Simon Pegg: I felt like I needed a break - but Steven Spielberg called

He made his name as a comedy actor and writer, but Simon Pegg has revealed he would like to be considered for more serious roles.

The Spaced and Hot Fuzz star also confessed to wanting a six-month break when he had a “crisis of confidence” after co-writing Star Trek Beyond.

He told Esquire: “A lot of great comics are often very good serious actors, but they’re not given the opportunity because people won’t accept them in the role. Maybe that’s a bed I’ve made that I won’t be able to get out of.”

Pegg said writing the latest Star Trek film, his first major Hollywood commission, was a “challenge” and that he had planned a hiatus before agreeing to appear in Steven Spielberg’s forthcoming sci-fi movie, Ready Player One.

He said: “I came out of Star Trek with a slight crisis of confidence. Not because it put me off, it was a fun experience.

“But after having written a Star Trek film and done Star Wars, I felt I’d done everything I wanted to as a kid.

“I felt like I wanted to have a rethink. About where my career was going.”

Pegg told his agent to turn down any work unless Steven Spielberg called: “And then he [Spielberg] called. It was like, ‘Oh, for f***’s sake…’”

Read the full interview in the August issue of Esquire, out now.

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