Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion | |
|---|---|
 Fillion at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International. | |
| Born | March 27, 1971 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Nathan Fillion (/ˈfɪljən/; born March 27, 1971)[1][2] is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle as well as his earlier portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.
He has acted in traditionally distributed films like Slither and Trucker, Internet-distributed films like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, television soap operas and sitcoms, and theater, and voice acted in the video games Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.
Early life
Fillion was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the younger son of Cookie and Bob Fillion, both of whom are retired English teachers.[3] He has an older brother, Jeff,[4] and attended Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Concordia University College of Alberta, and the University of Alberta, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. According to Fillion, he is descended from Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early.[5]
Career
1994–2009
After working in several theatre, television, and film productions, including Theatresports with Rapid Fire Theatre and the improvised soap opera Die-Nasty, Fillion moved to New York City in 1994 where he acted in the soap opera One Life to Live as Joey Buchanan, for which he was nominated in 1996 for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series. In 1997, he left the series to pursue other projects (but would return for a brief guest appearance in 2007).[6]
After moving to Los Angeles, he played a supporting role in the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, and was cast as James Frederick "The Minnesota" Ryan in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Fillion had a recurring role as Caleb in 2003 in the final five episodes of the final season of Joss Whedon's series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In 2002, Fillion starred as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the Joss Whedon science fiction television series Firefly, for which he won the Cinescape Genre Face of the Future – Male award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA. Fillion also won the Syfy Genre Awards in 2006 for Best Actor/Television and was runner-up for Best Actor/Movie.[7] Fillion called his time on Firefly the best acting job he ever had,[8] and compares every job he has had to it.[9] Although the show was cancelled, it was adapted to the big screen; he reprised his role as Mal in Whedon's movie Serenity (2005).
Fillion lent his voice to the animated series King of the Hill in 2001, the video game Jade Empire (as the voice of Gao the Lesser), and the animated series Justice League Unlimited (as Vigilante in the episodes "Hunter's Moon" and "Patriot Act") in 2005 and 2006. Fillion starred in James Gunn's 2006 horror film Slither. For his starring role as Bill Pardy, he garnered a 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards nomination in the category of Dude You Don't Wanna Mess With.[10]
Fillion starred in the romantic comedy film Waitress, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2007, and opened in theaters on May 2, 2007. Waitress grossed $22,125,001 in worldwide sales as of May 13, 2008, and $29.22 million in rentals as of January 28, 2008.[11][12] Fillion starred in White Noise 2: The Light. He made one appearance in the 2006–2007 season of the television show Lost, as Kevin, Kate's ex-husband.
In October 2006, Fillion signed a talent holding contract with the Fox Broadcasting Company, and in December 2006, The Hollywood Reporter[13] confirmed that Fillion was cast as Alex Tully in the series Drive, which debuted on Fox in the spring of 2007. Drive was created by Fillion's longtime friend and former Angel and Firefly writer Tim Minear. Ivan Sergei played Alex Tully in the original pilot episode of Drive. The first two Drive episodes premiered on April 13, 2007, in Canada (April 15, 2007 in the United States). However, the show did not deliver the ratings Fox desired, and on April 25, 2007, the network announced that the series was cancelled.[14][15] The final two produced episodes were supposed to air back-to-back on Fox in July 2007 but did not actually become available until July 15 when they were posted on the Drive MySpace page.[16]
He reprised his 1990s role as One Life to Live's Joey for the series' 9,999th and 10,000th episodes, aired August 16 and 17, 2007.[17][18][19]
Fillion joined the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives at the beginning of the fall 2007 season as Dr. Adam Mayfair. His first appearance was in the episode "Now You Know", which aired on September 30, 2007.
He voiced the role of a Marine sergeant in the Xbox 360 game Halo 3, alongside fellow Firefly stars Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin. At one point early in the first mission, he identifies himself as "[Sergeant] Reynolds" over the radio, referring to his character's name from the TV series Firefly. All three actors are given personalities in the game that match those of their characters from Firefly. He provides the voice and portrayed likeness for Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck in Halo 3: ODST,[20] a role he briefly reprised in Halo: Reach.
