You’re big on pies on your Insta. What’s your go-to pastry recipe and, briefly, your favourite filling – savoury and sweet? TopTramp
Well, as much as I can make it, I like to have a little block of shop-bought shortcrust or flaky pastry in the fridge. It’s so much easier to just roll it out and stick it on top. The pies have to be double crust. The one I make the most is slow braised, tiny chunks of steak with minced beef and roasted shallots, like a minced beef and onion pie. The kids love that with chips for Saturday night dinner. I like making chicken and mushroom with leek, although my partner’s a veggie, so she would probably say fish pie, with boiled eggs, which is a real labour of love, so I tend to save that for special occasions. I like a nice apple and cinnamon pie with a Demerara sugar crust, and cherry pie made with that really shit fake filling.

The trailer for Whistle.

What happened to your live-action remake of Captain Pugwash? keithrickaby
That was nearly 10 years ago. There was quite a good script. I think the money was coming from China, and I’m not sure they’d seen Captain Pugwash before. I think it was one of those things that never quite reached escape velocity. I do remember they just had normal names, and not the double entendres like Seaman Staines or Master Bates that everyone thinks were in the cartoon.

Would you rather be Andy McNab or Andie MacDowell for the day? Hesfalleninthewater
I would 100% want to be Andie MacDowell, not only for the chance to be Andie MacDowell, but to be a woman, just to see what it’s like. Only for a day though.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead. Photograph: AJ Pics/Alamy

Can you still salsa and would you consider Strictly? ukpidgeon
I can still salsa. After Cuban Fury, I was mooted to do Strictly, but when I worked out how much work it would be, compared to the fee, it was a no. Plus, I was super fat, and I’ve always had an issue with the way they dress fat contestants on Strictly. They end up looking like a ball of satin, or like Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka, who turns into a giant blueberry. I have picked up some other skills as an actor. I can strip an MP5 [gun] blindfolded [as he did in Spaced]. I was asked to learn to knit for my latest job [as Hagrid in HBO’s Harry Potter], so I had lessons and thought: “Yeah! I can knit!”

Had you seen The Big Lebowski before playing Mike in Spaced? PickmansModel
I didn’t see The Big Lebowski until much later, so the Dude and Mike are completely similar by accident, even down to his glasses. I invented Mike, when I was 21, to make Simon [Pegg] laugh. Mike was a member of the territorial army, and had an eye disease which meant he couldn’t join the regular army, and had to wear glasses to correct his ocular wrong. It just happened to be a little bit John Goodman in The Big Lebowski.

Frost as Mr Craven in Whistle. Photograph: Michael Gibson

If you could remake any film, where they all now have Hot Fuzz-style West Country accents, which would you choose? MrSOBaldrick
I guess it would have to be something quite serious. Maybe Downfall or Saving Private Ryan. I’d like to see Downfall set in a small village in Somerset, although I think we’re going to see Downfall set in Washington DC soon.

Who’s the most famous person who has randomly quoted something from the Cornetto trilogy to you? catchytitled
Tarantino loves Ed from Shaun of the Dead and I’m always amazed that he has pictures of me up in his cinema. I’ve been there and seen them, because he and Edgar [Wright] became friends. That’s quite weird – being a fan of cinema as a younger man, and watching Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, then suddenly the director has your stupid face in the foyer of his cinema.

Be honest – how many of the Harry Potter films / books had you seen / read when you were cast as Hagrid in the upcoming TV version? TurangaLeela2
I’ve seen all the films. We go through them all as a family during Christmas every year. We start on 20 December and finish a week and a half later. Before I was cast as Hagrid, my partner suggested trying to manifest it. So last Christmas, I watched all the films back to back on the Sky Harry Potter channel, while writing out the word “Hagrid” 7,000 times.

Pegg and Frost in Spaced. Photograph: E4 PICTURE PUBLICITY

As someone who also only started getting tattoos in my mid-30s, what made you start? bearvsshark
I had one tattoo when I was 20. I fainted within five seconds. When I woke up, there were two Hells Angels lifting me back into my chair. I didn’t have any more until when my dad died when I was 40, as a way to turn spiritual pain into physical pain, and try to exorcise it. Now I’m 53, my whole top and arms are covered. It eventually got past exorcising dead family demons, to enjoying the pain a bit. I struggled for a long time with how I looked, in terms of being a mega fatty, and not being able to go to the beach without people laughing at you. The tattoos meant people didn’t focus on how much you weighed, so it was like a suit of armour.

Would you ever consider playing some Shakespeare on stage, say Falstaff, Othello or Portia? CHARISMATA
I’ve only ever done one thing on stage, in the 25 years of my career. As much as I loved it, it was quite stressful. My real love is making films and television. If you want me to be a Shakespearean character in a film, then yeah, I’d definitely do that.

Does Simon Pegg still have you chained up in his shed? Garryi
Yes. I’m allowed an hour out every day between 2pm and 3pm to get some exercise. [Answering.] I’m coming, Simon. He’s calling me now, so I should go.

Whistle is in UK and Irish cinemas from 13 February