Simon Pegg Simon Pegg ( born Simon John Beckingham , February 14 , 1970 ) is an writer , actor , comedian , film producer and director . He is best known for having co - written and starred in various features , mainly " " , " " , and the comedy series " " . He also portrayed in the , , and , Benji Dunn in " " , its sequel " " and Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation , and also in " " . On February 29 , 2012 , it was announced that Pegg would be voicing the Original trilogy bounty hunter Dengar in " Bounty " , an episode of " " and Unkar Plutt in " " , as revealed at the 2015 San Diego Comic - Con panel . Pegg provided the voice of C - 3PO in " " , a non - canon crossover with the Disney cartoon " Phineas and Ferb " . Early life . Pegg was born in , Gloucestershire , England , the son of Gillian Rosemary ( née Smith ) , a civil servant , and John Henry Beckingham , a jazz musician and keyboard salesman . His parents divorced when he was seven and he took on the surname " Pegg " after his mother re - married . He attended many schools , including Castle Hill Primary School ; ; ; and later to study English literature and theatre studies . studied drama at the and wrote his undergraduate thesis on " A overview of popular 1970s cinema and discourses " . At Bristol he appeared in a Drama Society production of " Victory " alongside and . Career . Early appearances in TV series and films include " " , " Six Pairs of Pants " , " " , " " and " " . Between 1998 and 2004 , Pegg regularly featured on " " . In 1999 , he created and co - wrote the sitcom " " with . For this project Pegg brought in . For his performance in this series , Pegg was nominated for a as Best Male Comedy Newcomer . Pegg co - wrote ( with " Spaced " director ) and starred in the " romantic comedy " film " " , released in April 2004 . At invitation , Pegg and Wright made cameo appearances in Romero ' s film , " " . In 2004 , Pegg also starred in a spin - off of the television show " " called " Danger ! 50 , 000 Zombies ! " , in which he played a zombie hunter named Dr . Russel Fell . Pegg ' s other credits include the World War II " " , guest appearances on " " , " " , " " , " " and in the story " " . He also played the bounty hunter Johnny Alpha , the , in a series of based on the character from British comic " " and featured in " " , a film based on the sitcom " " . Pegg appeared in the Big Finish Productions " " audio story " " as Don Chaney , and portrayed in the 2005 " Doctor Who " episode " " . He also narrated the first series of the documentary series " " . Upon completion of " Shaun of the Dead " , Pegg was questioned on whether he would be abandoning the British film industry for bigger and better things , to which he replied " It ' s not like I ' m going to run off and do " " ! " However , he was then cast by J . J . Abrams as Benji Dunn , an technician who assists character , . In 2006 he played an American character , Gus , in " " alongside . In 2006 , Pegg and Wright completed their second film , " " , released in February 2007 . The film is a police - action movie homage and also stars Nick Frost . Pegg plays Nicholas Angel , a London policeman who is transferred to rural Sandford , a fictional village situated in Pegg ' s home county of , where grisly events take place . In 2007 , Pegg starred in " " ( directed by ) and " " directed by David Schwimmer and co - starring and . In 2008 , Pegg wrote the dialogue for an English language re - release of the cult 2006 animated Norwegian film , " " . Pegg received screenwriting credit for this , and Pegg also voiced one of the main characters in the English language version , which has an international range of actors including Woody Harrelson . Pegg co - wrote and starred with Frost in the film " " , about two young men who encounter a comedic during a road trip across the US . The completed script appeared on the 2008 Black List , a film - industry - compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays . " Paul " received two votes . Pegg also announced that he and Wright had the idea for " the concluding part in what we are calling ' " ( the first two being " Shaun of the Dead " and " Hot Fuzz " ) . It is provisionally called " The World Ends " . In those films and in " Spaced " , Pegg typically plays the leading hero while Frost plays the sidekick . However , he has revealed that " Paul " would reverse this dynamic . Pegg played engineer in the 2009 directed by Abrams and produced by Bryan Burk . In 2010 he appeared as in " " , a film directed by about the Ulster men who were notorious murderers and bodysnatchers in early 19th - century . His likeness was also used for the character of Wee Hughie in the comic book series " " ; while this was done without Pegg ' s permission , he quickly became a fan of the title , and even wrote the introduction to the first bound volume . He also voiced Reepicheep , the heroic mouse in " Chronicles of Narnia : Voyage of the Dawn Treader " . On February 29 , 2012 , Dave Filoni , supervising director of " " announced via his official Facebook page that Pegg would be voicing the original trilogy character of Dengar in " Bounty " , an episode of the series ' . Pegg also announced the news on his own Twitter feed . Pegg reprised the role of Benji Dunn in " " , making him the third actor in the film series , after Tom Cruise and , to appear in more than one of the films . Despite having a minor role in his first appearance , Pegg became a member of the main cast in this film . Pegg reunited with Abrams in 2013 for the " Star Trek " sequel " " , and with Wright and Frost for " " . He is currently filming " Mission : Impossible 5 " . In , he played Unkar Plutt and also advised Abrams to rely more on practical effects , explaining when his three - year old daughter had watched " " with him , she had exclaimed " Daddy , < nowiki > [ < / nowiki > Yoda < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > he ' s real ! " While visiting during filming , a technician approached him and said , " Hey , you ’ re the guy whose daughter saved Star Wars ! "