It’s getting close to the US release of The World’s End, so I thought I would share my Simon Pegg story. I was living in London when Hot Fuzz came out in 2007. I was already a big fan of Shaun of the Dead and had rented it to show my flatmates. (I also found Spaced in HMV before it was available in the US and bought it, knowing that I would need to buy a region-free DVD player when I returned to the States.) I bought three tickets to the midnight showing of Hot Fuzz earlier in the day before adventuring around backlots of Caledonian Road and then up Upper Street for a classy Valentines Day dinner. (To read the whole story of what happened that day, click here.) The movie was loud, fast, and violent; perfect for a romantic evening out. From that day forth, my flatmate Katie and I would always watch Hot Fuzz on Valentines Day as a tradition.

A few years later, back in America, Katie announced that she was getting married, so when I heard that Simon Pegg was in town signing his autobiography at The Strand, I thought it would make the perfect gift. I got off work early and stood in the line that wrapped around the whole block. I wound up chatting with a comedian who was in line next to me, and generally nerding out with everybody else. What’s your favorite Simon Pegg role, ner ner nernerner?

I had one of my new-found friends in line video tape my interaction with Simon four hours after I got into line. My post-it said “Congrats, Katie!” because I wanted him to write that in the book. The second he read it, he shouted it out, which was caught on video. That made a great teaser MP3 while she was waiting for her present to arrive in the mail. I explained to Simon that this was a wedding gift for a friend who I saw Hot Fuzz with in London. I also explained (I think I talked too much, it was all a blur) that we watch Hot Fuzz every Valentines Day no matter where we are because it came out on Valentines Day. “That’s right, it did come out on Valentines Day, I remember that,” Simon said. Only later did Katie point out to me that Valentines Day is also his birthday. “Keep that tradition up for a very long time,” he instructed.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the Hot Fuzz Interactive Screenplay, holy cow get your butt over there now.