Is Simon Pegg J.J. Abrams’ lucky charm? Does the British comedian known for collaborating with Edgar Wright have to surface in Abrams’ films from here on out? And does that mean Pegg can find his way into Star Wars: Episode VII, which Abrams is currently hard at work on? That’s the big rumor floating around this morning.
According to a report on IGN, sources close to the production of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII claim Simon Pegg was "present" on the Abu Dhabi location shots for the new film, and is "playing a secret role in the film." Of course, this contradicts a statement Pegg made a while back about his Star Trek director wanting to go with "new faces" and avoid "stunt casting." However, time passes and plans change. And Abrams has lured back the original stars of the initial Star Wars trilogy – if that isn’t the definition of "stunt casting," I don’t know what else is!
That tweet is old. The rumors are new. And they make sense, on a surface level. Simon Pegg has worked with J.J. Abrams numerous times before, starting with the director’s Mission: Impossible III:
And continuing through J.J. Abrams’ two Star Trek movies, where he played Scotty:
Could Simon Pegg, like J.J. Abrams, be one of the few to successfully dip a toe into the two biggest sci-fi properties in the geek community? It’s possible. The fact that Abrams scored the Star Wars gig connected a bridge between the existing franchises. And Pegg isn’t a founding member of the Trek universe… more of a fringe participant earning entry through the reboot. We absolutely could see Abrams finding a small part for Pegg in his growing Star Wars storyline, giving Pegg even more geek cred than he previously held – if that’s even possible.
