British star Simon Pegg on battling depression and alcoholism: 'I didn't want to die'
British comedian and screenwriter Simon Pegg has been in Tallinn for the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).
He spoke to "Ringvaade" about his career, experiences and personal battles.
Pegg said he had been invited to Tallinn by a friend, Welsh director Jamie Adams, whose movie "Turn Up the Sun!" (Estonian: "Lase päike särama") premiered at PÖFF. Since most of the cast had been unable to make it to Tallinn, Adams found himself a bit on his own and so had asked Pegg along too.
Pegg, 55, also spoke candidly about his battles with alcohol and depression, leading up to the latest installment of the "Mission Impossible" series of movies. "I was struggling with depression and I was kind of, you know, using alcohol as a way of anesthetizing those feelings, and hadn't really reached a point of understanding of where I was, you know, and when I started on Mission Impossible IV I had just managed to figure it out and stop drinking and try and get mentally healthy, and doing Mission Impossible IV and being as looked after as I was on that film really helped me a lot."
A will to live and a reason to, particularly with the birth of his daughter, helped him fight the difficult times, Pegg went on. "I didn't want to die – it's that simple! I'd just had a child, and she is my absolute world, you know, and I realized if I was gonna be a present figure in her life, and live to see her grow up, I was gonna have to change how I was behaving, so I did."
Exercise and nutrition have also played a huge role. "I was in the gym this morning in this very hotel. I love it, it's great, I think when you have a personality which is addictive, you just make sure that it's focused on something which is good for you, rather than something that's bad for you, so something like fitness – I have ADHD so I tend to hyperfocus on things, so I try and shift that focus onto positive things, and keeping fit, and eating well, they're positive things," Pegg added.
The rest of the "Ringvaade" interview, which can be watched by clicking on the video player below.
How Pegg got into comedy, his long-term collaboration with filmmaker Edgar Wright and actor Nick Frost, his other roles, including as Buck the weasel in the "Ice Age" series of children's animations, the difference between working on a U.S. versus a U.K. movie, and Pegg's side hustle as a DJ are the other main topics touched on.
PÖFF runs until next Sunday, November 23. The official event site is here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Karmen Rebane
Source: 'Ringvaade'
