Simon Pegg Has Relished Taking On A More Serious Role In ‘The Undeclared War’

The 52-year-old actor – who rose to fame playing the likes of Tim and Shaun in Channel 4 sitcom ‘Spaced’ and 2004 zombie comedy ‘Shaun of the Dead’ respectively – plays cyber security expert Danny in Channel 4’s new thriller, and he’s glad to be doing something he can relate to

He told The Sun newspaper’s TV Biz column: “It is a more dramatic role and something that I really relished – I trained to do that kind of thing. But I took a particular path and it’s really lovely to be able to jump onto another path.

“I relate more to Danny now in my life, at 52, than I do Shaun or any of those characters I’ve played – particularly Tim in ‘Spaced’, who was sort of a stoner who didn’t know what to do with his life.

“Danny knows exactly what he wants to do with his life, he’s extremely adept at executing that, so it was really enjoyable to play a character who’s so far from what I’m known for playing.”

The new Channel 4 show is set in GCHQ in a future where the UK is facing a series of cyber attacks which could result in terrifying scenarios for the public, and Danny’s team is the last line of defence.

While Simon has spent a lot of the last 20 years in the US working on various big screen projects, he wanted to return to UK TV due to the thriller’s engaging script.

He added: “I was extremely flattered to be sent the script, just because it’s not the sort of role that people would assume I’d be interested in.

“It just felt like a no-brainer to me. I was immediately on the phone saying: ‘Yes please – I’d like to come home.’ ”

Simon joked that if taking on more serious roles doesn’t work out, he has an obvious back-up plan.