Actor, comedian, and screenwriter Simon Pegg is a massively talented man. Best known for his work writing and starring in Edgar Wright’s brilliant and hilarious Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Pegg has proven he can turn his hand to almost anything.
He recently got the opportunity to flex his acting chops in a big way in season 4 of Amazon’s The Boys, giving an incredible farewell performance as the father of Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell Jr.
It got us thinking about Pegg’s finest performances throughout his long career — and we believe we’ve accurately nailed the best ten. Read on, fair WGTC visitor, to determine if you agree with our picks.
10. Buck Wild in the Ice Age movies
In 2009, Pegg got the chance to demonstrate his voice-acting skills, playing the role of Buck Wild in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He has since reprised the role in the 2011 short Scrat’s Continental Crack-up, 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course, and 2022’s The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.
Buck is an eyepatch-wearing weasel and a dinosaur hunter who, having spent much time in isolation, is a little insane (he talks to inanimate objects a lot). That said, he’s a brave survivalist whose assistance is vital to the core cast of Ice Age characters. Pegg brings him to life impeccably, voicing the furry adventurer with bags of energy and humor — and it’s easy to tell he’s having a lot of fun doing it.
9. Graeme Willy in Paul
Pegg and his best friend and regular collaborator Nick Frost wrote 2011’s sci-fi comedy road movie Paul, and the obvious love and enjoyment that went into it is almost palpable. Pegg plays Graeme Willy, and Frost plays Clive Gollings — two British buddies and comic book and sci-fi nerds in the United States for the annual San Diego Comic-Con who end up helping the eponymous friendly alien to evade the Secret Service.
Pegg’s performance is funny, cheeky, intelligent, and incredibly likable. While Paul isn’t the finest collaboration between him and Frost, it’s typically enjoyable, and you can relate to their characters as they react convincingly to their unusual predicament.
8. Tim Bisley in Spaced
Spaced established Pegg and director Edgar Wright as genuine talent special.. Pegg wrote and starred in the sitcom, which aired on British station Channel 4 from 1999 until 2001 and followed two twenty-something Londoners who pretend to be a professional couple to rent an affordable London flat.
The BAFTA-nominated show is one of the best British comedies ever, and Pegg plays Tim Bisley brilliantly. The show is packed with pop culture references, which Pegg is very at home with. His relatable performance and chemistry with Jessica Stevenson (and, of course, Nick Frost) is why the show was so successful. If you haven’t already, you should binge-watch Spaced whenever you can.
7. Gary King in The World’s End
The third installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and the first to appear on this list is 2013’s sci-fi comedy The World’s End. It follows a group of five friends — played by the talented quintet of Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, and Eddie Marsan — who return to their hometown for a pub crawl amidst an alien invasion.
Pegg plays the group’s ringleader, Gary King, an immature alcoholic who refuses to grow up — and it’s his idea to reunite his friends in a desperate attempt to relive his youth. He’s incredibly annoying, but in a good way, because that’s exactly what Gary is meant to be. By the end, however, he’s got you on his side with his hilarious, madcap, and heartfelt performance.
6. Benji Dunn in the Mission Impossible movies
Pegg fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an action hero when J.J. Abrams personally rang him to offer him a role in 2006’s Mission: Impossible III. He has since played Benji Dunn in 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (he’ll also appear in Part Two in 2025).
The British star has made the role his own and gave a particularly outstanding performance in Rogue Nation, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. Dunn is an IMF technician-turned-field agent whose loyalty, heart, humor, kindness, and formidableness are all conveyed superbly by Pegg. That he’s slotted so effortlessly into the high-octane franchise is a testament to his versatility as an actor.
5. Scotty in the Star Trek movies
The Star Trek reboot franchise — which began in 2009 with Star Trek and continued with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond — had a lot to do to live up to its predecessor, but it’s fair to say it’s done an excellent job of doing so.
Pegg plays Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, following in the footsteps of James Doohan from the original series. That would have been an intimidating prospect for any actor, but Pegg pulled it off tremendously. Having been endorsed by Doohan’s son Chris for the role, Pegg gives a wonderfully comical performance as Scotty in all three installments of the rebooted franchise. He splits opinion in the role, but that’s primarily because he’s nothing like Doohan’s version — but Pegg’s boldly original take on the character deserves praise more than criticism.
4. Danny Patrick in The Undeclared War
The near-future British cybercrime drama thriller series The Undeclared War aired for six episodes on Channel 4 from June until August 2022. It follows a team of elite Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) analysts secretly attempting to fend off a foreign cyber-attack on Britain’s electoral system. Pegg plays Danny Patrick, the GCHQ’s head of operations.
Pegg gives an effortless and impressive dramatic performance. He remains deadpan throughout, which gives his character a chilling vibe. Yet, he also comes across as paternal in his relationship with Hannah Khalique-Brown’s Saara Parvin, giving his performance a multi-layered quality.
3. Nicholas Angel in Hot Fuzz
2007’s action comedy Hot Fuzz is the second installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and the second to appear on this list. It follows a police officer, Nicholas Angel, as he gets reassigned from London’s Metropolitan Police to the quaint rural town of Sandford, Gloucestershire, where he uncovers a murderous conspiracy.
Pegg plays Angel, and Nick Frost plays fellow police officer Danny Butterman, giving the film a fun buddy cop element. The pair’s chemistry is as flawless and endearing as ever, and Pegg shines in a sea of top British talent. His performance as Angel is all-action and brilliantly satirical — and it works so well because British police officers tend to look far more like Pegg than Tom Hardy, for example.
2. Shaun Riley in Shaun of the Dead
The first movie in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, remains the best — and it gave us Pegg’s second-best performance on screen. The “zom-rom-com” is one of the finest British movies and one of the best zombie movies ever. It follows Pegg’s Shaun, a downtrodden London electronics salesman, as he and the people closest to him attempt to survive a zombie apocalypse.
As always, the chemistry with Nick Frost — who plays Shaun’s best pal, Ed — makes the movie. Pegg’s performance is iconic as the everyman stepping up to keep his friends safe in the most dangerous and terrifying of predicaments. His endearing performance has you rooting for him increasingly as the story unfolds, and his line delivery is spot on. His development from slacker to hero is fun to watch.
1. Hugh Campbell, Sr. in The Boys
The Boys is a fantastic satirical superhero series in its fourth season. It began airing on Amazon Prime in 2019. The show is teeming with great characters, like Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher, Antony Starr’s Homelander, Erin Moriarty’s Starlight, and Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell Jr. For the most part, Pegg’s Hugh Campbell Sr. — Quaid’s character’ father — has been on the periphery of the story. However, in season 4, he got his moment to shine.
On the verge of death after a stroke, Hugh is injected with the superpower-granting Compound V, which brings him back to life. However, having been braindead before the injection, he fails to control his newfound powers and, confused, accidentally murders several people. His heartfelt goodbye before Hughie Jr. administers a lethal injection to him is Pegg’s finest acting to date. The Boys fans are calling for the British actor to win an award for his terrific performance.
