Simon Pegg Talks 'Star Trek' and Space Travel With a Real Astronaut on the International Space Station
By Nick Schager, Yahoo Movies
If his recurring role as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the rebooted Star Trek franchise (whose third installment he co-wrote), and his role as junk dealer Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens hadn’t made it clear, actor Simon Pegg is a sci-fi geek. And as we can see in a new video clip (watch it above), he was clearly tickled to chat with a real-life astronaut floating in orbit in the International Space Station (ISS) as they spoke.
Related: How Simon Pegg Became the Patron Saint of Geekdom
During their 25-minute conversation, Pegg interviews — and is interviewed by — astronaut Kate Rubins, who reveals she recently watched Star Trek Beyond from the station’s cupola, a small nook surrounded by windows that provides an amazing view of Earth and the cosmos, which Pegg agrees is the ideal location to watch the film.
Rubins explains that she watched the film by hooking her feet beneath something in order to simulate “sitting,” and fully endorses the film’s vision of outer space. “Your special effects guys get it right,” Rubins tells Pegg. “There’s something about a small craft orbiting a large planet — when I see that, it absolutely feels like the space station.”
Related: Simon Pegg on Having the Borg as the Next ‘Star Trek’ Villain
There’s far more to learn from Pegg and Rubins’ full talk, including what sorts of crazy things she and her fellow astronauts do in zero-G (including a new game they play), their shared experiences with waking up disoriented and unaware of where they are, and the potential usefulness of Star Trek’s most outlandish technology on a real space station (although Rubins and her mates do have jet packs!).
Star Trek Beyond is available on digital HD now, and debuts on Blu-ray on Nov. 1.
Why the ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Cast Thinks the Series Is More Relevant Than Ever:
