Handsome, charming, intelligent, and talented, are just a few
of Nathan Fillion’s attributes that solidify this Canadian’s
dream man status. Having appeared in a handful of films such as
SLITHER and SERENITY, he is predominantly recognized for his
noteworthy TV roles. In the upcoming Indie film WAITRESS,
Fillion exhibits his comedic skills and delivers a captivating,
stimulating, and commanding performance while portraying a
gynecologist who falls for his patient.
WAITRESS is a compelling, romantic-comedy, cleverly
written/directed by the late Adrienne Shelley. Through her talented
ensemble cast, she conveys the importance of recognizing the
existence of choices and pursuing happiness. Fillion is cast
opposite Kerri Russell with whom he shares an irresistible onscreen
chemistry, whilst in pursuit of gratification. If gynecologists
looked like that in the real world, ‘paps’ would become the new
pastime fad. It was a pleasure meeting Fillion and uncovering his
perceptions of the film and experience in working with Shelley on
the set of WAITRESS. Check out what he had to say.
Nathan
Fillion
What kind of message do
you see being sent out with this film?
I don’t see this as a women’s movie. I don’t see this
as being about motherhood; I don’t see this as being about being
pregnant. I see this as about people trying to be happy. Same thing
we are all doing in our everyday life, everybody’s just trying to
make choices to try to be happy. It becomes about making easy
choices that might make us happy or hard choices that might bring us
true happiness.
Can you talk about your
character?
He’s hardly a dog. We have two people here and they are
both being unfaithful to their partners, yet we forgive Jenna so
very easily because she’s obviously in an abusive relationship,
although from what we see of Dr. Pommater’s relationship, his wife
is beautiful, she’s a doctor, she’s affectionate, they seem
affectionate. But, we all know these couples right? Oh my God
they’re getting a divorce, they seem so happy together, they seem
so perfect, what could possibly [have happened]– but who are we to
say about how hearts communicate and what might either draw people
together or pull them apart and again it’s people who are
obviously searching for something to fill something within
themselves and making choices to try do be happy. These two people
came together but they were trying to be happy.
What made you say yes to this film?
Well first of all I thought it was a very pretty little
story. I thought it was a very cute little slice of life story. I
had no idea how emotional it might be.
I didn’t have the vision that Adrienne obviously had as to
how this – what seems to be larger than life yet just a simple
tiny little story, it speaks to me so clearly and so much. It’s
something I think a lot about, about my choices, my daily choices
about being happy.
What are your memories of Adrienne, what’s your most vivid memory of
working with her and knowing her?
My most vivid memory about Adrienne is the first time I ever
met her. I was going to have a meeting with her in Los Angeles and
then I had a trip planned to come to New York to see a friend of
mine on a Broadway show. So, I wasn’t going to miss the trip, but
I really wanted the meeting. She
was leaving town, it wasn’t going to work out, so it started to
get a little stressful. Then
I found out she was leaving town to go to New York City so problem
solved. I got to meet
her in a little diner on the lower east side somewhere, I can’t
even remember the name of it but I remember the booths where she was
sitting were raised up a bit from the floor and she was sitting in a
booth actually sitting kneeling on her feet.
When she got up to greet me when I arrived, she actually
got shorter than she was when she was sitting down. When she was
standing, she was a very tiny little lady and such an easy smile
about her. She’s one of those – there are people who talk to you
all the time but their body language says ‘stay away don’t talk
to me’ or ‘come on in, get close’. And even in times of
stress or pressure when we‘re filming, she always has that energy
that draws you. She’s one of those people and she always wears
hats, which is an excellent metaphor because she wore a lot of hats
in this movie as an actor, director, writer.
Were you in any scenes when she was acting?
Yes I was, right at the end of the movie.
I had a very brief, very brief scene with her and Cheryl
Hines. Another reason I wanted to do the movie so badly was that I
wanted to work with Keri Russell. I wanted to work with Cheryl
Hines. Andy Griffith was a latecomer but I couldn’t believe I got
to work with him. Jeremy Sisto I’d known before.
We used to play beach volleyball. I’d seen his work but
I’d never actually had the chance to actually work with him. So
that was an exciting prospect for me too.
How much research did you do to play the gynecologist?
Zero, if you noticed, I never had to get into any kind of
putting on the rubber gloves awkwardness or anything really
technical, but I moved around a sonogram at one point. All I had to
do was put on a white coat and be awkward.
How did you find Keri?
I am very proud of the job we did. What we wanted to do was
communicate an attraction, a passion. Two people who need, long for
something grand and passionate in their lives and obviously they
can’t express that in their lives on their own, but together they
have this magnetic thing. As romantic, intense, and passionate as
those scenes are, obviously we’re relative strangers, Keri and I
and all you can hope for is that it not be awkward. Keri is
absolutely wonderful and just making such a collaborative [effort
and suggest what we can do to spice up the love scenes]. She’s
just so wonderful and all you want to do is be comfortable in what
can be a very awkward situation.
How do you feel about
Adrienne and being back in New York?
New York aside, anytime I think about this film the
screenings, the premiere how well the show is doing, how it seems to
affect people, the critics obviously are just loving it. It seems to
be hitting people in just the right spot. What makes it hard for me
is that she’s not able to see how – just how much – I think
she knew she was doing a project, she was putting her heart into it
obviously and it meant something to her obviously. I don’t think
she could ever imagine how much it would affect people.
When you were making it, did you have any idea of the kind of impact it
was going to have? Was there a special atmosphere?
You know in reading it, I thought it was a sweet story.
In reading it, I thought it was more about motherhood…I missed the
point being in it. Not until I actually got to see it for the first
time at the Sundance Film Festival was I actually to see the
vision that Adrienne had. This movie – like a lot of people
watching, this movie affected me and like I said, about things
I’ve been thinking about in my own life as far as just pursuing
happiness.
You were talking about how it touches upon things in your own life, what
do you mean by that?
I think however consciously we do it or not, we’re all just
trying to be happy. We make decisions not to destroy ourselves, not
to be trapped. We don’t want to box ourselves into a corner where
we’re just suffering constantly. I think we’re all trying to be
happy. I try to be just more conscious about what it would actually
take to make me happy. I try to make decisions that will keep my
life stress free, relaxed and calm and keep love in my life and
something real that makes me happy.
Do some roles make you
happier than others?
It’s not roles that make me happy. Working makes me happy.
Entertaining makes me happy. I’m not going to pick ‘cause I
don’t think that a role is about being happy. It’s not about
that. Maybe the next role I play will be a villain, someone dark and
someone terrible. What makes me happy is telling a story, affecting
people, entertaining.
What is next?
We’ll have to discover that together…my show on Fox just
got cancelled. Thank you very much … we spent a whole ten
days on the air so you know.…
Were you surprised?
In one way extremely in another way not at all.
Why and why?
Because it’s Fox. Fox is notoriously trigger-happy
canceling shows – at the same time, I know that the critics
are loving the show, that the people who are watching it are really
digging it. I was having a good time playing the character. I truly
believe? Kristin Lehman is an incredibly talented actress. We were
telling some great stories and I was having a great time being the
dude, who’s just a regular guy; one part super hero, two parts
regular guy.
When your show gets canceled, do you say to yourself, “I picked the
wrong thing, this isn’t my luck? Do you have any regrets?“
Good question. And no. I learned a long time ago that you
just never know what’s going to happen. There are certainly no
guarantees in life. And even more so in Hollywood. In the pursuit of
happiness, there’s only so much that I can control. I can go to
work everyday, and I’m in control of the kind of day I’m going
to have. I’m in control of how I perform and how I deal with the
people around me; I keep the people around me close to my heart.
I’m in control of these things. Once it’s beyond my control, I
let go. I’m not above having feelings or emotions about it, but I
certainly don’t go, “Ugh. I shouldn’t have done that, and
I’ll never do it again.” I can’t live in fear.
Why did you choose to
act when you originally intended to teach?
Yeah, I was going to be a high school teacher. I was studying
at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, up in Canada. I was acting
in a wonderfully supportive theater community in Edmonton. There’s
a lot of support for theater in Edmonton. So I was having a great
time, but still, even the most successful actors that I know in
Edmonton are not super-successful, because it’s just not a
success-oriented career. Never mind Los Angeles, I was in Edmonton.
So I’d watch TV and I’d see movies, and I’d think,
“God, I could do that. I’d love to do that. How do I do that?”
It was a window to a world that seemed so far away, and now I
understand that it’s not far away, and it’s just a job, and here
I am and I’m having a great time. I’m not a famous celebrity of
any kind. I’m a guy from Edmonton who got a great job, and I’m
having a great time.
You’ve been compared
to Harrison Ford…
Yes, and I think that might be because I steal from him
constantly. People say, “Is that an homage to Harrison Ford?”
And I say, “Not so much a homage as it is copying exactly, but
thank you.”
How old were you when
you left Edmonton?
22 years of age. 1994. I was working right down the street,
on 66th between Columbus and Central Park West on One
Life to Live, where I sat for three years.
How much do you relate
to your Han Solo-type characters?
Somebody said once that you can never act and be
another person; you’re only acting facets of yourself. I think
there’s a lot of truth in that. I look at a role, and I think it
basically boils it down to, “What would I do, had I experienced
those things, now faced with this? How would I react? I know what I
would say, but how would it make me feel?” I lean very heavily on
that. So I relate to those characters—and any character I
play—in as much as how I would personally deal having had those
experiences.
