Born March 28, 1972, in Essex, England, Nick Frost was an aspiring comedian working as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant when he was introduced through a mutual friend to Simon Pegg, an up-and-coming comedian and actor. The two became fast friends before sharing an apartment, where Frost would go on to credit Pegg with exposing him to the films of Woody Allen and making him more cultured overall. It was during the time they lived together that Frost invented the character of Mike Watt, a "weapons expert" obsessed with the military, just to make Pegg laugh. Convinced that the character was worthy of a real show business outlet, Pegg persuaded Frost to act in his comedy series, "Spaced" (Channel 4, 1999-2001), in which he starred under young director Edgar Wright. Frost portrayed the character of Mike as a childhood friend of Pegg's main character, Tim.