight of filming a callback to the first Mission: Impossible. Outside the franchise, Pegg discusses working with frequent collaborators Edgar Wright and Nick Frost again, as well as touching on what he hopes his next project will be — and why he still hasn’t watched Andor.
What’s Next for Simon Pegg?

“I’m quite enjoying the uncertainty of the future.”

Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: I’ve been asking this of a lot of people recently, and I’m going to ask it of you, do you have a favorite Stanley Kubrick movie?
SIMON PEGG: I would probably say The Shining. That’s the one that jumps to my mind straightaway. I love that movie. It’s such a clever film. It’s a horror film that takes place entirely in light. There were no dark corners in the shadow in The Shining. It’s just all there for you to see. And I think it’s a masterpiece of tension and weirdness. I know Stephen King doesn’t like it, and I get why, but I think as a movie, it’s beautiful.
I have to correct you, though, the proper answer for the best Stanley Kubrick movie is all of them.
PEGG: [Laughs] Okay, yes.
Just to throw that out there. How long did you know that Nick [Frost] was cast as Hagrid before the world?
PEGG: A long time. He called me when it happened and swore me to secrecy. I immediately went and told my wife, because I just couldn’t hold it in. But I swore her to secrecy. It’s okay. She’s a cul-de-sac of information. It’s fine. But, yeah, I knew for a while, and I was just waiting for it to be announced.
Have you mentioned to Nick, “I also live in the UK. I might also like to be a part of that. I love the show?”
PEGG: I don’t know. I’ve just got out of a 20-year job, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to take on an eight-year one, even though that’s considerably shorter. Not that I haven’t enjoyed these 20 years of Mission: Impossible, but I’m quite enjoying the uncertainty of the future.
Yeah, it’s going to be a seven or eight-season show, but that’s going to be filmed over 20 years or something. I don’t know how they’re going to do it.
PEGG: I know, I know, I know.
Because the kids are going to be, like, 40 by the end. I don’t know how they’re doing it.

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So, obviously, we’ve talked about Star Wars, about, I’d say, a 1,000 times. I don’t know if I’ve ever asked you: Star Wars or Empire, which one is the fav? Which is the one that you think is the better movie?
PEGG: I think Empire is probably a better movie. Probably. But maybe that’s only because of what it’s built on. I would say, ultimately, I’d always go for the first one just because it’s what started it all. It’s what propelled that story into decades of interest from people in different guises and various different levels of quality.
I’ve always given the prequels a little shit, even though people that I know that are younger, that grew up with the prequels, love them. But I have to say, in the last few months, I’m beginning to think George Lucas is Nostradamus, in terms of the prequels dealing with trade wars and tariffs. Something’s going on. I’m like, “Wait, didn’t we see this in the prequels? Did [Donald] Trump watch these?” I don’t know if you’ve noticed.
PEGG: It hadn’t occurred to me. No, I haven’t revisited those films.
With good reason. But now let’s talk about what I think is the best Star Wars since 1980, which is Andor. Have you watched it?
PEGG: I haven’t watched.
For the love of god. How do you live with yourself?
PEGG: I can’t. I honestly don’t know. I feel like after I was in The Force Awakens and I was on the set, and that experience of being in Star Wars, of being around the props, it kind of felt like the climax of my Star Wars life in a way. I haven’t really indulged in Star Wars since.
I understand what you’re saying.
PEGG: Yeah. I’m 55.
Listen, I get.
PEGG: I hear Andor is very grown-up. I think people are always saying, “Oh, Star Wars is the same thing over and over again,” and I like that they’ve done something different. For me, Star Wars is about my childhood, and I don’t really want to see a gritty, adult Star Wars. It doesn’t interest me. I’ve heard that it’s great, and I love that they’ve done it. Tony Gilroy — what a creator. But I don’t know. It’s just not for me anymore.
I’m saying to you as if you take the “Star Wars” out of it, it’s fucking jaw-dropping. There’s no Jedi. There’s no lightsabers. I can only say I recommend it strongly.
PEGG: Okay. Maybe I’ll dip back in.
I swear it’s worth it.
Simon Pegg Is Eyeing the Director’s Chair

The actor will direct off a book adaptation he wrote.

