Nathan Fillion

Firefly’s Captain Mal Is Now A Best Selling Author

The star talks about his new crime-fighting role on ABC

US, January 16, 2009 - If you like your procedurals to have a lighter and more romantic tone to them, along the lines of old shows like Moonlighting or The Rockford Files, then you might want to check out Castle. Granted that Nathan Fillion’s Firefly fan base will be checking out the stars new series on ABC, but the show is meant to draw in a lot of the female fans who might only know him from his stint on ABC’s hit Desperate Housewives. Fillion is playing a "bad boy" pulp crime novelist, Rick Castle, who must assist the NYPD in tracking down a copy-cat killer who is basing their murders on Castle’s novels. He’s childish and bratty, and most of the time he has to be parented by his own teenage daughter. When he’s paired up with hard-nosed Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), there’s a definite sexual tension there as they head out and try to solve crimes in their own unique ways.

When asked at the recent TCA press tour why they chose to name Fillion’s character "Castle", which gets yelled out a ton in the pilot, Producer Andrew Marlowe said that it was a "way of yelling the name and if you take away the ’C’ away and it sounds like…" It was an obvious little joke based on the fact that the character is a bit of a loveable douche. Castle is suffering from writer’s block. "He’s looking for inspiration and he’s looking for a new character," said Marlowe. Castle finds that character in Beckett, much to her annoyance. And before you think this might be reminiscent of The Hard Way, there’s a love story that is brewing underneath. There’s definitely a huge "will they or won’t they" play going on here. But there are no plans to get them in the sack right away. "We have it set on simmer right now," Marlowe said.

Has this new role gotten Fillion interested in crime novels? "I started to read some Clive Cussler, some James Patterson and some Robert Parker and his Spencer series," said Fillion. The actor likens his character to the detail oriented Barker – "He pays close close attention to details and he may be a spoiled brat and in his own world, but he’s quite clever." Fillion was very excited to take the role, since his last networks stint was on Desperate Housewives. He enjoyed the job quite a bit but mentioned that he sat around in a living room most of the time. This role was funny and dynamic and allowed Fillion to run around and have adventures.