Nathan Fillion

Sundance 07: “B” also stands for bad behavior when actor withdraws support for Sundance hit “Waitress”

One of my favorite Sundance gossip stories involves a Canadian friend and colleague involved in the festival’s shortest press interview. My reporter friend sat down to interview a fellow Canadian, Nathan Fillion, who was at the festival to support his lead role in “Waitress,” an audience-friendly drama about an unhappily married waitress (Keri Russell; pictured above) who experiences a shot at a happier life via a relationship with the new town doctor (Fillion).

Fillion’s publicity work was extra important because the director of “Waitress,” veteran New York actress Adrienne Shelly, was tragically murdered in November. Feeling ill due to her pregnancy, Keri Russell bowed out of many of her press commitments. It was up to Fillion to stand right by Shelly and work at spreading the word on her film. Instead, after recognizing his interviewer’s name, he went on a tirade regarding his earlier film work, the sci-fi adventure “Serenity” and the monster movie “Slither.”

“Now I know why you didn’t introduce yourself,” Fillion snarled at the surprised reporter. “Do you know you’re the only critic who didn’t like “Serenity”?”

Fillion was referring to the critic’s negative “Serenity” review, which ran in his hometown paper in Edmonton, Alberta, in front of his parents, no less.

Any attempts to flip to the topic of “Waitress” was lost when Fillion got up and left. Clearly, his ego took priority over his obligation to Shelly and her movie.

The good news is that Fox Searchlight bought “Waitress” at Sundance and plans to release the film in late 2007. This means Fillion will have another chance at promoting the film and acting right. My Canadian friend would probably be willing to sit down again for a second-try interview. After all, she’s a professional.