At 45, Simon Pegg's career is going into overdrive. Not only is he in two of the biggest franchises in cinema (Star Trek and Mission: Impossible), but he's also appearing in this year's Star Wars movie. And in between those blockbusters, he took time to make two smaller British movies, the rom-com Man Up with Lake Bell and the sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything with the Monty Python gang.

Simon Pegg in 'Absolutely Anything''Absolutely Anything' features Robin Williams as the voice of the dog

With such a range of films under his belt (he starred in six movies last year), Pegg understandably finds it difficult to pick a highlight from his career. "Anything from going back to when we walked onto the set of Spaced for the first time," he says, "and saw the environment they'd built for us based on the things we'd written, right up to things happening recently, like getting to write Star Trek 3. I feel lucky that my career has been filled with these moments."

Watch the trailer for 'Absolutely Anything' here:


 

And he enjoyed working with Monty Python's Terry Jones, who directed Absolutely Anything in the streets not far from Pegg's North London home. "I remember reading an interview with the Python boys talking about Terry Jones directing The Life of Brian and how they'd often get to finish work early," he says. "And I was just amazed that this was absolutely true. Terry knows what he wants. Often directors, because they have the time, will do more takes and cover themselves almost pathologically, whereas Terry will be like, 'Yeah let's move on!' So I had an early bath some days, which I've never had in my life on a film set. Brilliant!"

More: Watch Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise's car chase clip from 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation'

Absolutely Anything includes the late Robin Williams' final performance, voicing Pegg's dog Dennis. "You watch the movie and hear that voice and it makes you happy," Pegg says. "His spirit is still here in the movie."

His attention has now turned to Star Trek Beyond. "I'm going to be on set all the time because I'm the writer," he says, "so I think I should give myself less screen time!"

And yes, he's aware that all of this is a dream come true. "I'm constantly pinching myself," he laughs. "I'm covered in bruises from constant pinching!"

More: Read our review of 'Man Up'