Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. As some of you might remember, I journeyed to the United Kingdom last year. That trip had three main targets. I was going to visit the productions of three geek-related films in the span of 5 days. The first was THE MUTANT CHRONICLES at Shepperton Studios, a film that hadn't started production yet and was still in its early stages. That report can be read here!!! The second film I visited was the Matthew Vaughn helmed fantasy flick STARDUST, adapted from a book by Neil Gaiman, this time at the legendary Pinewood Studios. Click here for that report!!! The third and final stop was the film that I had arranged this trip for in the first place. STARDUST and MUTANT CHRONICLES fell into place later, but I had an open invitation to visit the set of HOT FUZZ, the next film from Edgar Wright and comic fried gold duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the mad genius' behind SPACED and SHAUN OF THE DEAD. I met Edgar right after SHAUN OF THE DEAD was finished. He came to America to show the print to George A. Romero and swung by Austin to screen the film for us at AICN. Since then I seem to bump into Edgar at the oddest places... LA, Toronto, San Diego... He was on a whirlwind tour when SHAUN came out and happened to be in many of the same places when I was. I know Simon and Nick much less than I do Edgar, but in the time I've spent with them I can tell you they are genuine people, Simon being so much like us (translation: geek) it's uncanny. Both are warm, kind and insanely funny people. Just like you'd hope they'd be. So, that's the brief set-up to my visit. What'd I see? Well, they were shooting in a small town called Wells, about 45 minute's drive from Bristol. From London I had to catch a train from Paddington Station to Bristol. I met up with the ladies handling the publicity for the film as well as a reporter from UK magazine Total Film, who joined up on this visit and looked strangely like Tom Everette Scott. The train took about an hour and a half, but when we pulled into Bristol the previously gray weather had cleared and the sky was full of sunshine and puffy white clouds. The drive to the set was one of my favorite parts of the trip and almost certainly my favorite view of England. Rolling green hills, small, but very old towns, etc. Wells is a small town surrounded by an incredibly elaborate and massive church. The church towers over everything. You'll have to bear with me a bit. This trip was almost a year ago and my noggin is filled with cobwebs, but I'm going to try to remember as much as I can. I wasn't there for much, just one sequence that can be partially seen in the first trailers. Filming was being done on a small city street. I snuck this shot... nothing major, just a movie crew, but you can get a feel for how small these streets were and you can even get a glimpse of the church towering over everything.
The Total Film reporter and I were parked on a sidewalk... right near the spot where that above photo was taken, oddly. I realized a little too late that I left my notepad back in London and the fear hit me. My memory sucks! That's why I keep referring to the Total Film reporter as the Total Film reporter, not by the dude's name! A quick look around uncovered a Woolworth's a few shops down the street from me, so I excused myself, zig-zagged through the onlookers, and entered the store. There was a run on SPACED and SHAUN OF THE DEAD DVDs in the store as onlookers bought them up to get signed. I found a little hardcover notebook, which was much more classy than my needs required, but it was all I could find, so I quickly purchased it and headed back out to the street. I missed one take while shopping for my memory-keeper, but I ended up seeing a variation of this sequence all day, so I don't think I missed too much. It was Simon Pegg hauling ass down the street after a shoplifter dressed in a purple jump suit. I wrote the word "Wigger" down in my notes, but that trip to London taught me another term: "Chav." And I'm sure Chav is what this bloke in the purple was meant to be. Trailing Simon was Nick Frost, running like the rhino in JUMANJI, much slower than Pegg, but persistent, Bobby Cap in hand plodding down the street. Pegg's body language was very determined, uptight. He ran looking straight ahead, neck locked, hands open like he had karate chop action as his arms pumped up and down as he sped after the shoplifter. After the second take, Simon walked back to his starting point, past my group. Huffing a bit, he looked over and saw me, raising a hand in greeting. He angled my way and came over to say hello. He asked if I liked his "TERMINATOR 2 run," and I just had to laugh. He was totally doing the Robert Patrick. I knew I'd seen that body language somewhere before. The next take was up and he hurried back to his mark. The only thing I noticed done differently in the next takes was Nick's placement further back, so he was even further behind... at least 20 feet or so. It was around this time I got a glimpse of Edgar, who stayed next to the camera at all times, holding a wireless monitor in his hands. I'd assume this was a way for him to not be trapped in video village and allow him easier access to direct Simon and Nick. The next set-up had the trinity running past a Gold Man. You know, like those street performers who paint themselves