The brains behind zom-com classic Shaun Of The Dead - co-writer/star Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright - answer your questions about chowing down on stars, comic classics and, er, itchy pubes.
If you were a zombie who would you most like to eat and why? Rob, Birmingham
Edgar Wright: That sounds vaguely filthy.
Simon Pegg: That's the Saturday Superstore question. I would like to eat... Scarlett Johansson. And I'll let you fill in the gaps why.
EW: I think if I was a zombie, not thinking in a sexual way, but if I was a zombie, then someone like Lisa Riley would...
SP: ...fill you up.
EW: That would be like a five-course meal.
SP: All the moaning on the website is me, isn't it?
EW: Yeah. I did the hulk in the garden and you did the pyjama zombie.
SP: That's a great question actually. Edgar and myself put that one to bed by going to a Halloween party dressed as zombies. We plundered the special effects box and stole some contact lenses from the film. So we went to the party with movie-standard eyes and just looked really good, so we put that one to bed by doing it independently. On the Spaced commentaries you mention nicking stuff off every set you're on - is that true? Adrian SP: I never nick stuff! It's not like I kinda stuff things up me jumper. But, yeah, I've got Dylan's head in my study at home. Not his real head, obviously.
EW: I noticed that on the set there were a pair of trainers that were exactly the same make and size as I wear. Mine stank, so on the second-to-last day I swapped the trainers around, cos these ones were newer. So, in between takes the camera crew were looking at me very suspiciously because I was taking my stinky trainers off and replacing them with ones on the set.
SP: I think they were looking at you suspiciously because one day your trainers didn't smell bad. Why do you like living in Crouch End? Does it remind you of the undead? Gillian SP: Is that Gillian with a G? It's probably my mum. I don't know. It's a weird thing with Crouch End in the film because it never said in the script it was Crouch End.
EW: We kind of imagined it in Highgate, cos that's where Simon used to live. And that's where the original pub The Winchester was based on was. It was supposed to be North London because both of us have lived in North London for the past ten years, or eight years... seven years. Crouch End is one of the most pictorial parts of London.
SP: It's a lovely location. It's a very vibrant little part of London. Because we didn't want to have the film set outside Westminster Abbey or anything. We didn't want to have any traditional London significations in the background. Crouch End encapsulated a little mini-London on the outskirts of the city. But it's far from undead. Go on the Saturday night - go to Bar Rocca! Oooh. How did you resist the temptation to have a scene on the Tube? Daniel Webb EW: There was one. Well, one of the deleted scenes on the DVD, you kind of see Shaun going to the Tube station and all the stations are down because there are bodies on the line, so that's why he goes on the bus. Is it true that you're considering doing From Dusk Til Shaun? David Clarke EW: No. It was kind of a flippant joke that's turned into a story. Cos From Dusk Til Dawn is already part comedy in itself. We couldn't really do a comedy version of that because it's already pretty funny.
SP: We were coming up with further puns on Shaun, obviously, for the name of a sequel. I don't think we ever intended to make a vampire movie, but I think if we did do a direct sequel to the film it would be in the great tradition of terrible film names that we've started with Shaun Of The Dead. Are you humbled by such positive reactions from such a wide spectrum of people, from George A Romero to Harry Knowles? JJ SP: Absolutely. Yeah, it's wonderful. And in some respects it takes a toll just as much as people slagging it would, because it makes the stakes a lot higher, cos we've got to follow it up. We're very humbled and very pleased. And how is the success of Shaun Of The Dead going to change your plans for the future? JJ EW: I don't think we had any plans, anyway! I don't think we'd really thought beyond this week. We spent the last two and a half years doing it and we only finished it about eight weeks ago.
SP: I was just writing the synopsis for the DVD!
EW: Yeah, we're still doing stuff on it. So we haven't made any future plans other than we will follow it up in some way. We certainly won't do another zombie film. We've got ideas of delving into other genres. As a big Star Wars fan, how would you feel about making a film parody loosely based on Star Wars - possibly set in Aldershot. Similar to Space Balls, but English and funny. James Wiffen EW: There's too many variables there!
SP: That's a hell of a lot of criteria. I've always wanted to make a sci-fi spoof in Aldershot!
EW: Space Balls is the only film that was ten years too late and ten years too early. It came out in 1987. Ten years after Star Wars and ten years before the Special Edition.
SP: Bad timing. No, I think Star Wars is...
EW: Star Wars is spoofing itself. Did you watch every zombie movie before you made Shaun? Andy Jacobs EW: We pretty much had already. We didn't really rewatch them. We watched other things that were of a similar ilk. Siege films, like Assault On Precinct 13, Straw Dogs, and The Birds. I'd seen most of the American ones and some of the Italian ones. Some of them are difficult to get through. We've not just seen the American ones. Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue. Versus. Wild Zero. The Return Of The Living Dead one, two and three.
SP: We knew the lore and that's all we needed to know. Shaun isn't a spoof. We don't send up any film in Shaun Of The Dead but what we do do is appropriate the L-O-R-E of the zombie film, which we already knew very well. One thing we did do was appropriate certain staples like the reanimation of a loved one. And a gut-wrenching dismemberment scene. Those kinds of scenes, the scenes that are always present. We mainly watched those films to get an idea of structure and how to write a film, actually. What are your five best zombie movies? Andy Jacobs SP/EW: Dawn [Of The Dead], Night, Day...
EW: Braindead.
SP: Then The Beyond, maybe?
EW: Either The Beyond or Versus. It's a kung fu zombie film. It goes on too long but it's so funny. The middle section is hilarious. And Wild Zero is really funny.
SP: Let's say Wild Zero.
EW: So, Dawn, Night, Day, Braindead and Wild Zero.
