Simon Pegg's been making the rounds for his new movie "Hector and the Search For Happiness," and the question he's been asked the most is both the simplest - and most complex.

"It tends to be 'What makes you happy?' " Pegg told MTV News when we caught up with the actor at TIFF. "The answer to that question is not a short-form answer, it's not as simple as that answer... It's not something that you can achieve say by going on a walk on the beach. You have to be happy before going on a walk on the beach."

Nothing is a short-cut for happiness. Well, almost nothing,

"Except for a good bit of pie, sure," Pegg said. "There are exceptions to every rule, of course."

With "Hector," Pegg steps into the spotlight in a role that's both comedic and dramatic.

"I often see myself referred to as a comic, and I haven't been a comic for 15 years," Pegg said. "And I don't just do comedic acting, even our comedies tend to drift towards dark territory."

And while "Hector" isn't quite as dark as something like "The World's End," it still has a whole range of emotions off which Pegg plays.

"That's what Hector's all about," Pegg noted. "If you want to have happiness, you have to have the whole deal, you have to have unhappiness, you have to have fear, you have to have loss."

Pegg was very happy to take on the role.

"As an actor, to get to play the full spectrum, as I got to in this film, is great," he said, "it's a bit of a gift, because you get to flex different muscles."

"Hector And The Search For Happiness" opens in theaters on September 19.