Simon Pegg to appear at Comic-Con

[Dark Gilligan]

Simon Pegg and his writing/director partner Edgar Wright will be at Comic-Con on Friday the 25th. They'll be promoting their British sit-com "Spaced" with a panel at noon followed by a screening that night. While Pegg won't be representing Star Trek per se, I'll wager that it will come up during the Q&A with the audience. Better than nothing at all I suppose.

 

[Sector 7]

Can someone explain why there seems to be so many who do NOT want Simon Pegg to play Scotty? I've never really understood it.
(Hope this is an appropriate place to ask.)

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Can someone explain why there seems to be so many who do NOT want Simon Pegg to play Scotty?

He doesn't look even passably like Scotty, which is a jarring contrast to all the other major (and most of the minor) characters, who are either amazing dopplegangers (eg, Quinto) or at least in the ballpark (eg, Pine). The actors should look enough like the originals that it's not a distraction onscreen.

His acting ability doesn't much matter since Scotty isn't a complex role. Paul McGillion was available for the part, looks incredibly right for the role, and is a good enough actor that he could have handled the part every bit as well as Pegg could.

I don't see what Pegg will bring to the role other than stunt casting value, and I suspect he will be a major detriment simply by his presence which is even more annoying in light of the good casting they've accomplished for the other roles.

And before anyone says, "looks don't matter," then why did they so obviously matter for all the other roles? Why bother casting all the other roles with people who do look at least passably like the originals?

From another thread here, I see the producers are so maniacal about Spock's looks that they've given Quinto earlobe prosthetics. Even I would never be so fussy that I'd throw a fit at the grotesque cannon violation of Spock having attached rather than dangling earlobes. So why do they seem not to care at all about Scotty?

 

[Sector 7]

^Thanks for the enlightenment. I've read 'the casting sux' and such, but never understood why until now.
No one can ever replace Jimmy Doohan in my heart. He was more than just a role to me personally. So I am in favor of doing his character justice.
Paul McGillion is listed in the cast at www.imdb.com but without a character name. From his work on Stargate: Atlantis, I think he might have made a really good Scotty. Good point.

 

[M'Sharak]

Can someone explain why there seems to be so many who do NOT want Simon Pegg to play Scotty?

He doesn't look even passably like Scotty, which is a jarring contrast to all the other major (and most of the minor) characters, who are either amazing dopplegangers (eg, Quinto) or at least in the ballpark (eg, Pine). The actors should look enough like the originals that it's not a distraction onscreen.
[...]

Sorry, Temis, that last is nonsense, and you know it. There's no good reason that any of the actors cast need to look like the actors who played the roles in the series. None.

 

[ITL]

I have faith in Pegg to make the role work, and couldn't give a flying fuck that McGillion didn't get it. And I like McGillion. But not as much as Pegg.

If McGillion had got the role over Pegg, I wouldn't give a flying fuck about that, either.

I'd have been happy that either one got the job, frankly.

 

[M'Sharak]

My, you're awfully cheerful today, aren't you?

 

[ITL]

My sunny disposition is twinkling and vibrant. Hehehe.

 

[Tralah]

Eh, I don't think Pegg's looks matter too much. As long as he can capture the essence of the character, I think it'll be easy enough to suspend disbelief. Then again, I've never seen anything else that Pegg was in, and I wasn't attached to the idea of another actor playing this role, so my perspective is undoubtedly different than it might have otherwise been.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

His acting ability doesn't much matter since Scotty isn't a complex role. Paul McGillion was available for the part, looks incredibly right for the role, and is a good enough actor that he could have handled the part every bit as well as Pegg could

He actually does doesn't he.

Is Pegg really stunt acting? How well known is Shaun of the Dead outside the UK?

 

[shapeshifter]

I don't see Scotty in Paul McGillion at all, maybe Archer though. Compared to him Pegg is a better choice, appearance wise, imo.

 

[Kryton]

I never saw Shaun of the Dead, but I finally caught Hot Fuzz on cable a couple of days ago.

What an odd little film! I rather liked it, though I kept reassessing it every step along the way!

 

[ITL]

If you get the DVD, listen to the first commentary track - it all becomes clear....

 

[gastrof]

I have faith in Pegg to make the role work, and couldn't give a flying fuck that McGillion didn't get it. And I like McGillion. But not as much as Pegg.

If McGillion had got the role over Pegg, I wouldn't give a flying fuck about that, either.

I'd have been happy that either one got the job, frankly.

Off topic:

Anyone notice how much the current Doctor Who looks like Norman Bates?

 

[ITL]

Is he holding a knife, out of view? Ah, you'll never know......

 

[Kryton]

Is it a SONIC knife?

 

[ITL]

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[Jon1701]

Can someone explain why there seems to be so many who do NOT want Simon Pegg to play Scotty?

He doesn't look even passably like Scotty, which is a jarring contrast to all the other major (and most of the minor) characters, who are either amazing dopplegangers (eg, Quinto) or at least in the ballpark (eg, Pine). The actors should look enough like the originals that it's not a distraction onscreen.

I think he looks a lot like Doohan to be honest, and given Quinto and Pine are in their 20's he's in the right age bracket. Darken his hair and I don't think you are far off.

He also does humour well, which was always a big part of the character of Scotty. I'm not just talking about the movies either, look at Scotty in The Trouble with Tribbles and By Any Other Name. Brilliant.

I think its a piece of inspired casting.

 

[Shanemaxell]

I know this is off-topic, but why is Spaced being promoted all of a sudden in the US? I've been reading about it a lot in blogs recently and I don't understand- has it only just arrived in the US or something?

 

[Solariabsg25]

Pegg has done a lot of diverse roles, of course he is mostly known for his comedies, he also appeared in "Band of Brothers", along with Trek-related Neil McDonough, Tom Hardy along with a certain Jamie Bamber.

One surprise to me cast wise was Karl Urban as McCoy. I never saw it myself, until this month's SFX mag, which shows him and Deforest Kelly, and the similarity is striking!!