Simon Pegg's reward from the universe

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Simon Pegg believes "the universe" has rewarded him for quitting drinking.

The 49-year-old actor doesn't think it's a coincidence that his career has gone from strength to strength since he sought help for his alcoholism in 2010 but admitted it could also be because getting sober forced him to combat all his "issues".

He said: "It's a strange thing and I have had conversations with other people about this, that when you quit drinking the universe starts to give back to you a little bit.

"Maybe it's because I figured out why I was drinking, which was to combat the depression and so I was able to get on top of what was the real issue... By actually confronting it, my reward has been these last ten years."

The 'Star Trek' actor - who has 10-year-old daughter Matilda with wife Maureen McCann - admitted he reached a point where he was "drunk all the time" and eventually decided to get help following a "bleak" trip to the US without his spouse.

He told GQ Hype magazine: "You just can't rely on any kind of stimulant to make yourself feel better and expect it to solve anything.

"At some point the effects wear off and you need more and more.

"And so with something like alcohol, you just end up being drunk all the time.

"It's where that line comes from in 'The World's End' where Nick Frost's character asks me, 'How do know when you are drunk if you are never sober?' And an opportunity came up for me to turn everything around and that's what happened.

"And I got to the point where I was sitting on the sidewalk in downtown San Diego having lost my phone and eating pizza and it was just so bleak. When I got home, Maureen just knew I had been drinking and it was bad. I knew then I needed to get help."

Though Simon has worked on combating his depression, he doesn't think his "demons" will ever go away completely.

He said: "What I have come to realise from back then is that depression is always there. No matter what I did. I don't think you ever really lose your demons. You just try to find a way to keep them in their place."

Read the full interview with Simon at https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/gq-hype/article/simon-pegg-interview