Simon Pegg had fun being evil for new film role

The Mission Impossible star plays an assassin for hire in new action comedy Kill Me Three Times, and admitted he did understand his big screen alter-ego on some level.

The 45-year-old actor attended the premiere of the film in Los Angeles with co-stars Alica Braga and Luke Hemsworth and director Kriv Stenders.

Simon – who has a five-year-old daughter called Matilda – said the film had made him think about whether, as a parent, he would be willing to kill to save his child.

He said: “Suddenly you have something to fight for. As soon as you get a little life that you have to protect then you’ll do anything to look after them. I don’t know if I’d kill people for money, that seems extreme, I can’t imagine a situation where I’d be asked to do that.

“But if someone said you have to go and kill the President of Paraguay or your kid gets it – I might consider it.”

The star of Spaced, Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead also teased that of all the characters he had ever played, this contract killer role felt the most like his true self.

Simon said: “It was fun to play him because he is remorseless and a bit evil. I guess of all the characters I’ve ever played he is probably the closest to me. Yeah, because I spent some time as a contract killer in Bogota before I decided to go into acting, so it was an easy role for me to play.”

Luke Hemsworth was equally happy with his character in the film.

He said: “It’s so fun to be a nice guy doing bad things, It’s a wonderfully attractive part to be able to do both. That’s kind of what you look for, a balance of light and shade and this character had that in spades.”

Kill Me Three Times does not yet have a UK release date.