So, is White
Noise 2 the next one we’re going to see?
God, I sure hope so. I don’t even know what’s going to
happen with that. We finished it up so long ago… (Note: You can
read the Arrow’s review of that film HERE).
Give us a sense of whom
you play, why you signed on…
I’ve been very fortunate—the last four or five jobs
I’ve had, that I’ve worked with people that I’ve worked with
before. So there’s always that competition—I’ve got to go
audition, or be at a meeting, or whatever it might be—but I’ve
had a lot of jobs lately where it’s someone I know, or someone I
love, who’s talent that I trust, who calls me up and says,
“I’ve got something, I’d love to work with you again. This is
what it is. What do you think?” And I’m only too happy.
So with White Noise 2 it was with Patrick Lussier. I was able
to go and have a great time in Vancouver, a town I love.
Who do you play?
The character I play is a man who suffers the loss of his
wife and son, and feels that he failed them in that he couldn’t do
anything to save them. He attempts suicide, is brought back, and
then, from this near-death experience, comes back with the ability
to tell when someone is going to die. And then it becomes about what
would you do with that ability of knowing that someone is going to
die, and then what are the repercussions.
So DRIVE isn’t your
first series that got canceled…
Actually, all of my series have been canceled.
How many have you done?
2
GUYS, A GIRL AND A PIZZA PLACE, FIREFLY, I was in BUFFY…
That wasn’t your
fault…
I’m not saying it was my fault, I’m just saying I’m in
them, and now they’re gone. I guess the only series that I was in
that’s actually still going is One
Life to Live.
What are your goals in general?
This whole direction that my life has taken—after I left
Edmonton—has been an incredible ride. It’s a rollercoaster for
sure, and I don’t know where it’s going, but I’m enjoying it
the whole time. I’ve been fortunate enough that every job I do
seems to be, at the very least, teaches me something fantastic. I
make new friends. I work with talented people. And each seems to be
better than the last. I seem to be topping all the time. I think to
myself, “It can’t get better, it can’t get better,” and then
something happens that makes me feel like I’m truly richer for the
experience.
Would you want to do
another series after the last Fox thing?
Yes, do you have something in mind? Because I’m unemployed,
so I’m always looking…
You must have generated
lots of interest since doing WAITRESS.
Let’s hope so. I haven’t heard a lot of—I mean, I’ve
heard critical reviews, people saying wonderful things about the
work I did—and I feel really bad, because I had six, maybe seven
working days on that film. We filmed it in 21 days.
You shot your big part
in only six or seven days?
You’d think, you’d think, but I’m spread out all over
the movie, and it really it was less than a week of actual filming.
What was she like on
set? What sort of director was Adrienne?
Here’s what I’ve learned about writer-directors.
There’s less lost in the translation between what the writer’s
trying to say, and what the director’s trying to translate
visually. I think with the writer-director, it’s far more accurate
to the script, to the story, to the spirit.
So, it’s closer to
what you read?
Not so much to what I was thinking, but to the intent of the
writer, the intent of the story. Less is lost in the translation to
the director. On top of that, Adrienne is an actress, so now you
have a director who can communicate in that language of emotion, the
way wine tasters live in that realm of sense and smell and taste,
and they have those words and that language that they use and that I
don’t understand. Adrienne could communicate extremely well to
actors.
How so?
I remember there were times when I said, “I can do it like
that, but I had no idea that that’s how you wanted it done,” But
it wasn’t my instinct or whatnot. And I didn’t learn until I
actually got to Sundance and saw the film and thought, “Oh,
that’s what she meant. It makes perfect sense, and it’s
amazing.”
Did she like to do a
lot of takes?
She was one of those directors—someone said this to me
once, and she didn’t put it in these words—I found that once you
have it, she didn’t chase it. And two, we were fast. We had to
film it so fast. It was a real team effort just to get this thing
out. It was very collaborative—the crew, everybody was making it
work.
What are your interests
outside of acting?
My friends, my family, I like to go see movies. I like to do
a lot of hiking. I live a very relaxed life. I think that acting can
be a very pressurized existence. So in my off-time I spend very
loose and un-pressurized, and I [like] to meet people that are the
same.
Do you have pets?
I have a cat. I’m not a cat-person, but she came with the
house that I’m renting. I was told she was 18 when I moved in, so
I thought, “How long can she possibly last?” And that was 6
years ago. And I don’t know how many dollars worth of bump
removals, teeth removals, cleanings..
Do you still live in
Canada?
No, I live in Los Angeles, for the last 10 years.
Is there any pulse at
all on a Firefly or Serenity
in the future?
Flatlined. I’m not going to say anything about
resuscitation, because the show was canceled and we got that movie.
It’s hard for me to ever ask for more, after having a kind of
enterprise like that.