The One Line In Shaun Of The Dead That Was Changed For American Audiences

Even though American English comes from across the pond, many discrepancies have risen between the two languages over the years, whether it's the meaning of certain words in different contexts or the pronunciation of words like "herbs" and "aluminum." There are also more amusing cases when words like "fanny" have a much different meaning in the United Kingdom. So when a movie is being imported into the United States from the UK, that can occasionally create some challenges with a film's dialogue, especially if a particular line is intended to be a punchline and the words in question have different meaning in the U.S. That's exactly why Edgar Wright's quintessential horror comedy "Shaun of the Dead" (which is still influencing movies today) had to change just one line for American audiences. 

In "Shaun of the Dead," the titular slacker played by Simon Pegg finds himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak alongside his dimwitted best friend, Ed (Nick Frost). The two British buds round up Shaun's recently estranged ex-girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), his mother and step-father (Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy), and a pair of their friends (Lucy Davis and Dylan Moran) before heading to their local pub, The Winchester, hoping that it proves to be a safe stronghold.

While you might think the film's use of a certain vulgarity that's much more derogatory in the United States would have been a source of contention (or a more memorable improvised line that's equally as raunchy), it's actually a much more innocuous piece of dialogue that could have created some confusion and ruined one of the movie's jokes. As Simon Pegg recently explained in an interview tied to his return to "The Boys" on Prime Video, the one line that needed to be changed for American audiences concerned the zombie girl Shaun and Ed encounter in their garden.

Pegg pointed out that "Shaun of the Dead" managed to avoid inserting or changing certain references so they would be more easily received in the United States. That's mostly because the pop culture references aren't inherently British or difficult for American audiences to understand. As Pegg explained to The Hollywood Reporter:

"We didn't make any concessions to sort of transatlantic-ism. A lot of the British rom-coms would do that. I remember watching 'Notting Hill,' which is a film which I absolutely love, by the way. It's such a great movie. But it starts out — aside from all the whiteness of Notting Hill, which was a bit embarrassing — but the first scene, it winds up on a stained glass window of 'Beavis and Butt-Head.'"

It's the kind of reference that makes the movie land a bit more firmly with American audiences. But Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg made sure they didn't have to do any of that in "Shaun of the Dead." Pegg said they "wanted to make a film that was culturally specific." But this one change had to be made for logistical reasons.

In the first act of "Shaun of the Dead," before the boys realize there are zombies shuffling around town, they spot a woman standing in the garden in their backyard. When they manage to get her attention, Shaun and Ed briefly look concerned at her condition, and we assume they're about to be terrified by her undead presence. Instead, Shaun says, "Oh my God. She's so drunk." However, the initial script had a slightly different line there.

Pegg explained the change in dialogue:

"Initially, in the script it said, 'Oh my God, she's pissed.' And in America, pissed means annoyed. I remember saying, 'You know what, if people see this in America, they're not going to get that joke, and the joke is paramount to Edgar and I. Let's be a bit more literal about it, so that there's no mistake.' So it's not like she turns around and they go, 'Oh, she's really annoyed.' That's not funny. So in an optimistic moment, we changed it to 'drunk,' but that was the only concession we made."

Yes, in the UK, if you're "pissed," it means you're drunk. "Let's get pissed" means "Let's get drunk." So this was a smart change to make for American audiences, because otherwise the joke wouldn't have landed nearly as well. 

Today, you might not have to make that change. In the pop culture landscape of the past 20 years (that's right, "Shaun of the Dead" is now two decades old), British television and movies have been more easily available. But back in 2004, only a handful of British shows like "The Office" had managed grab the attention of American audiences, though the U.S. adaptation would prove to be more popular with them. Thanks to streaming services, British programming is a lot more abundant, and American audiences may not even need a word like "pissed" changed to make a joke land. But for "Shaun of the Dead," we're glad Wright and Pegg were smart enough to get ahead of clueless Americans.