Pegg and Frost as Thomson and Thompson
The Times of London confirms that the Hot Fuzz duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost has been asked to play the Thompson Twins in Steven Spielberg’s Tintin. Hergé’s identical twin detectives were usually played for comic relief so the casting sounds ideal.
"[Spielberg] said, ‘Hey, maybe you and Nick Frost could play the Thompson Twins’", Pegg ttold the Times Online.
Thomson and Thompson as they are known, can only be told apart in the albums by their mustaches. Thomson is the bumbling detective with the flared moustache whle the bumbling detective with the flat moustache is Thompson. The duo of incompetent detectives first appeared in Cigars of the Pharaoh which was first published in 1932. At the time, they were intially identified just as X33 and X33bis.
The pair are said to be physically inspired by Hergé’s father and uncle, who were twins, complete with matching bowlers. Historians say a picture of two mustachioed, bowler-hatted, formally dressed detectives appearing on the cover of the March 2, 1919 Le Miroir also influenced the storyteller.
I’m not at all familiar with Pegg & Frost, but am happy to know that the two detectives will be part of the Tin Tin film. I was introduced to Herge’s wonderful comic as a kid, when my Mother bought me a subscription to CHILDREN”S DIGEST. I was instantly a fan of the boy journalist and his little dog.
They aren’t twins or even brothers.
That was one of the running jokes of the books; not only officers Thomson and Thompson not related, they don’t even see the resemblance. Making them ACTUALLY not resemble each other would be a delight. They’d just sress and acti alkie so people would STILL think them twins.
Putting Pegg and Frost in those outfits would finally drive home the Laurel and Hardy comparisons people have been making. Samattrofack, if they ever do a Laurel and Hardy biopic, I’d snap those two up quick.