Star Trek: Pegg pays tribute to Doohan

Simon Brew

Simon Pegg has been talking about his upcoming role as Scotty in the new Star Trek film...

In the midst of the publicity tour for his latest film, How To Lose Friends And Alienate People (which we reviewed here), Simon Pegg has inevitably been asked a fair few questions about his upcoming turn as Scotty in JJ Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek franchise.

In spite of the fact that Star Trek doesn’t come out until next summer, Pegg is still happily fielding said questions. On the Late Night With Conan O’Brien show in the US, he’s been talking about where his portrayal will stand next to that of James Doohan.

“I didn’t want to go and do an impression of James Doohan”, he admits, “because the guy created one of the most iconic characters in science fiction. The man is a legend and he deserves respect, so does the character. So I tried to approach it as if it was the first time it had ever been played. It is a tribute to him”.

It turns out too that Pegg’s assistant on the film just happened to Doohan’s son.

Star Trek – like you didn’t know – hits cinema screens on May 8th 2009.