2009–present
In March 2009, the first episode of the ABC television series Castle aired, in which Fillion stars as the title character Richard Castle, a mystery novelist who helps the NYPD solve crimes. In May 2009, ABC green-lit the production of the series for a second season.[21] In 2009, Fillion was nominated for Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama for his performance in Castle. On March 30, 2010, ABC announced that Castle had been renewed for its third season with a 22-episode full-season order.[22] Castle was renewed for a fourth season on January 10, 2011,[23] a fifth season on May 10, 2012,[24] and a sixth season on May 10, 2013.[25]
BuddyTV ranked him #10 on its list of "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2009",[26] #19 in 2010,[27] #20 in 2011[28] and #39 in 2012;[29] #7 on its list of "The 15 Best Drama Lead Actors of the 2011-2012 TV Season";[30] named his character's relationship with the other main character as #18 (and the Best Flirting Relationship) on its list "Love Is All Around: Best TV Relationships of 2010",[31] #13 (and the Best Delayed Relationship) on its list of "The Best Relationships of 2011",[32] #15 on its list of "The Special Relationships: TV’s Top 50 Love Stories of the Past Decade",[33] #1 on its list "Love... Or Not: The Top 12 Will-They-or-Won't-They Couples of 2012"[34] and #2 on its list "Lip Smacking Good: The Best Kisses of 2012";[35] named Castle as #6 on its list of "The 11 Best Returning TV Shows of 2011",[36] #11 on "The 15 Best Dramas of the 2011-2012 TV Season"[37] and #12 on "The 12 Best Dramas of 2012".[38]
Fillion was featured in a spoof porn web video on Spike called "Nailing Your Wife", part of the PG Porn series.[39]
Fillion made a brief cameo appearance in the season 5 episode "Revolving Doors" of the web series The Guild.[40]
In late September 2011, Fillion guest starred as the Action Sports 1 anchor in the web series Husbands.[41] He played Dogberry in the independent film Much Ado About Nothing (2012), based on the Shakespeare play of the same name, written and produced by Joss Whedon.[42][43]
In 2012, he appeared in the episode "The Daly Superheroes" of the web series "The Daly Show." [44]
On February 17, 2013, Fillion hosted the 2013 WGA West Coast Awards. [45]
In contemporary culture
Nathan Fillion has been associated with the public artist Martin Firrell since 2009. Fillion is the subject of two works of contemporary public art by the artist: Complete Hero (digital projections of text and video portraiture to the West and North elevations of the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, 2009)[46] and Metascifi (digital app investigating American television science fiction series for ideas and strategies for living well).[47]
Fillion was the 'face' of Complete Hero. The artist explained the choice of Fillion as follows: "I wanted to make a piece of work that looked at all kinds of heroism, not just the usual derring-do of white square-jawed men. But I thought it would be interesting to start with a white, square-jawed man and Nathan Fillion agreed to take part." [48]
In Metascifi, Fillion discusses the deeper significance of his Firefly character Captain Mal Reynolds, reflecting on some of the universal preoccupations of any human life: death, love, evil, intimacy, power, vulnerability, violence and freedom.[49]
Charity work
Fillion co-founded the non-profit organization Kids Need to Read with author PJ Haarsma in 2007 to help inspire kids' imaginations by getting more books into underfunded libraries.[50]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Strange and Rich | Walter Hoade | |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Pvt. James Frederick 'Minnesota' Ryan | |
| 1999 | Blast from the Past | Cliff | |
| 2000 | Dracula 2000 | Father David | |
| 2003 | Water's Edge | Robert Graves | |
| 2004 | Outing Riley | Luke Riley | |
| 2005 | Serenity | Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds | SFX Award for Best Actor Nominated — Empire Award for Best Newcomer Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance |
| 2006 | Slither | Bill Pardy | Nominated — Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Dude You Don't Wanna Mess With |
| 2007 | White Noise: The Light | Abe Dale | |
| 2007 | Waitress | Dr. Jim Pomatter | Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Best Acting |
| 2008 | Trucker | Runner | |
| 2009 | Wonder Woman | Steve Trevor | Voice Direct-to-video |
| 2010 | Super | The Holy Avenger | |
| 2011 | Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | Hal Jordan / Green Lantern | Voice Direct-to-video |
| 2012 | Justice League: Doom | Hal Jordan / Green Lantern | Voice Direct-to-video |
| 2012 | Much Ado About Nothing | Dogberry | |
| 2013 | Monsters University | Johnny Worthington | Voice |
