Paul McGillion in "Star Trek XI"

[Procutus]

Simon Pegg is talented and perhaps the biggest name in the cast of the film.

Actually, I would've said that Urban was.

 

[The Wormhole]

^^I actually heard of Simon Pegg long before he was cast in Trek XI. Karl Urban is a name I never heard of before Trek XI.

 

[Barbados Slim]

^^
And that's how it is with most people.

Simon Pegg is a marquee name who gained cult status with Spaced and mainstream pop culture status with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This year, he was the top-billed star of two films, Run, Fatboy, Run and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

No one outside of fanboydom knows Karl Urban. Every time I tell people, friends and coworkers who don't know sci-fi/fantasy, the cast of Star Trek they know Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Simon Pegg. I almost always have to describe Anton Yelchin as "The kid from Alpha Dog" and Karl Urban as "the bad guy from Bourne Supremacy" or "the bad guy from Riddick" or "the brother from Lord of the Rings" before I give up. I'll describe Chris Pine as "the skinhead in Smokin' Aces that talked to Ben Affleck's face" and on rare occasions someone's seen that movie.

 

[Hermiod]

I would have said Eric Bana was possibly the best known in the United States, but Pegg would run him a close second.

 

[Kpnuts]

Very true, Bana is a very big name.

 

[DWF]

I would have said Eric Bana was possibly the best known in the United States, but Pegg would run him a close second.

Ben Cross and Winona Ryder and Bruce Greenwood are bog names in America as well.

 

[Hermiod]

I would have said Eric Bana was possibly the best known in the United States, but Pegg would run him a close second.

Ben Cross and Winona Ryder and Bruce Greenwood are bog names in America as well.

I can't imagine Ryder's part is all that huge, not enough to headline the movie. This isn't Superman.

 

[rac76]

I was upset that McGillion didn't get the job as I don't know who Pegg is (sorry didn't see any of his movies). Yet, I was happy to hear that he did get a character, and was in the movie. Luckily, his screen time didn't end up on the cutting room floor, just hope that he at least has a few minutes on the screen. Hey, I need some eye candy to look at if this movie starts tanking.