some metallic color. This, I was told later, was a running gag in the film. The guy underneath the metallic paint was the star of Edgar's first film, spaghetti western spoof A FISTFUL OF FINGERS. One of my favorite parts of FISTFUL OF FINGERS is the kick-ass opening animation, total Sergio Leone stuff, done by Edgar's brother Oscar. I saw a dude that looked like a older, slightly plumper, version of Edgar running around and assumed it was Oscar. I introduced myself and sure enough, it was Oscar. He also did those great comic book continuations on the SHAUN OF THE DEAD DVD. He was filming behind the scenes stuff when I was there, but I did get to spend a goodly amount of time speaking with him. Edgar came over during a reloading of the camera and talked to us for a second. In this time an elderly woman who had been watching on the sidelines came up and asked us what was going? What was this picture? Who was in it? We answered her, but she didn't seem to care one way or the other about our answers. She wanted to inform us that she used to be in the movies and was once Elizabeth Taylor's stand-in on IVANHOE. How cool is that? Some random old lady... I can imagine the stories she has. One of the next big pieces I saw on this visit was a continuation of this chase, but one with a stunt performed by Mr. Simon Pegg. As he's chasing the Chav, they pass an open alleyway. Out of this alley comes a jeep, almost hitting the purple-jump-suit wearing thief, who just barely dodges the automobile. Without pausing, Simon's character leaps up and slides over the hood, continuing the chase. After a few seconds, Nick comes puffing up and just kind of careens around the nose of the jeep and continues himself. Simon executed the jump flawlessly on the first take, however his slide over the hood was a little slow. The first take was over and he got applause from the 50 or so crew and the, probably, 100 locals who came out to watch. Second take, the jeep skids, Simon jumps, but this time he wasn't high enough and his foot hit on his way over, causing him to tumble. He wasn't in any serious peril, but it didn't look comfortable either. He was okay and they go a few more times until Edgar got what he wanted. The publicist takes the Total Film guy to have a chat with Nick after they get the shots they need and are changing camera position. Watching from down the street, I had to hold back laughter as Wells locals would interrupt Nick's interview with Total Film to ask him what was going on. He was still dressed up as a cop, you see, and apparently he was very convincing as he kept getting asked questions from people on the street. To illustrate how crowded it was getting, how many people were about watching the filming, there was an accident involving an onlooker. An elderly woman tripped over something... probably another onlooker's foot, and fell to the pavement. Hard. She cracked her head pretty good about halfway in between Nick and the Total Film reporter and where I was standing. Nick rushed over to her and helped her up. Her head was bleeding and Nick treated her as the onset medics were called, talking to her and keeping her calm. If I didn't recognize Nick as a comic mastermind, this could have been any cop show, with a bobby helping a random injured lady. Shortly after she was taken by the medic, it was my turn to chat with Nick Frost. Being the professional I am, I was completely unprepared, having thought I was just going to watch them shoot. So, of course, I interviewed both Nick and Simon. Luckily, my tape recorder was in my laptop bag. As you'll tell from both interviews... they're very daft and conversational. Especially Simon's. But here's the chat I had with Nick, right there on the street.
Nick Frost: Did you get to see much of the SXSW this year.
Quint: Yeah, all but 3 days worth. I had to go to ShoWest right in the middle of SXSW.
Nick Frost: Right. Did you see The Arctic Monkeys?
Quint: I usually don't get a chance to see the music stuff. I'm usually left with just a film badge.
Nick Frost: You enjoying... you haven't seen much, I guess.
Quint: I'm having a great time in England.
Nick Frost: Are you going to be allowed to come and see our one-minute teaser tonight?
Quint: They're putting me on a train back... but now that I know about it, I'm certainly going to miss not seeing it. Thanks.
Nick Frost: (laughs) They cut together a little reel to kind of spur everyone on.
Quint: How far along in the shoot are you?
Nick Frost: This is our 8th week. So what've we got left? Four? Four and a bit? But I kinda get the sense that we might overrun slightly. There's stuff that we've dropped. But yeah, it's going very well, I think.
Quint: I really like your hat.
Nick Frost: Thank you very much! It's the standard issue police... um...
Quint: Are you going to get to keep it?
Nick Frost: I don't know, actually.
Quint: You should try to keep the whole uniform. You never know when it'll come in handy.
Nick Frost: I know! Just walk into my local pub. A little later on in the film I get to wear a vest as well, a kevlar vest which is nice. I enjoy it a lot more because it hides a lot of my tummy.
Quint: Before I left I put a story up on the site announcing my trip to London and I didn't mention anything about visiting this set, but I still got 2 dozen emails saying, "Have fun at HOT FUZZ! Tell me everything!" The geeks are dying to see this one.
