Nathan Fillion has been a mainstay at Comic-Con and other cons for years. In fact, during a Comic-Con@Home panel dedicated to the actor and moderated by The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley, a mustachioed Fillion recalls his first Comic-Con being in 2002 when he was a guest of Joss Whedon’s after he first signed on to do the cult Western sci-fi series Firefly.
As one of the last panels of the first virtual iteration of the fanboy/fangirl confab came, “A Conversation with Nathan Fillion” was a retrospective on Fillion as he reflected on his career — with a lot of talk about Firefly, Castle, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and, of course, The Rookie.
From the comfort of his own kitchen and with his cute doggie, Hawley kicked things off with one of Fillion’s most popular movies: Waitress. After doing a deep dive on the quirky comedy, the two waxed poetic on The Rookie.
“Firefly has been my favorite job I’ve ever had until The Rookie,” Fillion admits before guests from his past started being introduced into the pre-recorded panel.
Firefly’s Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and Joss Whedon “Zoom’d” into the conversation to talk about the fandom behind the series while Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever and Molly Quinn phoned in to talk about Castle. The Rookie‘s Mekia Cox also joined him to talk about the ABC show. Fillion and Whedon also discussed working on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
Torres and Tudyk agreed with Fillion about the lasting legacy of Firefly. “Once a ‘browncoat’, you’re locked in,” said Fillion.
Tudyk “Firefly is such a staple,” said Tudyk, adding that if you’re into fandom, it’s a requirement. Torres points out that Firefly is like any great book that touched had an impact on you when you first read it but when you revisit it later, it speaks to you different place to your heart and psyche. She continues to say that she is excited to see the series continue to grow with existing and new fans.
It is clear that Fillion loves his Firefly and Castle fam — so much so that many of them have appeared on his other shows. Tudyk, Huertas and Dever enjoyed guest-starring with him on The Rookie while Torres popped up in Castle. Fillion wants to continue this tradition with hopes of getting Torres on The Rookie. Torres agreed to be on The Rookie with one important stipulation.
“You have to promise you’ll actually be there!” Torres exclaimed. “When I came on to Castle you bailed!”
Fillion turned to Hawley who said, “There’s no way I would put you on the show and not write you into Nathan’s story — I promise you that!”