Simon Pegg and Sigourney Weaver enjoy each others company

11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Hot Fuzz stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost proved it's cool to be a sci-fi nerd at the premiere of their new alien comedy Paul tonight.

The pair walked the purple carpet in London's Leicester Square, along with Sigourney Weaver, who makes a cameo in the film, signing autographs for screaming fans in alien masks.

Pegg and Frost co-wrote the film about two geeks on a pilgrimage to America's UFO heartland, where they accidentally befriend an alien on the run from a secret military base and agree to help him escape to his mother ship.

The pair enjoyed a road trip of America together and watched hours of science fiction films to get inspiration for the film.

Pegg revealed: "We did the road trip initially as a way of getting a free holiday out of Universal but it was an incredibly inspiring time and a lot of what happened on that trip, we fed into the script. It was a great adventure."

Frost added: "It is work but you're also with your best mate, Sigourney Weaver's there and you're driving an RV in the desert and it's beautiful and the food's great too."

Alien star Weaver plays the head of the federal agents pursuing the alien and was delighted to send up science fiction movies, for which she is so well known.

She said: "I just love comedy more than anything, and to have a comedy that also takes on the history of aliens and their influence on culture in such a sweet way, and in such a witty way, I think it's the perfect movie, I really do."

The 61-year-old Avatar star insisted she enjoyed working with Pegg and Frost just as much as they did with her.

Weaver said: "I'm a huge fan of theirs too, so once we all got over our excitement, I think there's a great deal of warmth and innocence in this picture and I felt that was also true of this production.

"We had a lot of fun, we enjoyed each other's company and we were all thrilled to be working together."

Pegg said he hopes the film, which is directed by Superbad's Greg Mottola and also stars Kristen Wiig, Joe La Truglio and Jason Bateman, helps others to embrace their inner geeks.

He said: "I think that's becoming more and more apparent these days that being a geek is just about being an enthusiast and not being embarrassed by that.

"It's something that we shouldn't shy away from, so if you've got a love just get out there and express it in whatever way."

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