Simon Pegg got so skinny he made his wife cry

Simon Pegg has admitted he got so skinny for his role in Inheritance that it made his wife cry.

The Shaun of the Dead star plays a hostage in the film which is due out later this year, calling for a much thinner, bonier look than he usually has.

Read more: Simon Pegg on reaction to drastic body transformation

He hit headlines in March when his trainer posted a photo of the emaciated look on Instagram, but Run, Fatboy, Run actor Pegg has said it wasn’t just his fans who were upset by the snap.

Speaking to Mail Online at MCM Comic Con in London on Sunday, he said: “I did have to get very, very skinny for a job I did this year and my wife was in tears about that, because I kind of got down to just skin and bone, so she wasn’t happy about that.”

Continuing to talk about wife Maureen, he said: “She always grounds me. She stops me from being a head-in-the-clouds actor p***k.

“As soon as I get home I’m picking up the dog s**t in the courtyard, though I do have a courtyard which is p***kish, to say the least.”

Pegg achieved the dramatically different look with six months of circuits, core training and runs totalling 60k a week, but was not prepared for the backlash about his appearance.

Over the summer, he told GQ: “The response from that picture was so weird. Some people said, ‘You look ill,’ which is what my wife thought. Others were saying, ‘Well done.’

Read more: Simon Pegg talks Shaun of the Dead at 15 years old

“And the thing is, it wasn’t meant to be an aspirational thing. It was a snapshot that my trainer took and I really didn’t expect the furore that followed.

“All I can think of is that people still think of me as that schlubby guy from Shaun of the Dead.”

Pegg will star alongside Lily Collins in Inheritance, a thriller about a family whose lives look set to be destroyed when the father passes away, leaving them with a secret inheritance.