6 Things You Should Know About Simon Pegg

Happy birthday and happy Valentine's Day to Star Trek's current Scotty, Simon Pegg, who has so far played the character in Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. He also co-wrote Beyond. The actor, writer and producer turns 47 today, and to commemorate the occasion, StarTrek.com beams up Six Things You Should Know about Simon Pegg. Check them out below:

Son of a...

Pegg was born and grew up in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, in England, to Gillian and John Henry Beckingham. His mom was a civil servant and his dad was both a keyboard salesman and jazz musician.

The Abrams Connection

J.J. Abrams -- who'd already worked with Pegg on Mission: Impossible -- invited him to play Scotty in Star Trek (2009). He did so by sending the actor an email. Asked what went through his mind when it came to playing Scotty and picking up the strands of the character from the late James Doohan, Pegg told StarTrek.com, "I tried to do what he probably did when he got the script, which was to consider the details on the page and who is he? We weren’t making a parody. None of us were. None of us was tempted to make sly references to the original cast members. Karl (Urban) and Zach (Quinto) were probably the most similar, but they weren’t channeling DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy, they were channeling the characters. It was important for us not to seem like we were being wry. To me, I wanted to play the character and, by that, do James an honor. I got to work with Chris, his son, and that felt like I had some connection with the past. I didn’t want to forget that, but it was also important to take it as seriously as possible and not see it as some sort of post-modern take on an existing thing."

Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Simon and Chris Martin of Coldplay are good friends. Simon is the godfather, or one of them, to Apple Martin. Yes, Apple is the daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.

Beyond the White House

Did you know that in July, 2016, Star Trek Beyond screened at the White House? Among those present: Pegg, Chris Pine, Karl Urban and then-First Lady Michelle Obama, who hosted the event as part of her Joining Forces initiative.

Coming Soon

Pegg, who ventured to a galaxy far, far away with his turn as Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will reprise that role in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He's also completed work on the film Terminal and is currently shooting Ready Player One with director Steven Spielberg.

Family Man

Pegg and his wife, Maureen, a music publicist, are the parents of a young daughter, Matilda.