| 2013 | Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox | Hal Jordan / Green Lantern | Voice Direct-to-video |
| 2013 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Hermes | |
| 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Unknown | Post-Production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Ordeal in the Arctic | Master Warrant Officer Tom Jardine | TV movie |
| 1994–1997, 2007 | One Life to Live | Joey Riley Buchanan | TV Soap Opera Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actor |
| 1996 | Spin City | Guy (uncredited) | Episode: "A Star Is Born" |
| 1997 | Total Security | Troy Larson | Episode: "Das Bootie" |
| 1998 | Maggie Winters | Ronald | Episode: "Mama's Got a Brand New Bag" |
| 1998–2001 | Two Guys and a Girl | Johnny Donnelly | 60 episodes |
| 1999 | The Outer Limits | Michael Ryan | Episode: "Star Crossed" |
| 2001 | King of the Hill | Frisbee Guy | Voice Episode: "Luanne Virgin 2.0" |
| 2002 | Pasadena | Rev. Glenn Collins | Episodes: "Someone to Talk To" "A River in Egypt" "The Truth Hurts" |
| 2002–2003 | Firefly | Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds | 14 episodes Saturn Award for Cinescape Genre Face of the Future - Male |
| 2003 | Alligator Point | Bill | TV movie |
| 2003 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Caleb | Episodes: "Dirty Girls" "Empty Places" "Touched" "End of Days" "Chosen" |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Adam Logan | Episodes: "All in the Family" "Divorce Happens" "Forgive and Forget" "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" "Miss Communication" "Who's Sari Now?" |
| 2004 | Hollywood Division | Det. Tommy Garrett | TV movie |
| 2005-2006 | Justice League Unlimited | Vigilante | Voice Episodes: "Hunter's Moon" "Patriot Act" "Mystery in Space" |
| 2006 | Lost | Kevin Callis | Episode: "I Do" |
| 2007 | Drive | Alex Tully | Episodes: "The Starting Line" "Partners" "Let the Games Begin" "No Turning Back" "The Extra Mile" "Rearview" |
| 2007, 2008, 2011 | Robot Chicken | Various | Voice Episodes: "Losin' the Wooble" "We Are a Humble Factory" "Some Like It Hitman" |
| 2007–2008 | Desperate Housewives | Dr. Adam Mayfair | 12 episodes Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
| 2009–present | Castle | Richard Castle | 124 episodes TV Guide Award for Favorite TV Couple (with Stana Katic, 2012) TV Guide Award for Favorite Couple Who Should (with Stana Katic, 2011) Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama |
| 2010 | The Venture Bros. | Brown Widow | Voice Episode: "Bright Lights, Dean City" |
| 2012 | American Dad! | Joel Larson Joe Kidney American Businessman Klaus |
Voice Episode: "The Kidney Stays in the Picture" "Love, AD Style" |
| 2012 | Robot Chicken DC Comics Special | Green Lantern Mr. Freeze |
Voice TV movie |
| 2013 | Writers Guild of America Awards 2012 | Host | TV special |
| 2014 | Community | Bob Waite | Episode: "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" |
| 2014 | Gravity Falls | Preston Northwest |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Captain Hammer | Internet miniseries |
| 2008 | James Gunn's PG Porn | Chris | Episode: "Nailing Your Wife" |
| 2011 | The Guild | Himself | Episode: "Revolving Doors" |
| 2011 | Husbands | Anchor | Episode: "Being Britney!" |
| 2011 | The Morning After | Episode: "1.173" | |
| 2012 | The Daly Show | Himself | Episode: "The Daly Superheroes" |
| 2012 | Neil's Puppet Dreams | Dr. Mayfair | Episode: "Doctor's Office" |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Jade Empire | Gao the Lesser | Voice |
| 2007 | Halo 3 | Sergeant Reynolds | Voice |
| 2009 | Halo 3: ODST | Gunnery Sergeant Buck | Voice |
| 2010 | Halo: Reach | Gunnery Sergeant Buck | Voice |
Audiobook
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | World War Z | Stanley McDonald |
References
- ^ De Leon, Kris (April 24, 2007). "Hot List: Drive - Nathan Fillion". buddyTV. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
- ^ Gary, Denise (February 6, 2013). "Nathan Fillion Birthday Fundraiser for KNTR". Kids Need to Read. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
- ^ "Serenity star was 'a geeky kid'". Canada.com. 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Nathan Fillion Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1971-03-27. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Hour long Podcast interview with Nathan Fillion June 2008 Nathan talks about Early, Firefly, Serenity, Dr. Horrible, Castle pilot filming...just about everything. Recently he announced that he is an avid reader of Popular Science and Dwell magazines". Jimmyaquino.typepad.com. 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ Rancilio, Alicia (March 16, 2009). "Nathan Fillion proud of his soap opera roots". Yahoo! News. Associated Press.
