Simon Pegg

Simon: (hitting back after Ricky Gervais said there'd been no good British films since 1950) He [Ricky] says a lot of things, that man. He said there had been no good British films since 1950. What an idiot. I've seen people go (to LA) and suddenly become rake thin because there is a slight pressure on you to be thin. I've also seen a lot of fat people there. He's one of the fat people in LA, yes.

Simon: (revealing he has designs on writing a new "Star Wars" story) I might try to wheedle my way back into the affections of Lucasfilm (George Lucas's production company) and write an episode of the new live action Star Wars TV series.

Simon: (on the possibility of playing the Doctor on "Doctor Who") Being the Doctor? I don't think so. I'm really loving doing movies. I'm really enjoying working in the US. [...] I would feel awful if I messed up the franchise by just being rubbish.

Simon: I personally don't like cringe comedy. I hate embarrassment, I have a thing about it.

Simon: Appearing on TV wasn't the goal with me, I always wanted to be an actor and comedian. My knee was on the news once, though. That was pretty amazing at the time.

Simon: (on why "Hot Fuzz" is funny) The comedy happens when this quintessentially British film morphs into a big action movie - Heartbeat pupates into Lethal Weapon 10. The humour stems from the fact that every grandiose touchstone of hard-boiled American action movies is put into a very parochial British setting. Hot Fuzz is embracing the tradition of the American thriller while lovingly stroking its hair.

Simon: (when asked what his favourite TV show was) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It recently took over from The X-Files for me. Even when a little off the mark there's always the ever blooming Alyson Hannigan. Mmmm...

Simon: Chris Martin's a good friend of mine. I'm actually Apple's godfather. He's an old friend and we've been mates for quite a few years now.

Simon: Doctor Who was a big part of my childhood so it was a great honour to be in it.

Simon: Every person should have their escape route planned. I think everyone has an apocalypse fantasy, what would I do in the event of the end of the world, and we just basically - me and Nick [Frost] - said what would we do, where would we head?

Simon: I loved playing Shaun (in Shaun of the Dead), he's not that different from me.

Simon: I think at its best the American sense of humor is the same as the British sense of humor at its best, which is to be awry and ironic and self deprecating.

Simon: I used to lie in bed in my flat and imagine what would happen if there was a zombie attack.

Simon: I'd got into Doctor Who just before Jon Pertwee regenerated into Tom Baker, and as a kid I never remember the special effects being as primitive as they were.

Simon: Now I'm like a zombologist, if it ever happens I'll be on CNN talking with Larry King of what to do in the event of a zombie attack. I know my stuff.

Simon: So, we decided to do the sort of romantic-zombie-comedy and make it more like a Mike Leigh movie... but with zombies in it.

Simon: The last time I played a bad guy was in Black Books and it is always fun to play a bad guy, particularly if they are really smilingly nasty.

Simon: There is a universality to comedy.

Simon: There's this thing of you can live in a city and be completely alone, not notice anything going on around you.

Simon: Your instinct, rather than precision stabbing, is more about just random bludgeoning.

Simon: It was like an awakening (speaking about watching "Star Wars").