Simon Pegg in Perth: UK comedy legend stars at Supanova and tells all on his time in WA and love of ‘nerds’

Attracting UK comedy legend Simon Pegg to Perth for this weekend’s Supanova was anything but Mission: Impossible. Back in 2013, Pegg was already a regular in the Tom Cruise-led blockbuster franchise when he took a role in an Aussie movie directed by Kriv Stenders, Kill Me Three Times, shot right here in WA. “I had a brilliant time, and I loved Perth,” Pegg reveals in an exclusive chat with The West Australian. “It was an amazing thing to be that far over in the West. I’d never been to that part of Australia, so to get to spend some time there, and make a movie, was great. My pals in that film were fantastic.” Pegg, who first rose to prominence for Australian audiences in the cult BBC comedy, Spaced, and then in movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, says he knows exactly what he’ll do with any spare time he gets this weekend. “I’d definitely like to get to the coast again,” he says. “You know, that is such a dramatic coastline, and it was so lovely to have a few walks down there.” In fact, he enjoyed his time in the West so much, he’d jump at the chance to make a movie at WA’s oft-ballyhooed, $233 million Perth Film Studios. Why not a sequel to one of his earlier films. Shaun of the Down Under Dead, perhaps? Paul does Perth? “I think it’s great there’s so much infrastructure popping up around the world,” Pegg says. “So, yeah, if the chance arose to make another movie in Perth, I’d leap at it, absolutely, studios or not.” Pegg is ideally suited for fan conventions such as Supanova, having starred in the Holy Trinity for nerds: Doctor Who, Star Trek and Star Wars. “I think the word nerd gets bandied around a lot these days, because nerd culture has become such a part of the mainstream; it’s been leapt on and monetised,” Pegg explains. “But, when you go to conventions like Supernova, you meet the real fans, and I use this word in a positive way, the real nerds, because they’re people that have found sort of community and support and validation and meaning in these kind of fantasy universes.” Pegg will be joined at Supernova Perth by Anthony Daniels (aka C-3PO from Star Wars) and Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd, along with a host of other stars, voice actors, illustrators and authors from across the pop culture spectrum. Supernova takes place on Saturday and Sunday at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.