After breaking out of his years-long funny guy role, comedian, filmmaker and actor Simon Pegg has reflected on his time in the entertainment industry being typecast in comedy films, while promoting his latest gig playing a captive murderer in Vaughn Stein's newest thriller Inheritance.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pegg spoke at length about the frustrations of being pigeonholed as the goofy guy and not being taken "seriously" in Hollywood in the past:
The type that I think people expect from me wasn't necessarily something that I intended. When I graduated from university where I studied theatre, film and television, I went into stand-up because comedy was something I enjoyed but also because it offered me a certain autonomy that I wouldn't have if I was sitting and waiting for the phone to ring as an actor. Then, I drifted into comedy acting through doing stand-up, and that was something that I really enjoyed. But, it wasn't the only thing I ever wanted to do. There was a time when I was younger where I just wanted to be at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. To actually be given the opportunity to play a role that is against type like you say, you jump at it.
People have an idea of who you are and what you can do, and that idea is really only based on what they've seen. So, you can't blame people for sending you scripts that are tonally similar to stuff you've done before because the stuff you've done before is what put you in their minds. So, yeah, it is tough, but it's really comedy. You see it happening again and again with actors who are known for comedy; you get the sense they're a bit frustrated because comedy, by its very nature, is inferior. So, you can feel like people don't take you seriously, and that can be a little frustrating sometimes. You think, "Oh, wait a minute, I'd like to play this role or that role, or someone with an accent." And people go, "No, no, you're this. That's what you do, and we don't want you doing anything else." You see it with a lot of comedic actors, and sometimes, they're just not allowed to leave that space.
Pegg will appear alongside Lily Collins, Connie Nielsen, Chace Crawford and more in Inheritance. The movie's initial release is set for June 18 on Prime and Apple.
According to IMDb, the film follows "a patriarch of a wealthy and powerful family [who] suddenly passes away, leaving his wife and daughter with a shocking secret inheritance that threatens to unravel and destroy their lives."
Watch the trailer for Inheritance below.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pegg spoke at length about the frustrations of being pigeonholed as the goofy guy and not being taken "seriously" in Hollywood in the past:
The type that I think people expect from me wasn't necessarily something that I intended. When I graduated from university where I studied theatre, film and television, I went into stand-up because comedy was something I enjoyed but also because it offered me a certain autonomy that I wouldn't have if I was sitting and waiting for the phone to ring as an actor. Then, I drifted into comedy acting through doing stand-up, and that was something that I really enjoyed. But, it wasn't the only thing I ever wanted to do. There was a time when I was younger where I just wanted to be at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. To actually be given the opportunity to play a role that is against type like you say, you jump at it.
People have an idea of who you are and what you can do, and that idea is really only based on what they've seen. So, you can't blame people for sending you scripts that are tonally similar to stuff you've done before because the stuff you've done before is what put you in their minds. So, yeah, it is tough, but it's really comedy. You see it happening again and again with actors who are known for comedy; you get the sense they're a bit frustrated because comedy, by its very nature, is inferior. So, you can feel like people don't take you seriously, and that can be a little frustrating sometimes. You think, "Oh, wait a minute, I'd like to play this role or that role, or someone with an accent." And people go, "No, no, you're this. That's what you do, and we don't want you doing anything else." You see it with a lot of comedic actors, and sometimes, they're just not allowed to leave that space.
Pegg will appear alongside Lily Collins, Connie Nielsen, Chace Crawford and more in Inheritance. The movie's initial release is set for June 18 on Prime and Apple.
According to IMDb, the film follows "a patriarch of a wealthy and powerful family [who] suddenly passes away, leaving his wife and daughter with a shocking secret inheritance that threatens to unravel and destroy their lives."
Watch the trailer for Inheritance below.
