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Happy birthday, Simon Pegg! The super-inventive actor, writer, and comedian turns 53 today (February 14), so we're making him our British Icon of the Week. About time too, right? Here are 10 things we admire and appreciate about this true maestro of cult comedy.

1. He is a nerd… and very much proud of it.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Pegg spoke about completing the so-called "nerd trifecta" by appearing in Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. Be warned, though, that he does get pretty graphic about exactly how sweaty his Star Wars costume made him (Pegg is completely unrecognizable in the movie as a hulking creature called Unkar Plutt).

2. He is also a vocal feminist.

In 2015, after The Atlantic published an article exploring why women are deemed "less funny" than men, Pegg wrote a passionate op-ed for Glamour Magazine comprehensively busting this sexist myth. “Weak men are intimidated by funny women because wit is an indication of intelligence and intelligence is a threat to elitism," he wrote. “You often hear misogynists bemoaning ‘female comedy' because it deals with specifically female issues that they can’t relate to. That makes sense because misogynists suffer from a severe lack of empathy."

3. He co-created a properly cult British sitcom.

Alongside Jessica Hynes, Pegg co-created, co-wrote, and starred in Spaced, a quirky flatshare comedy packed with pop culture references and offbeat fantasy sequences. Directed by Pegg's frequent collaborator Edgar Wright and co-starring Nick Frost, it ran for just two seasons in 1999 and 2001, but remains fondly remembered today.

4. He also starred in the cult sketch series Big Train.

Surreal British humor was very much the USP of this late 1990s series, which also starred Catherine Tate, Julia Davis, and Pegg's bestie Nick Frost. If you’ve never seen it, it’s well worth checking out some clips on YouTube.

5. He also co-created the much-loved Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.

Pegg and Wright made big screen magic with these comedy genre movies: 2004's zombie parody Shaun of the Dead, 2007's cop caper Hot Fuzz, and 2013's alien invasion pastiche The World's End. As trilogies go, it's a pretty loose one, though fans will appreciate that each film features references to Cornetto ice cream (hence the title), jokes involving a garden fence, and appearances from Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, and of course Nick Frost.

6. He isn't just a father, but a godfather.

Pegg and his partner Maureen McCann have a daughter, Matilda, who was born in 2009. Pegg is also godfather to Martin Freeman's son, Joe, and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter, Apple. Pegg and the Coldplay singer are longtime friends; he even appears in the band's "Christmas Lights" video.

7. He and Tom Cruise have a really fun relationship.

This is a good job, really, because they have now made six Mission: Impossible movies together. You can catch a glimpse of Pegg and Cruise's playful, banter-filled friendship in this clip from The Graham Norton Show, in which they talk about playing a prank on Henry Cavill.

8. He has also been a rom-com lead.

Pegg co-wrote and starred in 2007’s Run Fatboy Run, a slightly underrated British comedy movie directed by David Schwimmer – yes, that David Schwimmer. Pegg plays a reformed slacker who takes up marathon running in a bid to win back his rlightly exasperated ex-girlfriend (Thandiwe Newton). It’s a fun, uplifting, but not too schmaltzy watch.

9. He has called for greater diversity on screen.

And without mincing his words – at all. “Anyone that’s complaining about it should just shut the f**k up because it’s time,” Pegg told The Guardian in 2020. “The film industry would be such a healthier, more interesting place if there were more voices, different stories, different experiences. It’s so dominated by one particular voice and color of face, it just perpetuates a bland mono-voiced cultural landscape."

10. And finally, he is a darn good sport.

A case in point: Pegg and Frost's tongue-in-cheek cover of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." It's like nothing we've heard before... or since. 

Do you have a favorite Simon Pegg movie or TV show?