John Phillips/Getty ImagesSimon Pegg is apologizing after getting major backlash from sci-fi fans for some recent comments her made about the genre.
In a new interview with the U.K.'s Radio Times, the 45-year-old Star Trek and Paul star seemed to criticize sci-fi movies even though he's made a name for himself within the fan-favorite genre.
Pegg said, "Obviously I'm very much a self-confessed fan of science fiction and genre cinema. But part of me looks at society as it is now and just thinks we've been infantilized by our own taste."
"Now we're essentially all consuming very childish things—comic books, superheroes...Adults are watching this stuff, and taking it seriously!" he continued. "It is a kind of dumbing down in a way. Because it's taking our focus away from real-world issues...But I sometimes feel like I miss grown-up things. And I honestly thought the other day that I'm gonna retire from geekdom. I've become the poster child for that generation, and it's not necessarily something I particularly want to be. I'd quite like to go off and do some serious acting."
Needless to say, sci-fi fans reacted to Pegg's comments in a big way. So much so, he clarified his quotes via his personal blog.
"It has come to my attention (thank you google), that the excellent website, Io9 picked up on some controversial comments I made to the Radio Times, which can be summed up in the above headline. Now, maybe I was being a little bit trollish, I can be a bit of a Contrary Mary in interviews sometimes," Pegg wrote today. "When you do lots of them, you get sick of your own opinions and start espousing other people's. Having said that, the idea of our prolonged youth is something I've been interested in for a very long time. It's essentially what Spaced was about, at least in part."
"The ‘dumbing down' comment came off as a huge generalization by an A-grade asshorn. I did not mean that science fiction or fantasy are dumb, far from it. How could I say that?" Pegg continued before applauding recently released sci-fi films Mad Max: Fury Road, Tomorrowland and Ex Machina. "I love Science Fiction and fantasy and do not think it's all childish. I do not think it is all generated by dominant forces as a direct means of control...much. I am still a nerd and proud."