Simon Pegg says he was able to disguise his depressive alcoholism during Mission: Impossible filming

Simon Pegg has revealed he was able to disguise his depressive alcohol while shooting the Mission: Impossible franchise.

During an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the actor candidly spoke about his ‘sneaky’ addiction in the early 2000s, which unfolded as he landed his big break in Hollywood.

“You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life,” he said.

He added: “You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over. It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped.

Paramount Pictures

“But eventually it just gets to a point when it can’t be hidden, and that’s when, thankfully, I was able to pull out of the dive.”

After starring in some British indie flicks like Shaun of the Dead, Pegg appeared as Benji Dunn, an IMF technician who assists Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible.

During his interview with BBC Radio 4, the actor also detailed his relationship with Tom Cruise, which he described as ‘simple and amicable’.

“It’s always been a very easy relationship," he said.

"I think you realise, when you meet the person rather than the thicket of mythology that’s built up around them, it’s a different experience.

"I mean, he loves [the fame] and he really relishes it, it’s all he knows. It energises him and spurs him on."

WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, Pegg also spoke of the experience while working on the huge blockbuster movies.

He noted that he struggled behind closed doors despite being on the verge of a burgeoning film career working with one of the industry’s biggest names.

“I would feel like – I’m in a film with Tom Cruise, I’ve got the part of Scotty in Star Trek. This should be making me feel happy,” he said.

“But it wasn’t.”

Pegg disclosed that he began suffering from depression when he was a teen.

This later fuelled his alcoholism, which he points out escalated during the filming of the third Mission: Impossible.

“When I watch that film back, I can see where I was then, which was fairly lost, and unhappy, and an alcoholic,” he said.

Pegg referred to this era as ‘the crisis years’ and recalled how those around him were blissfully unaware of how he was unravelling.

“I hid it,” he continued. “I’m an actor, so I acted…all the f**king time.”