THE DOPPELGANG
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)
IT LASTS ROUGHLY a minute and consists of only a handful of shots (and none of Edgar Wright’s trademark visual wizardry), yet the moment in Shaun Of The Dead when Simon Pegg’s hapless hero and his group of survivors round the corner and bump into another group is possibly the film’s most ambitious gag. Mainly because the other gang is played by a who’s who (then and now) of British comedy: Martin Freeman, Reece Shearsmith, Tamsin Grieg, Spaced mainstay Julia Deakin, Matt Lucas and, at the vanguard, Pegg’s Spaced co-creator, Jessica Hynes. A finer cavalcade of cameos, you’ll never see.
Edgar Wright [co-writer/director]: We used to call it ‘Shaun Of The Dead Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’. You’re watching one story and the idea is, “What if they bumped into another film?”
Simon Pegg [co-writer/shaun]: We just thought it’d be funny if Shaun met a bizarro version of his own group. And we immediately thought, “Well, let’s try and cast people that are perceived as our counterparts, in a way.” You know, me and Martin were always going out for the same roles.
Kate Ashfield [Liz]: I remember thinking, “I’m glad [my counterpart] is Martin Freeman, because I think he looks as intelligent as Liz. He looks like he could handle the situation.”
Reece Shearsmith [Mark]: I did the very early read-through of Shaun Of The Dead. It wasn’t definite, but they had me going that I was going to be David. Maybe I really was, because I ended up doing the crossover bit.
Wright: Reece had been one of the people to maybe play David. It’s tough when your friends are in the running. But nobody should take things personally. It’s just the way things shake out.
Dylan Moran was a really interesting choice for David. And I came back to Reece saying, “Hey, I know you didn’t get this, but would you do this?”
Pegg: We filmed it all in North London, apart from the exterior of the Winchester.
Nick Frost [Ed]: It was Finchley. Maybe Hendon-y way as well.
Shearsmith: That day was in the back gardens of Finchley on this very rainy day. There are some pictures of us all under brollies, because it was pissing down and we had to keep stopping.
Pegg: It was a party. I remember we had someone’s back garden as a green room/seating area. We all sat around on deck chairs in various combinations.
Julia Deakin [Yvonne’s mum]: I felt very honoured to be among that group. I just turned up and somebody put me in an outfit I couldn’t understand, which presumably was the same as Penny Wilton was wearing.
Penelope Winton [Barbara]: It was a very amusing concept. I got the joke, but didn’t know everyone was going to be there on the day.
Matt Lucas [Cousin Tom]: We were filming Little Britain and there was one Sunday where we weren’t filming. That was the day they filmed the doppelgänger scene. Edgar said, “Would you come and be Nick’s doppelgänger?” I was thrilled.
Wright: His T-shirt says “I Heart Pussy”. It was one of the potential T-shirts for Ed. And it’s a picture of a cat.
Frost: I didn’t get to speak to Matt Lucas a lot. I was fucking nervous and didn’t really talk to anyone.
Lucas: I was very happy because I wore a wig. I remember thinking it looked like Ben Folds’ hair. Frost: It’s a bad wig Matt’s got.
Lucas: We had just filmed some Lou and Andy sketches and I remember telling Reece about that and doing the voice. I feel like me and Reece spent the day doing Andy from Little Britain.
Shearsmith: I think I was doing Pam Doove to his Andy. There were a lot of stupid things going on.
Lucy Davis [Dianne]: My main memory is trying not to laugh. But it’s such an economical scene. That’s what makes the best comedy work. Pegg: We wanted Jess [Hynes] to be in it.
Wright: Originally, we had written Diane for Jessica. She didn’t really want to play that part. Maybe she thought it was too on-the-nose for her, or she didn’t want to be in support to Simon after Spaced, which I totally understood.
Pegg: We asked, “Will you do a cameo?” We wrote Yvonne specifically with that in mind. She carries so much weight because of the shared history we have. That moment has an extra layer of poignancy.
Jessica Hynes [Yvonne]: Of course it had a layer of poignancy, and I was fully aware of that. But I always had an off-the-scale amount of fun working with Simon and Edgar. They’re like joyful children.
Wright: There’s even fan art — a great poster I have on my wall in my house, with a split of Shaun Of The Dead and then an upside down ‘Yvonne Of The Dead’, so you can have it both ways.
Hynes: [laughing] I did it on the explicit understanding that there would be an ‘Yvonne Of The Dead’. It never happened. When are we shooting it? Everyone keeps asking. Maybe it’s time.
Shearsmith: It’s been a lovely thing to have over the years. It’s so blink-and-you’ll-miss-it that people are finding it even now.
