It is now official. After months of speculation about who would play the role of the Scotsman it has been announced that comedian Simon Pegg is to take the role.
Pegg is famous for his projects in the United Kingdom including the movies Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. He is also known for the Channel 4 comedy series Spaced. Casting Pegg in Star Trek is a courageous move by J.J. Abrams as the fan favorite for the role was Stargate Atlantis’ own fake Scottish accent actor Paul McGillion who played Dr. Carson Beckett in the show.
The worrying aspect about this particular bit of casting comes from two fronts.
1) Could they be casting actors now who are more bankable due to negative remarks about the previously cast unknown actors?
2) Could J.J. Abrams decision to cast Simon Pegg not be based on his fitting the role but due to the Director/Producer’s own personal emotions on Pegg?
The reason the second question has come up is because of his previous decisions to cast actors he has worked with before instead of new faces. A few examples are below.
Mentioned he had wanted to work with Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg publicly due to liking their comedy. Simon Pegg was then brought in to play a role in Mission Impossible 3 after Gervais dropped out and now he is in Star Trek. J.J. Abrams also used actors from Alias in Lost such as the airplane’s pilot in the Lost pilot episode.
It could be he has a good eye for talent or there could be another reason. Speculation aside it is safe to say that he knows more about Simon Pegg’s abilities than us as he has seen Pegg’s Scotty casting audition and we have not.
Let’s hope it all goes well and a good movie is made for the fans of the original series.
