Shaun of the Dead : The Cast


Simon Pegg (Shaun)
Simon Pegg is one of the most sought-after comedy actors currently working within the industry. His acute characterisations and razor sharp timing, fused with the skill of mimicry and scriptwriting - has ensured that he is constantly in demand for varying roles and productions.

Simon has successfully built a body of out-standing TV and film credits – culminating in the creation and commissioning of the break-through Channel 4 sitcom ‘Spaced’, which Simon co-writes and stars in, with Jessica Stevenson.

The public and industry success of ‘Spaced’, led to a second series being commissioned before the first had even been broadcast. The two series have been major successes, with excellent press and ratings, along with a bevy of nominations at the British Comedy Awards (including Best Sitcom, and ‘Best TV Newcomer’ for Simon), ‘Best Sitcom’ for both the UK and International BAFTAs and a nomination for an International Emmy Award.

Aside from ‘Spaced’, Simon starred in the BBC1 drama ‘Final Demand’ (with Tamsin Outhwaite); the BBC 2 sitcom ‘Hippies’ (as Ray), and co-starred in the BBC2 sketch series, ‘Big Train’, for which he received an RTS nomination for ‘Best Entertainment Performance’. The second series of Big Train was broadcast in January/February 2002 – once again with rave reviews. Simon has co-starred in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ TV series ‘Band of Brothers’) and in the BBC series ‘Doctor Terrible’s House of Horrors’.

Simon’s feature film credits include ‘The Reckoning, ‘24 Hour Party People’, ‘The Parole Officer’ and ‘Guest House Paradiso’. He also co-starred in the acclaimed ‘Tube Tales’ – in the ‘Steal Away’ episode.

Simon’s previous TV credits are vast and include - two series of the award-winning ITV sitcom ‘Faith in the Future’; ‘I’m Alan Partridge’ (BBC); ‘Friday Night Armistice’ / ‘Saturday Armistice’(BBC); ‘Brass Eye’ (C4), ‘Laugh until you die’ – the lead part in a single drama for HTV, and in his earlier career - three appearances on ‘Saturday Live’; ‘Dan Doyle’ – a solo 12 part series for the Paramount Channel, and ‘Asylum’ also for the Paramount Channel (weekly star).

An accomplished and skilled writer, Simon recently provided the script ‘polish’ for a major new animation feature film and is currently in discussions with feature film companies in the US and UK for future script writing and development, and is currently in talks for his first book deal.

Prior to concentrating on his TV and film career, Simon was a highly successful stand up comedian.




Kate Ashfield (Liz)
Kate Ashfield is one of Britain’s busiest actresses.

Prior to joining the cast of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, Kate starred in ‘Fakers’, a modern day Ealing comedy caper, opposite Matthew Rhys, due for release this year.

Other recent feature film credits include Martin Campbell’s ‘Beyond Borders’, with Clive Owen and Angelina Jolie, also due for release later this year; Gillies MacKinnon’s ‘Pure’, with Molly Parker; Simon Bent’s BAFTA-nominated ‘Christie Malry’s Own Double Entry’, opposite Nick Moran; ‘Late Night Shopping’ for which she was awarded a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress; ‘The Low Down’, for which she was nominated for the Best Actress British Independent Film Award; Adrian Edmonson’s ‘Guest House Paradiso’, and Tim Roth’s ‘The War Zone’. She made her acting debut opposite Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline in ‘Princess Caraboo’.

Her television credits are expansive and include most recently ‘This Little Life’ opposite David Morrissey and Peter Mullan, based on Rosemary Kay’s novel ‘Between Two Eternities’; ‘Pollyanna’, opposite Amanda Burton and Ken Cranham; and ‘Three Guesses”, with Daniel Lapaine and Leslie Philips, in which she played an ex-porn actress with a bi-polar personality disorder. Credits also include the recent BBC adaptation of ‘Crime & Punishment’, opposite John Simm; ‘Do Or Die’, opposite Hugo Speer and Patsy Palmer; her first comedy role opposite Alan Davis in ‘A Many Splintered Thing’, for the BBC; and ‘Storm Damage’, the award-winning BBC film based on a series of real events.

Kate has also worked extensively in the theatre and is a director of Max Stafford-Clark’s Out of Joint theatre company.




Nick Frost (Ed)
Nick Frost is best known as Mike in ‘Spaced’. He is currently co-writing a new sitcom with Simon Pegg for Hat Trick and Channel Four in which he will star. He recently filmed the second series of ‘Danger 50,000 Volts for Channel 5 which has received excellent reviews. Other credits include ‘Life Doctor’; ‘Top 10 TV Sci-Fi’; ‘This Week Only’; and ‘Black Books’.


Dylan Moran (David)
Dylan Moran is best known for co-writing and starring in Channel Four’s award-winning ‘Black Books’ which will shortly begin filming its 3rd series. He also is a successful stand-up comedian and won the Perrier Award in 1996 . He recently starred opposite Michael Caine in ‘The Actors’. Previous film credits include ‘Notting Hill’.


Lucy Davis (Dianne)
Lucy Davis played receptionist Dawn in the hugely successful BBC comedy series ‘The Office’. Her feature film credits include ‘Sex Lives of the Potato Men’, ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, and ‘The Gambler’. Television credits include roles in ‘Come Together’, and the BBC’s ‘Dalziel & Pascoe’, ‘Belfry Witches’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice.



Penelope Wilton (Barbara)
Penelope Wilton is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses. Her credits are extensive in film, theatre and television, and include most recently a leading role in Nigel Cole’s critically acclaimed ‘The Calendar Girls’. Other feature film credits include ‘Iris’, ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’, ‘Carrington’, ‘The Secret Rapture, ‘Blame It On The Bellboy’, ‘Cry Freedom’, ‘Clockwise’, ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’, and ‘Joseph Andrews’.

Amongst many other television roles, she played Homily in the popular and award-winning BBC series’ ‘The Borrowers’.

Her work in the theatre has been prolific. She won the Irish Theatre Award for Best Actress in 1997 for ‘A Kind of Alaska’, and a Critics Circle Award in 1993 for ‘The Deep Blue Sea’.


Bill Nighy (Philip)
Bill Nighy is known for his gifted contribution to British theatre, but divides his time between the stage and screen, with critically acclaimed performances Richard Curtis’ ‘Love Actually’, Peter Cattaneo’s ‘Lucky Break’, and ‘Still Crazy’, directed by Brian Gibson, for which he won the Evening Standard – Peter Sellers’ Award for best comedy performance in 1998.
Other credits include ‘I Captured the Castle’, ‘Lawless Heart’, ‘Blow Dry’, ‘Guest House Paradiso’, ‘Fairy Tale - A True Story’, ‘Alive and Kicking’ ‘True Blue’, ‘Phantom of the Opera’, and ‘Being Human’.