Simon Pegg - "I Remember...", Part Two

The Hot Fuzz star on his stand-up days, performing with David Walliams, and what it like to share a bed with Nick Frost.

… Falling In Love With Horror Movies
I was a teenager when I became a fan of pictures like The Evil Dead and Dawn Of The Dead. Like a lot of kids, I was drawn to the gore and the suspense but, in the case of Dawn Of The Dead, I was also taken with its intelligence. The film largely takes place in a shopping mall and you can tell that the director George A Romero is commenting on American consumerism. In 2005, I had a small part in one of George’s zombie pictures, Land Of The Dead. I don’t know what was more remarkable, having the opportunity to work with my hero or the fact that George was a fan of our zombie movie, Shaun Of The Dead!

… Being In A Comedy Troupe With David Walliams
I was studying drama at Bristol University with David Williams as he was back then. Even in those days, you knew he had it in him to become a extrovert comic actor with a decent sideline in charity swimming. Our group was called David Icke And The Orphans Of Jesus - this was just after Icke stopped presenting the snooker and started claiming to be the son of God. A few of the guys in the troupe went on to great things - Myfanwy Moore became a big figure at the BBC, Jason Bradbury hosted The Gadget Show on Channel 5, and Dominik Diamond hosted Gamesmaster and worked in radio. As for David, he changed his name and met a little bald bloke called Matt…