Fillion Hangs On To Browncoat

Firefly/Serenity star Nathan Fillion told SCI FI Wire that he's not ready to hang up Capt. Mal Reynolds' brown coat and that he doesn't mind if he's speaking at conventions 20 years from now. "Did you ever see Galaxy Quest?" Fillion said. "When Tim Allen comes out and he cheers, well that's going to be me when I'm 60. I'll be this fat and balding guy who's trying to squeeze into his outfit and wears suspenders."

The Canadian native said not a day goes by without someone coming up to him to talk about the canceled series or the feature film. "It makes me feel really good when they say they like what we did and are appreciative of your work," Fillion said. He is now telling fans about his upcoming horror comedy SF movie Slither, which comes out March 31, a few days after his 35th birthday on March 27.

Fillion said that he has already attended a few SF&F conventions and hears stories from other actors. "I heard a story about Brent Spiner [Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation], and he was asked at conventions to make these vast computations that are impossible for even a computer, and he was in the position to have to tell them, 'Guys, I'm not a robot,'" Fillion said. "But they don't want to hear that. They don't want the reality. They want to continue the fantasy."

So what do Firefly/Serenity fans ask Fillion? "I get questions like, 'When you put your hand on her shoulder, was that your idea?'" he said. "And then I ask, 'Did you like that?' And if they say 'yes,' then I say, 'Yes, it was my idea. Joss [Whedon, Serenity's writer and director,] fought me hard on it.'"

As for any future installments in the franchise, Fillion said: "The whys and wherefores of the entertainment industry are a mystery to me. ... I'm not sure. When Firefly was canceled, I was heartbroken. I wanted another crack. Serenity gave me another shot at it. I wanted Serenity to be a great movie, I really did. I can catch an old movie and say, 'I could have done that different. I could [do] that different.' And I'm very critical. ... But not with Serenity. I feel like every single person did great. We all knew that this was the shot, and this was our chance to get back."

Fillion added that it's not that he's so willing to give up Reynolds. "It's not that I'm ready to give it up," he said. "It's that I got everything I wanted. I wanted another crack. It filled a void. So when you get everything you want, how can you ask for more? ... For me it was sweet, sweet revenge, served cold."
Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel