Simon Pegg‘s a busy man. After his work in gradually larger films like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek, and the Mission: Impossible series, the Brit has become a plain old recognizable face in the industry today. A press release informs us that he’s taking on a new role, that of a psychiatrist on a quest, in Peter Chelsom‘s new dramedy, Hector and the Search for Happiness.
The news broke at Cannes today, telling us that Pegg will be playing the titular character, “an eccentric yet irresistible London psychiatrist” who finds himself in a panic when his patients improve too quickly and noticably.
Check out the full synopsis below (via ComingSoon):
“He’s going nowhere. Then one day, armed with buckets of courage and an almost child-like curiosity, Hector breaks out of his sheltered vacuum of a life into a global quest to find out if happiness exists. More importantly, if it exists for Hector. And so begins a colorful, exotic, dangerous and hysterical journey.”
Chelsom, on his new film and Pegg:
“I’ve been searching long and hard for a film that would bring me back to my European sensibilities. Not unlike Being There and Forrest Gump, ‘Hector‘ is a contemporary love story, a fable wrapped around a very human hero’s journey. Nobody does the innocent abroad better than Simon Pegg: he is not only a brilliant comedian but a very touching actor. He is the Hector that you want to follow to the ends of the earth.”
Based on the novel by François Lelord and adapted by Chelsom (Shall We Dance?, Serendipity,) & his frequent collaborator, Tinker Lindsay, the film will be a co-production between Germany’s Egoli Tossell Film and Canada’s Screen Siren Pictures and is currently in pre-production. It’s said that shooting will begin once Pegg finishes The World’s End, his third venture with frequent collaborators Edgar Wright and Nick Frost.
To me, Pegg‘s one of the best comedic actors on both sides of the ocean and, like many others, I am a huge fan of his work and I can’t wait to see what he does next. Though I have not read the book or seen any of Chelsom‘s films, the plot synopsis for this project seems charming, and I’m willing to go along for the ride. No word on who else will be joining the project, so we’ll see how things develop as time goes on. Either way, this seems like a promising new film for Pegg.
Do you think this is a good project for Pegg?