Parallel Lives: How Simon Pegg and Sasha Grey Seduced the Mainstream

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 13:00

Parallel Lives: How Simon Pegg and Sasha Grey Seduced the Mainstream

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By Mario Aguilar This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
May 31, 2011 |
12:00 pm |
Wired June 2011

Simon Pegg and Sasha Grey have little in common. Pegg is a drama club dork and lifelong science fiction fan. Grey is a former porn star known for films like I Wanna Bang Your Sister. But both have transcended their subcultures and become genuine celebrities, Pegg through satirical films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Grey with a star turn in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience and a recurring spot on Entourage. And now, both have written books that celebrate their crossover appeal. We pored through Nerd Do Well and Neü Sex to figure out how anyone from a comic-book geek to a porn star can seduce the mainstream.

Simon Pegg	5 Steps to Crossover Success	Sasha Grey
Grew up near Brockworth in Gloucestershire, England, a town famous for its annual cheese-rolling ceremony.	Come from a nondescript town with peculiar traditions.	Hails from a suburb of Sacramento, a burg known for the bizarre budget rituals of the California State Legislature.
Built an encyclopedic knowledge of science fiction; wrote a school paper analyzing Marxist themes in Star Wars.	Develop an obsession with a déclassé hobby.	Cultivated an interest in (and talent for) pornography while dating a kinky steakhouse cook.
After years of working in stand-up and low-budget sitcoms, nominated for a British Comedy Award.	Pay your dues and establish credibility amongst peers.	Appeared in more than 200 adult films; won four X-Rated Critics Organization awards.
Made a career out of playing endearing, luckless misfits—most recently, as a nerd on his way to Comic-Con in Paul.	Transform quirky outsider personality into marketable brand.	Became famous through repeated appearances as an indie sexpot—most recently in Eminem’s “Space Bound.”
“I was well aware of the psycho-analytical implications at work in Shaun of the Dead’s Oedipal subplot.”	Take yourself a bit too seriously in your memoir.	“My performances are more than just the having sex on camera … It’s more than just a job … It is performance art.”