Hot Fuzz: 9 Cool Facts About This Edgar Wright Classic

The second installment in Edgar Wright’s incredible Cornetto Trilogy, Hot Fuzz was released in 2007. A clever, layered and fast-paced action-comedy, it focuses on Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) – a top city cop who is sent to police a sleepy countryside village. But he soon discovers some sinister goings on.

Here are 9 little-known facts about the film…

1) Frost and Pegg were mistaken for real police officers

Many members of the public mistook Pegg and Frost for real police officers throughout the course of filming, which largely took place in the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset (Edgar Wright’s hometown). Instead of correcting them, the actors would often go along with it – trying to give directions wherever they could, when asked.

2) Somerfield was used for a reason

The supermarket in the film is a Somerfield store – a real supermarket chain that went defunct in 2011. Edgar Wright chose to use that particular chain in the film because he used to work at one in his teens, where he would stack shelves. In one very quick shot, you see the director stacking shelves in the store.

3) A lot of Danny’s lines came from Nicolas’ deleted love interest

Although she was written out of the final version, the original script featured a female character named Victoria, who would serve as a love interest for Nicholas. When she was removed from the script, most of her lines were given to Danny without any amendments.

4) Pegg and Wright’s mums appear in the film

Towards the end of the film, you see the judges for the famous Village of the Year competition, which the sinister locals have been preparing for. Two of the judges are played by the mums of director Edward Wright and star / writer Simon Pegg.

5) Wright asked Nick Frost to watch 20 action films in preparation

Nick Frost, who plays Danny Butterman, was given a list of 20 action movies to watch in preparation for the film by director Edgar Wright. He only watched one, though – Bad Boys II, which is mentioned a few times in the script.

6) Two Oscar winners have hidden cameos

Towards the start of the film, Angel visits a crime scene to see his girlfriend – a forensics investigator who quickly breaks up with him. Although you probably didn’t notice because she’s in a full forensics suit, she’s actually played by Cate Blanchett.

In a quick flashback, we see a man in a Santa Claus outfit stab Angel through the hand. This is none other than legendary Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

7) A Shaun of the Dead DVD makes an appearance

When Angel starts chasing a shoplifter out of the supermarket, we see Danny reading a Supercop DVD. When he drops it back into the bargain basket, it lands next to a copy of Zombies Party. Shaun of the Dead was released as Zombies Party in a few countries. A £4.99 price sticker covers over Simon Pegg’s face.

8) Constable Doris Thatcher

Olivia Colman plays Constable Doris Thatcher in the film. The character got her name from the fact that in the UK, before gender equality came into the police force, every female member of staff was referred to as ‘Doris’ regardless of their actual name.

9) Jim Broadbent asked for a role

A huge fan of Wright and Pegg’s first movie, Shaun of the Dead, celebrated British actor Jim Broadbent approached the two of them, asking if he could have a role in their next film. When it came to writing the script for Hot Fuzz, they created the character of Chief Inspector Butterman with only Broadbent in mind.

There you have it – 9 awesome pieces of Hot Fuzz trivia!