Digman! Has Edgar Wright Reprise An Obscure Role From Another Andy Samberg Project [Exclusive]

This week brought the premiere of Andy Samberg's new adult animated comedy series "Digman!" to Comedy Central. The series, which Samberg co-created with "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" producer Neil Campbell, follows a formerly great archaeologist named Rip Digman (voiced by Samberg, utilizing an eccentric version of his Nicolas Cage impression from "Saturday Night Live") who has since turned into a laughing stock. And in a world where archeologists are considered huge celebrities, that's an unfortunate situation to be in. But with his crew by his side, Digman tries to get back on top, taking whatever scrappy museum job he can to get by, and that results in him meeting quite the impressive ensemble of characters voiced by an amazing array of actors. In fact, one of them is a filmmaker you might be familiar with.

Edgar Wright, the director behind beloved films like "Shaun of the Dead, "Hot Fuzz," and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," was listed among the guest cast members when "Digman!" was announced to the masses. When I spoke with Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell leading up to the series premiere of "Digman!" this week, I couldn't help but ask what role Wright had to play in this series. It turns out, Wright is reprising a role that he previously played in another Andy Samberg project that you might have forgotten about. But that's not all, because we also heard from Edgar Wright about his guest appearance, and there's a shocking detail that we didn't see coming at all.

When I asked Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell about Edgar Wright's "Digman!" appearance, the series star couldn't help but have a smile on his face when thinking about the casting decision. Samberg explained:

"So Edgar's a friend of mine, and I made this thing for HBO called the 'Tour De Pharmacy,' which was about the Tour de France. It was a mockumentary, and he played the sports announcer in that who was sportscasting the Tour de France. So we have an episode of this show where there's another sporting event that happens in the UK. So I was like, 'Oh, I gotta ask Edgar again. He's my go-to British friend who does sports announcing for some reason.' He understood why that was stupid and funny and found the time to come do it again, and he was great, of course."

In case you haven't seen "Tour De Pharmacy," it's one of Samberg's underrated contributions to comedy. Released in 2017 on HBO, the 41-minute mockumentary chronicles the prevalence of doping in the world of professional cycling, taking aim at the Lance Armstrong controversy that had previously brewed. Not unlike the "Digman!" series, "Tour De Pharmacy" boasts an astounding cast of talent, including but not limited to Orlando Bloom, John Cena, James Marsden, Maya Rudolph, Danny Glover, Nathan Fielder, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Bacon, and even Lance Armstrong himself. And yes, it also features Edgar Wright.

Having Wright reunite with Samberg sounds like a blast, especially since he also lent his voice to some other bit parts in the series. But when the time came for the filmmaker to jump in the recording booth, tragedy struck and interrupted the recording session.

We reached out to Edgar Wright about taking a rare acting role without having been involved in the making of he series, and here's what the filmmaker had to say:

"I love that Andy thinks of me for these different voice over gigs, especially since I know almost nothing about sports. However, as a Brit, I do know the cadence of the commentators as their voices are burned into your brain from an early age over here. It's honestly just a pleasure to step into a voiceover booth with Andy and Neil and go to town with the dialogue. I actually find it therapeutic to perform animated voiceovers, as there's a lot of latitude to try anything. I'm very flattered they asked me again." 

However, this particular acting role came with an unfortunate development. Wright went on to explain what happened on the day he was recording his lines for "Digman!" last year:

"As a strange side note to my voice role in 'Digman!,' during my recording session in London, the Queen died. I stepped into the session as rumors were swirling on the internet that Elizabeth II had passed away, and an announcement was about to be made. Sure enough, the official announcement happened in the middle of the session. and both me and the engineer in London stepped out to watch the TV in the lobby to see the momentous, end of an era news. I don't think you will detect any profound mediations on the event in my finished performance, but you could say that it spans reigns."

Few performers out there can say that their professional work began and ended with two different royals in power in the same day. We can't wait to hear Wright's contributions to "Digman!" in the near future. If you'd like to find out more about the series, read our full interview with Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell right here, and be sure to check out our "Digman!" review as well.

"Digman!" airs on Comedy Central on Wednesdays at 10:30pm ET/9:30pm CT, right after "South Park."