Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Trade Mark (1)

Known for playing unusual but highly likeable characters



Trivia (20)

Wanted to be a high school drama teacher. In college he majored in art and minored in drama while pursuing an acting career on the side.





When he won Best Actor at the 2006 SyFy Genre Awards for his portrayal of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002), the show had been off the air for around three years.

Parents are Cookie and Bob Fillion, both of whom are retired English teachers.



Has an older brother, Jeff Fillion, who decided to go into teaching. He taught in schools in Edmonton, Alberta, and became a principal at St. Richards Edmonton Catholic School where he made a movie with the kids and got his brother Nathan to do the introduction. It was about the school going into space.



Attended Concordia University College of Alberta and the University of Alberta.





Auditioned for the role of Michael in Dawn of the Dead (2004).



He considers his time on Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002) to be the most fun he had on a TV series.

He is deaf in his left ear. He lost his hearing in that ear in 1977.



Is an avid fan of video games and collects comic books.





Before Stana Katic was ultimately cast, he read with 125 actresses auditioning for the role of Kate Beckett.



Friends with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Since 1997, he is an American citizen.



His ancestry includes French-Canadian, English, German, Norwegian, and Finnish/Swedish. His surname is French.



Both of Nathan's parents and his brother were all teachers.



Personal Quotes (12)

I've always fantasized about being on TV. And I was. Then I fantasized about being in the movies. What could be better than captain of a space ship? I get to ride horses, shoot guns, have adventures ...



My favorite villains are the ones you don't see coming. What I enjoyed about playing Caleb was that he was so very, very clever, so very, very sweet, and so very, very twisted. I liked that he's not a typical villain. He's soft and sweet and righteous, and yet he's perverted and twisted in his head.





(Talking about the cancellation of Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002)): I broke the cardinal rule of don't fall in love with what you're doing, because the rug can get yanked out from underneath you, and when it did, I was heartbroken.

(On Firefly fans attempts to save the show) It's very Jehovah's Witness. I'm not sure if anyone's actually going door to door, but it's not far off.





(When asked about his relationship with Joss Whedon ): I'll tell you this. No one has ever shown the kind of faith in me that Joss Whedon has shown, in both giving me a lead on his sci-fi show Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002) and in letting me play a villain for the very first time. No one's ever let me play a villain before. So, I would say that I think he's done great things for my career and certainly my confidence in general.



(About Serenity: Flucht in neue Welten (2005)): There is nothing like a major motion picture to make you feel a little bit better about having your TV show canceled.

(When asked what he likes about playing a villain): Being able to be evil. You can't do the evil things that you want to do in real life. You certainly can't because it's against the law and society says all that they have to say about being evil. You want to be bad everyday. You want to do the bad evil things that you can't get away with and now I'm able to be bad and super strong. It's a fantasy.



(When asked what makes Caleb unique and threatening): His accent. Never trust a southerner. No, I'm kidding. They're wonderful. You want to believe in his niceness and his charm, but he's an evil kind of crazy man who's righteous. Fear the righteous.







... If I got $300 million from the California Lottery, the first thing I would do is buy the rights to Firefly, make it on my own, and distribute it on the Internet.



... We're the most story-literate society the world has ever seen. What Joss tends to do is twist story conventions into reality. Whereas the story goes like this, real life goes like this, and that's what Joss has mastered.

[on Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002)] - It was my favorite job ever. What wasn't great about it? I got to wear a low-slung holster. I got to ride horses. I got to have a spaceship. I got to act mean and curmudgeonly. [Creator Joss Whedon ] is really good at kicking characters in the nuts so the other characters would have laughs at my expense and that was great too.... If I got $300 million from the California Lottery, the first thing I would do is buy the rights to Firefly, make it on my own, and distribute it on the Internet.... We're the most story-literate society the world has ever seen. What Joss tends to do is twist story conventions into reality. Whereas the story goes like this, real life goes like this, and that's what Joss has mastered.



[on the DVD commentary for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), talking about his skill at portraying "Joey Buchanan" on Liebe, Lüge, Leidenschaft (1968)] The only question you have to ask yourself is 'How good a Joey Buchanan was I?' A man's 'Buchananity' is what separates him from reptiles and lawn furniture.

[describing how he blew his chance at serving on a jury] We're talking to this judge who belonged on TV. He was handsome, had good hair. He was telling us about the importance of jury duty. I was riveted. He was funny, and at one point they call you back into the room and they're gonna decide whether or not they're gonna use you. I walk in. They're all charming, they're all nice, and one of them says, 'Hey, you're an actor!' I decided to have a little fun and I said, 'Yes, I'm a very good actor, which brings me to the point: I don't know which juror I'm playing. I still didn't get my script.' The judge didn't get it. He looks at me and he says, 'There's no script', I said, 'Oh, improv. Good. Let me give you a little back story to my character. I'm the guy, when they sequester the jury in the hotel, I tie the bedsheets together, I come out the window and I pit the plaintiffs against the defence attorney'. I got excused.



Salary (1)