Mission Impossible star Simon Pegg says he has been “let off a few things” by British traffic police because they love his film Hot Fuzz.
The actor and screenwriter, 55, who is currently starring alongside Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, revealed his scrapes with the law in a US radio interview.
Pegg detailed being pulled over by a police officer while “gunning it” along the A1, and hoping he might dodge a speeding ticket.
He had broken the speeding limit while listing to the soundtrack from Mission Impossible: Fallout, he said.
And Pegg told SiriusXM Hits that he had successfully avoided being penalised in the past thanks to his 2007 hit film Hot Fuzz, which he called a “love letter to the British police”.
Pegg was given a six-month driving ban in 2021 after amassing 13 penalty points on his licence from four speeding offences.
He ran into trouble again last July when a judge imposed a year-long road ban for another collection of driving offences.
Speaking to the radio station as part of the latest Mission Impossible promotional tour, Pegg said: “Do you know what, I got done for speeding in the UK by a police officer because I was listening to the Fallout soundtrack, and I was behind the wheel just gunning it up the A1 in the UK and I got pulled over.
“I almost…sometimes that’s happened before because of Hot Fuzz, you know, which is a love letter to the British police, I’ve been let off a few things in the UK.”
“No major felonies”, he added, laughing.
Pegg said he “showed (the officer) my face”, hoping to be given a similar let off, but he replied ‘no’.
“I almost said, but I was listening to Mission Impossible and it was really difficult not to drive at 90mph”, the star added.
Hot Fuzz was the second film by Pegg and his long-time collaborator Nick Frost in the acclaimed Cornetto Trilogy.
They both played police officers in a sleepy rural UK town who uncover a sinister criminal conspiracy.
Pegg’s latest driving ban on the UK roads is expected to expire at the end of next month.
