<p id=”par-1_36″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/actors/”>Actor</a> Nathan Fillion’s star power grew thanks to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/nathan-fillions-castle-co-star-shocked-much-changed-the-rookie.html/”>starring in shows like <em>Castle</em></a><em> </em>and <em>The Rookie</em>. But before those two hit shows, he considered his sci-fi cult hit <em>Firefly </em>as the show that kick-started his career.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-nathan-fillion-revealed-that-no-one-heard-of-him-before-firefly”>Nathan Fillion revealed that no one heard of him before ‘Firefly’</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1200″ height=”846″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Nathan Fillion sitting down and talking at comic-con.” class=”wp-image-3652907″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=640&h=451 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=1024&h=722 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=768&h=541 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=496&h=350 496w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=240&h=169 240w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=200&h=141 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=719&h=507 719w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nathan-Fillion-Firefly-1.jpg?w=85&h=60 85w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Nathan Fillion | Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_47″>Fillion initially didn’t know he’d be able to make a living from acting. In an interview with <a href=”https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/nathan-fillion-new-show/”>Closer</a>, he confided that he saw acting as more of a side gig when he went to school. But getting an actual acting job that paid decently changed Fillion’s trajectory.</p>
<p id=”par-3_65″>“I was going to finish off schooling and four months before graduation I got a job on a soap and moved to New York City. I did three years there, moved to Los Angeles on the advice of Bob Woods, who played my uncle on the show. He said, ‘Get out there, kid,’ and I did exactly what he told me to do,” he said.</p>
<p id=”par-4_18″>But things weren’t easy for Fillion, who had a rough time finding work after his move to California.</p>
<p id=”par-5_74″>“I spent a lot of time unemployed — I paid my rent on credit two months in a row because I was waiting for a tax return so I could pay off my credit bill and then have enough money to move back to NYC and try to get back on the show. But I got a job at the last minute on a sitcom, and that carried me for two-and-a-half years,” he said.</p>
<p id=”par-6_21″>Fillion’s next job was being a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/nathan-fillion-wants-to-see-a-firefly-reboot-with-a-younger-cast.html/”>lead on the show <em>Firefly</em></a>, which he considered the true turning point in his career.</p>
<p id=”par-7_145″>“Absolutely. Unequivocally. I had a lot of jobs before <em>Firefly</em>, and nobody ever heard of me, so what does that tell you? A) It put me on the map, B) it was my first lead role, C) first one hour drama, D) opened the door for me for my first lead in a feature film, E) it taught me so much just about acting — I mean, I did three years on a soap, the hardest work an actor can do, and after all that work, I thought, ‘Oh I’m pretty good at this.’ Then I got to <em>Firefly </em>and it’s one of those things where the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know, and it taught me a lot. <em>Firefly </em>put my life on an entirely different path — I would not be where I am were it not for <em>Firefly.</em>”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-nathan-fillion-almost-failed-his-audition-for-firefly”>Nathan Fillion almost failed his audition for ‘Firefly’</h2>
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<p id=”par-8_48″><em>Firefly </em>wasn’t the first time Fillion met series creator Joss Whedon. He actually auditioned for Whedon’s previous show <em>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</em>, trying out for the character Angel. Fillion wouldn’t meet Whedon until a couple years later for <em>Firefly</em>, although Whedon had no recollection of their <em>Buffy </em>encounter.</p>
<p id=”par-9_35″>“When Joss found out that I auditioned for Angel—he didn’t know—he felt bad. He said, ‘I don’t remember you.’ I told him not to worry, I never made the first cut,” Fillion once told <a href=”https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/king-castle-59856/?cjevent=8a4d5f4dfbb711ee809b0c1a0a82b836″>Backstage</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-10_16″>Afterwards, the two had a meeting where they got to know each other for 45 minutes.</p>
<p id=”par-11_47″>“We talked about the show, we talked about work ethic, we talked about family, we talked about goals. Then he said, ‘I’d love for you to come in and audition for this role,’ and then he brought me to the network and there we go,” he said.</p>
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<iframe title=’21 Quotes From Captain Mal Of “Firefly” To Make Your Day Better’ width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/kVyCovIdW-s?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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Nathan Fillion Said His Starring Role in ‘The Rookie’ Left Him Bruised and Battered </a>
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<p id=”par-12_73″>But <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/suicide-squad-2-fans-think-nathan-fillion-is-dcs-newest-villain.html/”><em>The Suicide Squad </em>star</a> nearly lost out on another Whedon project thanks to his initial <em>Firefly </em>audition. Executive Amy Pascal revisited Fillion’s screening for <em>Firefly </em>in her book <em>Joss Wheedon: The Biography</em> (via <a href=”https://geektyrant.com/news/nathan-fillion-talks-about-how-he-almost-completely-bombed-his-auditions-for-firefly”>Geeky Tyrant</a>). There, Pascal remembered that Fillion kept reading his lines the same way over and over again during the audition. After the <em>Firefly </em>team brought up Fillion’s redundancy, Fillion decided to try reading his lines a different way.</p>
<p id=”par-13_30″>“These poor people are thinking, maybe I’m an idiot, I can’t take direction. I can only do the one thing; I’m a one-note guy. But here we go,” Fillion remembered.</p>
<p id=”par-14_16″>But after a couple more takes, Fillion nailed the character, which led to his <em>Firefly</em> legacy.</p>
<p id=”par-15_33″>“We did it differently and we had a great time. There was a bit of a breakdown in communication there, but I was tense. I’ll tell you that, I was tense,” he said.</p>