Lucas: One of things Edgar did was, whenever he showed it to someone like Tarantino, he would always say, “Oh, you got a laugh from Quentin!” He didn’t need to do that.
Wright: That was one of the more fun days, because suddenly you got ten very funny actors on set together. It was just sweet and funny.
IN A FILM full of gloriously surreal moments, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’s vegan-police scene might well outdo all else. After an epic showdown with evil ex and professed vegan Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), Scott (Michael Cera) tricks him into sipping a coffee with half-and-half; cue the arrival of the VPD (Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr), bursting through a wall, wielding neon-green finger laser guns and arresting Todd for infraction of vegan code 827. This is not how combat sequences are generally resolved in a Hollywood film.
Edgar Wright [co-writer/director]: The scene was always in the script. The idea was to cast two well-known actors in that part, but who were more from an action or crime background, not specifically comedy actors.
Michael Cera [Scott Pilgrim]: I remember Thomas and Clifton arrived and those two really changed the energy of that scene entirely. They brought it to life immediately. I love just how silly the scene is.
Thomas Jane [Vegan Police]: We were parachuted in to create these characters for a brief moment. I suppose that’s something of the brilliance of Edgar, to be able to put human beings together in the right place at the right time. It worked perfectly.
Wright: Thomas and Clifton were a little older than the main cast. It feels like they’ve come from another movie and that was sort of the idea.
Brandon Routh [Todd Ingram]: I think it was just a couple days to shoot the whole thing. It was very quick.
Cera: Thomas and Clifton had really rehearsed beforehand; they were a little team. They were very clear in what they were doing.
Jane: We knew we needed to catch a ’70s-copshow vibe; we channelled those.
Clifton Collins Jr [Vegan Police]: He’s correct. If you look at my hair, there is a slight hint of ’70s feathering. The beaded necklace thing I wore was something else: I’d never heard of or seen a necklace made out of macadamia nuts before.
Routh: I knew from Edgar’s track record on his films and Spaced that he has such a great ability to do the outlandish, but have it still be grounded enough that this scene wasn’t going to jump the shark. We all knew it would work.
Cera: I mean, the whole sequence plays like a Bugs Bunny scene. I do this very Bugs Bunny-like milk switch and double bluff thing. It’s completely cartoonish.
Collins Jr: I loved the laser guns. The lasers were added later; you had to visualise it in your mind. We both had to keep the same eyeline exactly or else it wouldn’t work. It was a Charlie
Bronson Death Wish moment where you just go, “Pew, pew!”
Wright: The slow-motion high-five wasn’t in the script. That’s the bit that most people remember. After Michael headbutts Brandon, it felt a bit weird going straight back into real motion.
Collins Jr: The high five was the longest take. I remember plenty of times getting hit in the face.
Wright: It’s always something that gets a massive laugh.
Collins Jr: Edgar wanted the cool factor of it being like a shorthand with your partner, like just another day at work. It was hard to pull off. It was hilarious how many times we missed each other.
Routh: I love Michael just sitting on the floor, sipping the coffee and the contrast of me freaking out. I love the audacity of the vegan police busting through the doors and barking at Todd and his complete innocence. I think he understood that chicken wasn’t vegan, but gelato, maybe he wasn’t sure about.
Jane: “It’s milk and eggs, bitch!” is one of those lines you don’t forget in a hurry.
Cera: The “ve-gone” line is probably the cheesiest line in the whole movie. No pun intended.
Wright: Brandon was still on a retainer for Superman and he had to stay in shape. I remember there was one bit we were filming and Brandon said, “How long is this shot going to take to set up?” I said, “Twenty minutes,” and he goes, “Oh good, because I have to go and eat a whole chicken.”
Cera: Brandon was eating a lot of protein. We all went out to dinner: Brandon ordered some buffalo steak or bison. We were, like, “Wow. This guy is very serious about his protein.”
Routh: I’m actually having a vegan shake today, a smoothie. I did eat quite a bit of vegan food when filming in Toronto too. I dabbled, but
I did not stay.
Collins Jr: I’ve gone in and out of phases as a vegan.
Jane: I’m a die-hard meat-eater.
Wright: Thomas Jane was barefoot for most of the filming.
Jane: Shoes feel like prison for my feet, so yes, as often as I can, I don’t wear shoes. I remember people were making fun of me.
Wright: We wrapped and Thomas left the set in his costume. He texted me and he said, “I’m going straight to the airport. I’ve got my costume, I’m keeping the costume and if you cut me out of the film, I’ll put it straight on ebay.” He was sort of holding the costume to ransom!
Jane: I put it in my suitcase and flew home with it. I’ve never worn it, but I’ve still got it in my closet.
Collins Jr: I’m so jealous. He got the T-shirt,
I knew it. I didn’t get one.