Nick Frost: That's good, though, right?
Quint: Yeah! People want to find out about the movie.
Nick Frost: We did something... good, with SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Going to do the Q&As with SHAUN OF THE DEAD... I think we went about it the right way, you know, and hopefully we're going to do exactly the same with this film, too. It's such an important... I mean, you can't beat the internet. There's so many people there... it's the perfect tool, you know?
Quint: It's a very nice ride so far for you guys because, I'd guess, of SPACED. You built up a solid fanbase with the show and that built on to SHAUN OF THE DEAD and it's probably going to get even bigger with HOT FUZZ. Especially with an international appeal, I think the internet can be of great use.
Nick Frost: Hopefully this will be the kind of film that even if you haven't seen SHAUN OF THE DEAD people will enjoy it and they will then go back and retroactively look for SHAUN OF THE DEAD and SPACED. Hopefully.
Quint: So, in the movie you play a police officer already in this small town...
Nick Frost: Yeah, I'm a Sanford local, which is the town we film in. I'm kind of what you'd call a Saturday Boy. Do you know what that is?
Quint: I don't.
Nick Frost: In Britain, for instance, your parents kind of force you, at quite a young age, to go and get a job on a Saturday, which usually would be stacking shelves or working in a fruit and vegetable... you know, sort of like that. So, I'm kind of like a simple Saturday Boy. You're not too sure how he ever got into the police force, but he's here. It's such a rural community that there's never any crime and there's never and trouble and it's easy for my character just to drift and bumble happily. He's a very happy character. He's almost slightly simple, he's so happy about everything that he's borderline simple. And he's a big fan of the action genre and he kind of yearns for something more. He yearns to be a John McClane, you know, or a Lethal Weapon.
Quint: Who would you rather be, Tango or Cash?
Nick Frost: I'd pick K-9. I'd totally be K-9.
Quint: (laughs) You like the Belushi route.
Nick Frost: (laughs) Yeah. Simon's Belushi. I think (my character) has a lot of dog in him, you know? That pure kind of (pants like a dog), you know? "Is everyone alright?" Yeah, but he wants a car chase, he wants a shoot-out. He wants it all. He kind of feels like he's missin' out, which he isn't really. But later on, when it kicks off, he gets his wish, I suppose.
Quint: Does he like it when he finally sees it or is the reality too much for him?
Nick Frost: He likes it. Why wouldn't he? (laughs)
Quint: So, I'd imagine the running I've been watching today isn't your favorite part... I know it wouldn't be my favorite part...
Nick Frost: I don't mind it! I don't mind the physical... If anything, I get slightly jealous because Simon's got to do a lot of it, you know?
[At this point two giggling girls come up and ask for a picture of them with Nick]
Nick Frost: Done! Perfect!
Giggling Girl #1: Thank you!
Giggling Girl #2: Can I have one, too?
Nick Frost: Yeah, come on!
Quint: You're a rock star, man.
Nick Frost: (nonchalant) Sure, I guess... I do get jealous 'cause I see Simon doing all the action...
Giggling Girl #2: Thank you!
Nick Frost: Sure.
Giggling Girl #3: Can I get a picture?
Nick Frost: I'm gonna start charging now... That's a cool phone.
Giggling Girl #3: Thank you!
Nick Frost: You're welcome. Yeah... so, I'd say if we do another film together I'd like a little more rough & tumble.
Quint: Maybe Simon could never move in the next one.
Nick Frost: Yeah, maybe he can be in a floating cart because of his gout!
Quint: He'll be the boy in the plastic bubble or something.
Nick Frost: (laughs) I'll be his carer...
Nick was pulled back to work, and away from his adoring fans. Not long thereafter was lunch, where I had a nice, off the record, chat with Edgar. Caught up a little bit. And then I was ushered into Simon Pegg's trailer for our on-the-record chat. Not that you can really tell a difference. The interview Simon and I did is about as fly on the wall banal geek conversation as you can get. We talk video games, movies, comedy and then a little about the movie at the very end. One thing I couldn't help but notice when I walked in was Simon's DVD shelf, which was most sci-fi. COMMUNION, X-FILES and lots of Alien-themed movies. Research? If we're lucky. So, here's the embarrassingly geeky chat I had with Simon. Enjoy!
Simon Pegg: You know... what's his name? David Cross?
Quint: Yeah, Mr. Show!
Simon Pegg: I love that show! I've been watching that and Arrested Development in here.
Quint: Have you seen the bit where they keep repeating the guy falling into the thimble rack?
Simon Pegg: No. I've only got seasons 1 and 2.
