I feel like 2023 has been the year of unlikely celebrity duos, whether it’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hanging with Martin Short on a plane or Octavia Spencer giving Britney Spears legal advice. Apparently this trend is continuing in unforeseen directions, as Simon Pegg and singer Rick Astley are filming some kind of project together, with the Mission: Impossible star teasubg the team-up on his social media. Of course, fans couldn’t help but make the same apropos joke in the comment section.
Pegg always has something different happening with his acting career, so teaming up with Rick Asley is just another example of a new and hopefully exciting project from the British actor. He posted a picture with the ’80s singer in which both are sitting in directors’ chairs, seemingly on a set, though it’s not clear what’s being filmed. The Shaun of the Dead actor also tagged the indie production company Black Dog Films in the post teasing the collaboration on Instagram below, which you can see below:
While Simon Pegg is known for a variety of film and TV projects both in the indie British comedy world and in the realm of big American blockbusters, Astley is largely known for multiple hit songs from his heights of stardom in the 1980s. His single “Never Gonna Give You Up” has taken on a life of its own on the internet, with the song being one of the most famous and oldest internet memes. The rickrolling trend goes back to 2007, and has been utilized in a multitude of creative ways, yet always with the punchline of “Never Gonna Give You Up” suddenly playing when someone least expects it. The joke continues to this day, with stars like Ryan Reynolds parodying the meme, and Ted Lasso referencing the hit song in Season 2.
To the surprise of perhaps no one, the song was referenced heavily by those commenting on Pegg’s post. Here’s a smattering of the replies:
- @mariorockr: Is he never gonna gave you up?
- @samjane82: What’s the matter, Rick? Never given someone up before?
- @adriofthedead: Did I just get Peggrolled? 🤔
- @gmatt30: Never gonna beam you up 🎶
Fans clearly couldn’t help themselves but reference the internet meme, while including Pegg in some of the puns as well. Thankfully, though, the tease wasn’t an all-out prank, and the two celebs did share more about the collaboration via their Instagram stories.
Simon Pegg talked about Rick Astley’s latest album, Are We There Yet, which was released on August 22nd, and tagged the album in shared photos. While seemingly nothing has been fully confirmed, it appears as if they are working on a music video together, which is an exciting prospect for fans of both stars.
Maybe this working relationship will evolve into a lasting friendship and we will see these two work together on more projects. There’s not that much we know about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two so far, so maybe there’s a way to sneak Astley into the final cut. Celebrities unexpectedly appear in music videos all the time, and it’s always exciting to see a fun unexpected cameo in these small scale projects. I can’t wait to see what these two have in store for fans, and if “rickrolling” will be a part of it, as many of the commenters seem to be hoping for.
In the meantime, you can check out Simon Pegg in his latest film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One which is currently available to purchase digitally on Amazon. You can also see his additional appearances within the Mission: Impossible franchise with a Paramount+ subscription. In addition, fans of Rick Astley can stream his new album Are We There Yet now on Spotify and Apple Music.