Simon Pegg Likes The Screenplay For The Boys But Fears He's Too Old To Play Wee Hughie

[Brendon Connelly]

The character of Wee Hughie in Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comics series The Boys was modeled on Simon Pegg, at least in terms of facial features and ginger beard, and he knows it. In fact, it was Rich who broke it to him in the first place.

So, as the comic started on its way to the screen, with Anchorman director Adam McKay getting ready to direct and setting about a screenplay adaptation, everybody anticipated Pegg would be in the frame to take the role. Then McKay locked it down, saying it was Pegg or bust:

He?s got to do it. It has to be.

But Pegg has considered himself too old for the role for sometime, even tweeting to that effect in 2009.

Over two years later, he's thinking the same thing (that's the thing about aging, I suppose). Speaking to MTV, Pegg said:

I have [read the script], it's really good. I'd love to do it, if it came about. My fear is that I'm too old to play Wee Hughie, now. But you know, obviously, the character was drawn, at least, around my face.

If it's only a fear, that's one thing, if it's a decision to decline, that's very much another. But it does sound like he'd accept the role, if we take his comments on face value.

The real news here, I suppose, is that the screenplay was finished and sent to Pegg. There's no indication when this happened, but I guess we should be hoping it was recently, so that the project might still have some forward momentum.

Judging from previous comments by Garth Ennis, The Boys could be heading into its last year or two before wrapping up. I wonder what section of the overall arc provides the basis for McKay's screenplay? Or, indeed, how faithful his adaptation is?

Pegg's not getting any younger, nebulous conceptual Hollywood. Pull your nebulous conceptual finger out.

[Meyeraustin]

This idiot ruined MI4 for me. His character was supposed to be a full-agent but he's still doing the whole nervous geek schtick he did in every other movies. Being nervously geeky is fine in tour teens and twenties and tolerable in your thirties but in your forties it's just sad.

[poneley]

The guy has cultivated a particular type of image with his films, one that does not match the content in the boys. I don't think he wants to mess with that. I think he's just being polite about it.

[Ian Coke]

This idiot ruined MI4 for me. His character was supposed to be a full-agent but he's still doing the whole nervous geek schtick he did in every other movies. Being nervously geeky is fine in tour teens and twenties and tolerable in your thirties but in your forties it's just sad.

Simon Pegg's an actor, not a film star. He'll have played the role that way because he was asked to. He doesn't have enough clout in Hollywood to do much else. If you want to blame someone because MI4 upset you in some way, blame the director.

That said, Simon Pegg probably is a bit too long in the tooth to play Hughie. Butcher at least has to be visibly older, which would put whoever's cast in his late forties.

Not sure why the director's quite so hung up on being faithful to the comic though. If the film's going to come to a satisfactory conclusion, even as the first in a franchise, it'll need to be fairly different, otherwise all sorts of plot threads involving the Seven etc will be left hanging in the air.

It might work better as a TV series, promoted as The Wire meets Watchmen/The Dark Knight/Heroes, or something like that.

[fredditoothnail]

Being a huge fan of The Boys, I've actually met both Simon and Garth this year and the main things I've asked about are about the movie adaptation. When I asked Pegg about it (roughly a year ago) at his book signing, he said he probably can't schedule it in due to Star Trek 2 and The Worlds End, but if he has the chance he'd love to do it.

I had the chance to chat with Garth at Comic Con this year and he said a similar thing about Pegg being too old to play him now as he's a mid 20's character. He said his choice for Wee Hughie now would probably be James McAvoy. But as he pointed out, he has no real input on the film now.

As much as I love Pegg's work, it's too late for him to play Hughie now, he'd have had to play him around the time he was doing Spaced.

[Joe Kalicki]

But what role will Will Ferrell play?

Simon Pegg's an actor, not a film star. He'll have played the role that way because he was asked to. He doesn't have enough clout in Hollywood to do much else. If you want to blame someone because MI4 upset you in some way, blame the director.

Nah, I'm pretty sure it's fair to criticize an actor for his performance.

[toodoor]

Nah, I'm pretty sure it's fair to criticize an actor for his performance.

It is, but the criticisms seem to be more of the character than the performance.

[Joe Kalicki]

It is, but the criticisms seem to be more of the character than the performance.

Maybe, but we can't really say. He could have been given carte blanche to interpret the character's mannerisms for all we know. It could have come across very differently with another actor in the role.

[Ian Coke]

Meyer's issue doesn't seem to be that Pegg played a nervous geek badly, just that he played one at all. Meyer likes his full-agents to be real men, apparently, with abs carved out of oiled wood, blasting away.

[Ian Coke]

Maybe, but we can't really say. He could have been given carte blanche to interpret the character's mannerisms for all we know. It could have come across very differently with another actor in the role.

Undoubtedly. But come on, you're not seriously saying that if Tom Cruise or the director had been unhappy with Pegg's performance, they wouldn't have told him to change it, or just hired somebody else instead?