Image via Saban FIlms

The last thing IMDb gives you credit for as a writer — Au Revoir, Chris Hemsworth.
PEGG: Correct.
Are you currently writing anything?
PEGG: I am writing something. Au Revoir, Chris Hemsworth, for those of you who don’t know, was a small, three-minute French New Wave movie I made with Pom Klementieff in Venice while we were having a break on Mission: Impossible. It was part of their fantasy football league. It was a diss video about Chris Hemsworth. It’s amazing. It’s on YouTube. Check it out.
I’ve adapted a book which I have loved for a long time, which I hope to direct. I can’t really say any more than that because I don’t want to jinx it. Nothing’s been officially announced, but that’s the last thing I wrote.
Is this something you might do this year or next year?
PEGG: Soon, hopefully.
So that’s like the thing?
PEGG: Mhmm.
Okay. I have so many follow-ups, but I won’t pressure you. When I told the Collider staff that I would be talking to you — and I know you get this all the time, but it’s going to come from me again — they’re just screaming at me, “Simon. Nick [Frost]. Edgar [Wright]!” What’s the next genre that you guys do?
PEGG: Edgar, obviously, he’s posting The Running Man at the moment. I’m thinking we might get some time in the near future to sit down and hash something out. Nick’s going to be a problem, because he’s going to be busy for the next seven or eight years, but Edgar and I talk about it all the time. I’m seeing Edgar tonight, actually, so maybe we’ll have another chat.
Listen, you really need to make this happen.
Bringing the Mission: Impossible Chapter of Life to a Close

“I don’t think there could be a better way to go out.”

So you’ve been working on Mission since Mission 3. It’s been basically 20 years.
PEGG: It has.
It really does seem like this could be the end, like this might be the last Mission. In fact, it probably is. What the hell is it like for you to have such an enormous chapter of your life actually coming to a close?
PEGG: It’s strange. It’s bittersweet, is the best way I can describe it. You and I met for the first time just before I was cast in Mission: Impossible 3, and I shot my first scene in that film 20 years ago this November. Here I am now, promoting the final chapter. It’s been such a ride. It’s been such an amazing experience. I feel grateful, and I feel sad, and I’m excited for people to see this movie. I mean, what an incredible wrapping up. McQ has done such an incredible job embracing everything that’s gone before and pulling it into this movie as a kind of culmination of all Ethan’s choices. I don’t think there could be a better way to go out.
This film and the one before you guys were filming for, like, five years or something. Crazy.
PEGG: Yeah, five years.
How does that work with your schedule? Is it possible you know in advance you’re going to be filming for six months? Or is it like you can’t take another job because you could be filming in two months?
PEGG: Yeah, you’re on first call. Of course, we were waylaid by certain global events, and what was supposed to be maybe a two-to-three-year job ballooned into a five-year job. That’s just the way things turned out. I was able to go off, and I did a little independent movie. I did a television series. I did some voice work. I was able to get away and do bits and bobs. It wasn’t just Mission for that time, which was a relief.
The Heart of ‘Mission: Impossible’

“It’s about seeing characters fulfill their destiny, redeem themselves, realize that love is more powerful than hate.”

Image via Paramount Pictures

One of the things about Tom [Cruise] is that he has so much energy, and he’s so inspiring. What did you end up doing while making the Mission movies that you, in a million years, never thought you were going to do?
PEGG: I drove a speedboat up the River Seine, which was so much fun. They basically closed the River Seine for me. There’s a lot of aqua. In fact, it’s all water-related. I drove a water taxi through Venice, and I rescued, or rather retrieved, Sean Harris from a submerged armored car wearing a rebreather, which is different to scuba. So, every day on Mission is like that. Bombing through Casablanca in a battered BMW, being up there on the mountain watching Tom do that stunt where he jumped off a cliff. I mean, it’s one of those jobs.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning releases in theaters on May 23.

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