Actor Simon Pegg: “George Lucas’ voice is missing from the current Star Wars films”
Actor and writer Simon Pegg has been a vocal basher of George Lucas and the Star Wars Prequels for nearly two decades (“It’s an exercise in utter infanticide … (like) George Lucas killing his kid”, he said, among many other things).
But in a new interview with The Adam Buxton Podcast, Pegg surprisingly calmed down his rhetoric. He praised Lucas’ imagination and regretted that the creator of Star Wars was not involved in the latest films.
“I met [Lucas] at the premiere of Revenge of the Sith, which is the third prequel. […] I went to say ‘Hello’ to him and he turned around and I saw the wariness in his eyes like, ‘Here’s another thirty-something fanboy who’s going to tell me how much I changed his life.’
He was talking to Ron Howard and I think Ron Howard had seen Shaun of the Dead because he immediately went, ‘Oh hey, Shaun of the Dead!’ and shook my hand. And George Lucas immediately changed his demeanour, like ‘Ok, he’s involved in filmmaking’.
He was actually sort of candid with me and I don’t think he knew I was such an avid decrier of his last three films, but he said ‘I’ll give you some advice. Don’t be making the same film that you made 30 years ago.’ It was an interesting point.
And I must admit, watching the last Star Wars film, the overriding feeling I got when I came out was, ‘I miss George Lucas.’
For all the complaining that I’d done about him in the prequels, there was something amazing about his imagination. […]
I do feel like his voice is missing from the current [Star Wars films].”
(At 49:50)
For the record, Pegg played Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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Alexrd
If there’s an offender in the sequel trilogy of doing the same thing that has been done, it’s the movie he was part of: The Farce Awakens.
The Botched Jedi is something else entirely. It’s a desecration of the very foundations of Star Wars. In any case, the hypocrite Simon Pegg got what he wished for, so I’m not sure I understand what he’s onto here. Actually, he’s showing himself in a worse light since, it turns out, he met George in 2005, got a candid treatment form him, and despite all that, Pegg still talked trash about him for decades.
Cryogenic
@ Alex:
Well said.
“If there’s an offender in the sequel trilogy of doing the same thing that has been done, it’s the movie he was part of: The Farce Awakens.”
Right. And let’s remember: Pegg boasted in the media about being an unofficial advisor to J.J. Abrams on that self-same movie.
Moreover, on the eve of TFA’s release, he then fulminated against the prequels and George Lucas yet again, this time equating the prequels with infanticide (“Like George Lucas killing his kid”), and sneering that he had “no respect” for anyone that actually liked them.
Ladies and gentlemen: The self-appointed spokesman of Generation Prequel Hater and ardent representative of Disney-era Star Wars.
By the way…
How can anyone respect him? A smarmy, nasty, callow, conceited, vainglorious, egomaniacal, hypocritical ass. And what a tasteful analogy that was for a Disney/Lucasfilm employee, of all things…
Let’s also not forget Pegg similarly railing against Star Trek fans in 2013. Fans who had the temerity — oh, the sheer, stark audacity of THOSE fans! — to rank “Star Trek: Into Darkness” last in a poll (the horror), which produced a crude, petulant rant from Pegg, in which he complained they were subjecting Abrams and himself to “crass ****-ing ire”, adding a “**** you” to them, for good measure.
But this boorish, preening queen didn’t stop there. No. In the very same interview, he admitted he had been on Lucas’ case for years, and that, if he were to jump ship and work on the then-upcoming Episode VII along with Abrams, continuing what they started with Star Trek, it would be “an act of massive hypocrisy” on his part. Yet, mere months later, he went and did exactly that.
“In any case, the hypocrite Simon Pegg got what he wished for, so I’m not sure I understand what he’s onto here. Actually, he’s showing himself in a worse light since, it turns out, he met George in 2005, got a candid treatment form him, and despite all that, Pegg still talked trash about him for decades.”
Cogent comment. It perhaps says a lot about Pegg that he both met George Lucas and was even invited to lend his voice to a “Clone Wars” character, before Lucas abdicated Lucasfilm and sold to Disney, and yet he still continued to talk trash about the man and his movies.
And yes… He got what he wished for; along with all the other pathological man-children that spent years belittling Lucas, the films, his fans, and just about anyone with a positive word to say about them. He helped make the omelette. It’s too late to put the eggs back in their shells now.
The other remarks can be sought out via Google. This comments section doesn’t like multiple hyperlinks. But here is the source for Pegg’s crass remarks regarding Star Trek fans and his “act of massive hypocrisy” remark:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/simon-pegg-the-worlds-end_n_3787056
joe
don’t forget his pal peter what’s his name who voiced darth maul years later he whined about most of his lines being cut and said jar jar was racist F**k him
Cryogenic
@ Joe:
Peter Serafinowicz. He called TPM “the most racist film of the 20th Century”, thereby pretty much invalidating anything else he could ever say about any topic, ever.
I’m gonna have to use this quote again:
“When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.” — Jonathan Swift
Marshall
HA! HAHAHAHAHHA! That’s my response when I saw not one, but TWO articles announcing this Hollywood Hypocrite’s mea culpa. I can’t tell you how much I’d love to creep up behind him with a lightsaber and bash him upside the head. Anyway, here’s that time when I put him on “trial”: https://theladyfromplanetx.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/planet-x-puts-simon-pegg-on-trial-for-crimes-against-the-sf-community/
Han Solo II
Pegg also voiced Dengar in TCW and Battlefront.