Back then, BBC Films was making niche films that were struggling to get made anywhere else.
And here, with Man Up, a rom com seems to have become one of those niche films.
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Absolutely, yeah.
You make a very good point.
Films that might appeal more commercially to a cinema-going audience.
Films like this, which are more of a risk, are being made by essentially niche independent producers.
It reminds me, not for the first time, of something Jerry Bruckheimer said.
Was that part of your way into it?
I thought okay, Ill read this.
I read it with that motivation, but then quickly got caught up with Tess quickfire dialogue.
When its trying to be one.
It doesnt really work, I dont think.
I just got drawn into this really fun tale.
But it just struck me that I hadnt seen a great rom com for a long time.
Do you think thats a defining factor here?
I like the female perspective.
I felt like I wanted to get behind it because of that.
There arent enough female voices in cinema, we all know that.
But I think women probably write its a generalization men better than men write women.
Its because men are simpler to understand I think.
Whereas we constantly seem to spend our time trying to figure women out.
Its mine and Edgars [Wright] Achilles heel: we couldnt write good women.
We fought to do it inShaun Of The Dead.
But I think women just understand men better, and can write men better as characters.
They dont write their fantasy men.
They write a slightly more realistic take on men.
Men who write rom coms tend to write female fantasies.
The sort-of ditzy woman, a character that he is trying to get.
Some regular guy who wouldnt stand a hope in hell in the real world somehow manages to win her.
And thats a kind of male fantasy.
The female perspective I think is less of a fantasy, more of an appraisal.
That really appealed to me.
Tess voice is so fun and truthful and raw, and a bit unflattering in a way.
And of course you get the romantic role here.
He turns up as this dashing, sweeps her off her feet character.
Charming, but in a nervous way.
But as the film goes on you realize that he is equally guilty of pretending to be somebody else.
She does a very literal thing, of taking someone elses identity.
There isnt one whos the unobtainable one and one whos the go-getter.
Theyre both flawed, and beset by their own insecurities.
I love playing characters where theres one thing happening on the outside, and another on the inside.
Gary King is a great example of that.
Theres a war going on inside him.
Jack was such a multi-layered character it felt like too much of an opportunity to not go with.
A basic question, perhaps, but was this a fun film to make?
It was a very enjoyable shoot.
Very quick, six weeks.
But it was a very sociable atmosphere on set.
It was Tess first feature script, so she was on set a lot, which was nice.
And I got on very well with Lake [Bell].
It was a happy set.
One by-product of a lot of films where the budget is limited is they dont often look like films.
This does, and it feels part and parcel of the fact that so much is shot outside.
How much of Man Up was location work?
We did everything on location with the exception of the bathroom scenes!
It was hilarious to me being back in Elstree, doing another bathroom scene having doneThe Worlds End.
And then I was back shooting the interior of the bar for this one.
Otherwise, it was all location.
The houses, the bowling alley…
And obviously the South Bank, and Waterloo.
The all had their own set of challenges.
You cant lock a station down when its in use.
Plus, the skateboarders on the South Bank will not stop skating foranything, other than beer.
We found out we could bribe them with beer.
All billable to the production?
It was a production expense.
Theyre doing their thing!
I felt bad asking them to shut up!
The South Bank, its almost a joke that its in the film.
Weve seen it inFour Weddings, weve seen it inTruly Madly Deeply, and numerous other movies.
But its a way of showcasing London as well as showing Ealing, and the places where people live.
The slightly less known.
You should do a rom com in Birmingham.
Lots of slightly less known locations for rom coms there.
Ah, but The Bull Ring has gone posh these days.
What changes for you when you executive produce, then?
It means Im more involved, in terms of creative involvement.
Rather than just being an actor, Im helping get the film made.
All the important stuff I defer to the real producers.
Nira Park and Rachel Prior, they do the hard work.
I worked with Tess just a little bit on the script, as a sounding board really for her.
She doesnt need collaborators, she has such a singular voice.
But sometimes objectivity is hard to get when you write alone.
So it was a more hands on, creative producing role.
But looking at your film writing credits, theres a range of collaborators there.
Is writing with someone else your favored approach?
So how do you get going on a new collaboration?
And whats the appeal?
You get very attached to things when youre on your own, and you lose focus.
I think collaboration is key.
With Edgar, we knew each other really well, and we went into writingShaun Of The Deadas friends.
Wed doneSpacedtogether, and had a sort-of collaboration there writing-wise.
Edgar was definitely the third writer on that series.
With someone like Doug Jung [on the nextStar Trekfilm], we hadnt met before.
We found a way to get to know each other during the process.
Its been interesting, and fruitful.
But its always in at the deep end.
You cant really spend time faffing around, you have to get on with the work.
And find your relationship through the work, if you havent already got one.
Can we quickly touch on Tintin.
Have you heard any more about the next film?
Peter [Jackson]s obviously been tied up withThe Hobbitfor the last few years.
But we asked him when we didThe Worlds Endwhats happening.
So I dont know.
I dont know if its been too long now, or whether its on Peters to-do list.
Obviously if it is, wed be very happy.
Performance capture has moved on so much since the first one.
I went to the set ofThe Jungle Bookto see Andy Serkis.
I took my daughter to the set.
They created a jungle!
It was one of the most extraordinary things Ive seen.
I chatted with Andy, as I hadnt really spoken to him about that technology since we didTintin.
Now its changed so much.
Itll be interesting to see whatTintinwould look like now.
Eyes work much better now in performance capture.
Thats always been the thing, hasnt it?
Outside of Star Trek, wheres your future writing?
You were working with Crispian Mills on a project?
Weve written it, and it can always be refined.
Plus theres some stuff Id like to adapt from literature.
Id like to direct.
I think thats something Im ready to do now.
Have you isolated material that interests you?
Im pursuing a couple of things, to get the rights to do it.
The problem being Id asked you before, and you said Crank.
So can I ask you this instead?
Whats your second favorite Jason Statham movie?
[Laughs]Crank 2!
Simon Pegg, thank you very much.
Man Up is in cinemas on Friday.
