Nathan Fillion

Nathan Fillion: I’ll leave it to people who can handle the stress

Canadian actor Nathan Fillion, 39, is best known for playing Captain Malcolm Reynolds in cult sci-fi show Firefly. He’s also been in Buffy and Lost. Fillion currently stars as author Richard Castle in crime comedy drama Castle, which starts Wednesday at 9pm on Alibi

What’s the show about?

It’s about a murder mystery novelist who teams up with a homicide detective. He uses her as research for a new character for a book but also helps her solve crimes.

Have you had any literary ambitions?

No, I leave that to smarter people. I wrote a comedy pilot, which is when I figured out it’s a bit of an ordeal. I’ll leave it to people who can handle the stress.

Does being in a regular series give you time to do anything else?

No, that’s the one drawback of being in a one-hour series, there’s no time. Not even for real life, let alone other projects.

What impact does starring in a show that gets cancelled have on your career?

Hopefully none because I’ve been on a lot of cancelled shows. It’s always disappointing. I’ve been on shows I thought were great and really invested in them. I like to think I was on good shows that people weren’t watching. I’m used to it by now, though.

What roles have had the biggest impact on your career?

The roles given to me by Joss Whedon on Buffy and Firefly. He’s the one who took me from being cast as the main guy’s brother or best friend or the main girl’s ex-boyfriend and gave me lead roles.

Until someone gives you that opportunity, people are reluctant to cast you as the lead. He was the first person to cast me as a villain, on Buffy, and in a lead role, on Firefly, then as the lead in a motion picture on the Firefly movie. He’s single-handedly done more for me than anyone else in Los Angeles.

Do cult shows such as Buffy and Firefly attract kooky fans?

No, they’re level-headed and intelligent and passionate about the shows. I was on a daytime soap opera and that attracted kooky fans, people who were reluctant to draw a line between fantasy and reality. They didn’t want to know my name was Nathan, they wanted to pretend I was really Joey.

What are the highs and lows of being on a daytime soap opera?

The high is being employed and getting to work every day. I’ve never worked as hard as I did on One Life To Live. It was a 44-minute show every day of the year. I worked with people who’d been on the show for 30 years. They became family. The lows are realising not every show is going to be incredible but still going out there and doing the best work you can. People don’t give soaps enough credit.

Did you have any crazy storylines?

My mother had a split personality and one of her personalities kidnapped my older woman lover and kept her in a soundproof prison in her basement.

Why did you want to act?

I did musicals in high school and thought being on stage was cool, and then got involved in an improv theatre in Edmonton. It was owned by the actors, it was an incredible place. We got to do whatever shows we wanted and it was a real thrill. I wanted to keep doing it.

Any acting mishaps?

I got kicked in the knee by a stuntman on Buffy and it still hurts all these years later.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

Delivering papers as a kid. What a crappy job, I hated it, it’s completely mindless work. Doing it in the winter in Canada was absolutely no fun.

What’s the best thing about coming from Canada?

Having some perspective. It’s really hard to find world news in the US, it feels really egocentric as far as the media goes. So it’s nice to be able to have a broader view of things when I’m watching news in the US.