Quint: This is later.
Simon Pegg: I've got over to Ken's in New York and get my latest stock of American DVDs. How long did it run for? Is it still running?
Quint: No, no... It was cancelled early by HBO. There was a big controversy about it because it had good ratings. For whatever reason they cancelled it.
Simon Pegg: It's pretty uncompromising, though, isn't it? I mean, HBO, though... But I kind of discovered it through Arrested Development. You know, seeing David Cross on that.
Quint: David Cross is awesome.
Simon Pegg: Yeah, he's cool.
Quint: Have you seen the Mr. Show movie?
Simon Pegg: No!
Quint: It's called RUN, RONNIE, RUN and it's based on...
Simon Pegg: Oh, Ronnie Dobbs! Yeah-yeah-yeah.
Quint: And it's a whole movie starring Ronnie Dobbs.
Simon Pegg: No way! I've gotta get that, eh?
Quint: They repeat a lot of jokes from the show, but I still think it's really funny.
Simon Pegg: I'll have to get that. I'll have to put it on my list... Yeah, I started watching it... I was in Canada doing something and I put it on there and I was just like, "This is fucking great! This is so funny!"
Quint: And I have a huge crush on Sarah Silverman, so it's easy to watch Mr. Show...
Simon Pegg: Ah, man. She's gorgeous, isn't she? I saw her, actually. I did the Jimmy Kimmel Show when we over in LA last time and she was there because she goes out with him, right?
Quint: Yeah.
Simon Pegg: Yeah, she's lovely. She's really sexy.
Quint: I saw her at SXSW when she showed up with her movie, JESUS IS MAGIC. Even in person... On one hand, I hate Jimmy Kimmel, but on the other hand... It's like... if he has a shot...
Simon Pegg: (laughs) "Why can't I?"
Quint: I just gotta put down the desert, drop about 30 pounds and I'm about on his level!
Simon Pegg: (laughs) Oh my God... So, you're just down for, like, a day down here?
Quint: Down here, yeah. I fly back tomorrow, but I've had about 4 days in London.
Simon Pegg: Is this your first time out of the capital, though, in terms of rural...
Quint: I went to both Pinewood and Shepperton, which is kind of out of London and I flew into Gatwick, which was like 30 miles....
Simon Pegg: Yeah, I know. It's miles away, isn't it?
Quint: But this is the first real English countryside I've seen.
Simon Pegg: It's a nice little town, actually, for that.
Quint: I'm not a really big fan of Central London. I love the Westminster area... the parts of London where you can really see the history... "Oh, I've seen Chevy Chase drive through here!" you know?
Simon Pegg: Yeah yeah. (laughs) EUROPEAN VACATION!
Quint: So I guess I like the areas that feel European to me, whereas most of London feels like any Big City Anywhere.
Simon Pegg: Yeah, absolutely. It's very urban, London.
Quint: But out here is beautiful. I totally kept thinking I was seeing the Willy Wonka towns on the train out here. You know, the Charlie Bucket neighborhoods...
Simon Pegg: (laughs) Exactly! Exactly! I know it's funny for Edgar because this is where he grew up.
Quint: He actually grew up in Wells?
Simon Pegg: Yeah, yeah. I've seen films on videos that he made when he was 17, like the precursor to HOT FUZZ. It's hilarious. But to come back to your hometown and make a movie. I think he's having a weird time.
Quint: (Noticing his game system) Is that a PS1 or a PS2?
Simon Pegg: That's a PS2. I bought it because it's nice and portable. I've got a PSP and I'm waiting for the PS3.
Quint: So, you're on that side of the console wars.
Simon Pegg: The Xbox 360, my cousin got it and it just looks amazing, but I don't know. You got that thing where you get console... loyalty. You know what I mean? I did get an Xbox, but I didn't really take to it.
Quint: I like the Xbox controller more, so that's probably the breaker for me.
Simon Pegg: I've just been playing RESIDENT EVIL 4. It's soooo good. I've completed it, like, 5 times, but if you can get more money you can get better weapons and just go through with machine guns and mow everybody down!
Quint: I remember back in the day when Doom hit and you first discover...
Simon Pegg: God mode!
Quint: Yeah... and I remember going... "I wonder if I can beat the big rocket-firing demon... with a pistol!" This guy that takes 80 rockets to kill... but let's see how long it takes me to kill him with just a pistol! I spent hours...
Simon Pegg: (laughs) Those cheats were great, weren't they?
[Knock on the door from a PA saying they're ready for Simon]
Simon Pegg: Okay, I'll be just about 5 minutes.
Quint: So, I guess we should actually talk about the movie!
