Among his many appealing features as a slightly unlikely movie star, Simon Pegg is gifted with a big, expressive face, and a normally candid, honest attitude, especially as it relates to his various nerdy obsessions. So it’s fascinating to see those two aspects of the beloved Shaun Of The Dead star and Star Trek Beyond co-writer come into conflict with each other, as when a red carpet interviewer for online outlet Hey U Guys asked him point blank what he thought of the new Star Trek trailer that was released earlier this week:
Speaking at the premiere for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a clearly distressed Pegg does pretty much everything he can to compliment the Beastie Boys-scored video, calling it “very action-packed” and “surprising.” But even as he desperately acknowledges that Paramount’s marketing team needs to “beat the drum”—presumably, the inescapable one that underscores “Sabotage,” the new unofficial theme tune for thoughtful, ethically nuanced space exploration—and get people into theaters, he can’t keep a note of criticism from slipping in.
“I didn’t love it,” he admitted. “Because I know there’s a lot more to the film. There’s a lot more story, and a lot more character stuff, and a lot more of what I would call Star Trek stuff.” He then asked Trek fans to “hang in there” and “be patient,” before shooting a look that says either, “I am in deep existential pain,” or “I am about to get yelled at by a PR representative” at the cold, unblinking camera.