- ^ "Syfy Portal Awards". Archived from the original on 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ^ Fillion, Nathan. Here's How It Was: The Making of Firefly (Firefly: The Complete Series (DVD)).
- ^ "Nathan Fillion". Kevin Pollak's Chat Show. Season #2.42. February 13, 2011. 96:40 minutes in.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ "Nathan Fillion nominated at Fango Chainsaw Awards 2006". Fangoria. August 28, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ "'Waitress': Summary". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ "'Waitress': DVD/Home Video". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2006-12-15). "'Drive' time for Fillion at Fox". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (April 25, 2007). "Drive runs out of gas". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 25, 2007). "Fox cancels Drive". TV Guide. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ Tim Minear (2007-07-16). "DRIVE -- The Final Two Episodes". Timminear.net. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Fillion back to OLTL", Soap Opera Digest, Vol. 32, No. 31, July 31, 2007, page 5.
- ^ "One Life to Live recap (8/16/07)". ABC.com (Internet Archive). August 16, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
- ^ "One Life to Live recap (8/17/07)". ABC.com (Internet Archive). August 17, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (2008-11-17). "Halo 3 Recon goes open-world". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 15, 2009). "ABC's pilot pickup spree". Variety.
- ^ "Castle Renewed for Third Season". tvguide.com. March 30, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ^ "'Modern Family', 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Castle', get early pickups; so do 3 other shows". Zap2It. Retrieved January 10, 2011..
- ^ Matt Mitovich (May 10, 2012). "Revenge, Once Upon a Time, Castle, Grey's and More Renewed by ABC". TVLine.com. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
- ^ ABC Publicity (May 10, 2013). "#Castle #GreysAnatomy #Scandal have been renewed!". Twitter. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2009". BuddyTV. 2009-12-02. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010". BuddyTV. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2011". BuddyTV. 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
- ^ "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2012". BuddyTV. 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
- ^ "The 15 Best Drama Lead Actors of the 2011-2012 TV Season". BuddyTV. 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
- ^ "Love Is All Around: Best TV Relationships of 2010". BuddyTV. 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ "The Best Relationships of 2011". BuddyTV. 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "The Special Relationships: TV's Top 50 Love Stories of the Past Decade". BuddyTV. 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
- ^ "Love... Or Not: The Top 12 Will-They-or-Won't-They Couples of 2012". BuddyTV. 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ "Lip Smacking Good: The Best Kisses of 2012". BuddyTV. 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
- ^ "The 11 Best Returning TV Shows of 2011". BuddyTV. 2011-12-12. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
- ^ "The 15 Best Dramas of the 2011-2012 TV Season". BuddyTV. 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
- ^ "The 12 Best Dramas of 2012". BuddyTV. 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
- ^ "Nailing Your Wife". Spike.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Revolving Doors". Watchtheguild.com. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ "HUSBANDS 3: Being Britney!". Blip. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
- ^ "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING" (PDF). MuchAdoTheMovie.com. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- ^ "Joss Whedon on his secret film of 'Much Ado About Nothing': 'This is the best vacation I've ever taken' – EXCLUSIVE". Ew.com. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- ^ SheltonFilms.com. "The Daly Superheroes". Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ "Castle's Nathan Fillion to host 2013 WGA West Coast Awards". Wga.com. December 17, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "The Hero Outside". London. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "The Art and Philosophy of Star Trek and Stargate, SFX Magazine". London. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ "The Hero Outside". London. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "The Art and Philosophy of Star Trek and Stargate, SFX Magazine". London. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ Horn, Steven (2007-08-16). "Nathan Fillion Interviews PJ Haarsma". Comics.ign.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1971 births
- 20th-century Canadian male actors
- 21st-century Canadian male actors
- Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male soap opera actors
- Canadian male television actors
- Canadian male voice actors
- Canadian people of American descent
- Living people
- Male actors from Edmonton
- Science fiction fans