Simon Pegg: I can talk to you this afternoon, as well.
Quint: So... you and Edgar co-wrote the script together again, right?
Simon Pegg: Yeah. We were just sort of looking at the state of British cinema. All we seem to do is make films about criminals, so we said, "Let's make one about the police force." We never like to make it easy for ourselves, so we thought it'd be funny to take what is ostensibly quite uncool figure, the bobby, and inject him with a bit of cool. It's weird because with SHAUN... it was a very recognizable genre to come in to, especially overseas. We all know what zombie films are and they're kind of universal, whereas this... is coming at it from a slightly more (English) angle. I think with SHAUN before us... I think people might take a bit more interest in this.
Quint: You've totally built up your fanbase. I was telling Nick that before I left I posted a story on the site saying I was headed to London, without mentioning anything specific, and I got 2 dozen emails from people going, "Say hi to Nick and Simon for me!" Just by yourselves you have a following.
Simon Pegg: (laughs) That's cool. That's really good. They're just about to show Spaced on BBC America, I heard. I read about it.
Quint: I thought there was a rights issue with the Star Wars music.
Simon Pegg: There's a rights issue in terms of a DVD release, but we got it down to, like, 3 songs that we need to just change, then we can release it. It might happen.
Quint: In terms of your character in HOT FUZZ, what kind of arc are you looking at for him?
Simon Pegg: I wanted to play someone who was really different to Tim and to Shaun, who most people know me for. I have played very different characters since, but because this is another production from Edgar and me and Universal and Working Title, I wanted him to be completely different, so we purposefully made him the opposite of those guys. He's not a slacker by any means. He doesn't know anything about culture. He knows about culture, but he doesn't got to the cinema, he doesn't watch TV... he just listens to the radio. He's a complete and utter workhorse, he's completely dedicated to his job. He's left-wing in terms of being a very liberal policeman who's in it for the right reasons. He's in it to change and make a difference, to preserve the law, which he believes in whole-heartedly. He is a little bit like the T-1000 (laughs)! He's just dedicated and humorless, in a way. And I think Danny, which is Nick's character, is the opposite of that.
Quint: So, you're the straight man.
Simon Pegg: Yeah, very much so. He looks at everything like he doesn't understand things. When people make jokes, he's kinda like, "Huh?" And Danny begins to educate him in the ways of loosening up a bit.
Quint: You're the Tango of the relationship.
Simon Pegg: Yes, exactly. (laughs) We were going to call the pub the Tango and Hutch... well... There was a joke in it at one point where this guy went, "Oh, shut up Tango & Hutch!" I think we changed that to "Crockett and Tubby." But yeah, he's a robot really, but it's something he learns to let go of finally. But it's amazing working suddenly with a cast that is a lot older. A lot of our older statespeople are in the cast. People like Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent and Paul Freeman... you know, Belloq for Christ's sakes! It's amazing to be acting off them. There's a different atmosphere onset. They're no less fun. Stuart Wilson as well, who is the bad guy in LETHAL WEAPON 3 and NO ESCAPE... they're just as mischievous, but it's interesting getting into character around those guys. I was sitting on set the other day thinking, "There's James Bond, Mrs. Baylock, Belloq... it's like a fanboy's dream!
Quint: I can't wait to see Belloq again... You don't... well, at least in the states, you don't really see him in anything.
Simon Pegg: You know, he's a big theater actor here. He does a little TV, but it wasn't like he just launched off into a big Hollywood career after (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK)... I told him that I'd read Frank Darabont's sequel that he'd written and it was really good. I really loved it. He was really interested to hear about that. But that was my, "Oh, what can I talk about with Paul? What's my way in with Paul? Oh, I know!"
Before I could pin Pegg down and force him to spill on Darabont's INDIANA JONES 4 film that will never be, I was kicked out so Pegg could get touched up and get ready for the second half of his shooting day.
Shortly after lunch my time on the set of HOT FUZZ was ended in order to make a train that was an hour's drive away. One of these days I'd love to spend a week watching Edgar, Simon and Nick play, but I'm grateful for the time I got. And I can't wait to see the damn movie.
Sorry the set report was so long in the making. I wasn't embargoed, I just got very behind. Now the film is in release in London and a couple months away here in the states. My understanding is the opening for HOT FUZZ was huge in the UK. Can't wait!
I leave with you with another photo taken from my time in Wells. It's just a street sign with the production HQ sign below it, but I like the picture. Plus you can see the Total Film reporter who looks like Tom Everrett Scott's face in the bottom left hand corner! Sorry I can't remember your name, man!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
