Nathan Fillion

Nathan Fillion was born on 27 March 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is the son of Cookie (Early) and Bob Fillion, both retired English teachers, and has an older brother, Jeff. His father is of French-Canadian descent, and his mother is of English, German, Finnish, and Norwegian ancestry. In Canada, he attended Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Concordia University College of Alberta and University of Alberta. Before moving to New York City in 1994, he participated in improv theatre, including Theatresports with Rapid Fire Theatre and improvised soap opera Die-Nasty. He also appeared in a TV MovieOrdeal in the Arctic (1993)starringRichard Chamberlainand inStrange and Rich (1994).

Fillion's first regular role was on a daytime soap opera,One Life to Live (1968),as Joey Buchanan, for which role he was nominated in 1996 for a Daytime Emmy Award. He left the series after three years in 1997. During the late 1990's, he appeared in small roles in the filmsSaving Private Ryan (1998)andBlast from the Past (1999).Fillion also guest starred onDas Bootie (1997),Mama's Got a Brand New Bag (1998)andStarcrossed (1999).His biggest break by then happened in 1998, when he was cast as Johnny Donnelly on the 2nd season ofTwo Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998)oppositeTraylor Howard,Ryan Reynolds,Richard RuccoloandSuzanne Cryer.He starred on the show for 60 episodes.

After "Two Guys" ended in 2001, Fillion gained critical acclaim and a large cult of fans when he starred as Captain Malcolm Reynolds on theJoss Whedon'sFirefly (2002).Unfortunately the show was prematurely canceled in late 2002. He also guest starred on several episodes of two short lived TV shows,Pasadena (2001),as Rev. Glenn Collins andMiss Match (2003),as Adam Logan. In 2003, Whedon gave Fillion another chance to display his range when he cast Fillion as the twisted preacher Caleb, a villain, in the final season ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).Before and after "Firefly", Fillion appeared in many movies,Dracula 2000 (2000),Alligator Point (2003),Water's Edge (2003),Outing Riley (2004)andHollywood Division (2004).

Whedon vowed to resurrect "Firefly" in some way, and Fillion played Captain Reynolds again in the feature-filmSerenity (2005).Fillion followed this film with more big screen leading roles, in the horror-comedySlither (2006),inWhite Noise 2: The Light (2007),in the indie hitWaitress (2007)oppositeKeri Russelland inTrucker (2008).He also continued to be a force in television, starring in the short-lived Fox-TV seriesDrive (2007)and appearing on a recurring role as Dr. Adam Mayfair on the 4th season of ABC'sDesperate Housewives (2004),oppositeDana Delany.He also appeared onI Do (2006)and was a voice actor on many video games (e.g.Halo 3 (2007)).

In 2008, he took his first singing part (and cemented his cult appeal) as Captain Hammer in Whedon's musical Internet smashDr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008),withNeil Patrick Harris,Felicia DayandSimon Helberg.In 2009, he was cast as the title character Richard Castle in ABC's hit television series,Castle (2009).The show has aired more than 160 episodes and Nathan Fillion has won four People's Choice Awards for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor, as of 2016. In 2018, Fillion took the starring role inThe Rookie (2018)as John Nolan, a contractor who starts over as a rookie police officer in the LAPD after a life-altering event. Besides starring on "Castle", he has appeared in many movies, inSuper (2010)as The Holy Avenger, in Joss Whedon'sMuch Ado About Nothing (2012)as Dogberry, the incompetent chief of security, inPercy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)as Hermes and inThrilling Adventure Hour Live (2015).

His credits as a voice-actor are numerous: onBright Lights, Dean City (2010)as Brown Widow, inWonder Woman (2009)as Steve Trevor, inGreen Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011),Justice League: Doom (2012),Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)andJustice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, inRobot Chicken: DC Comics Special (2012)as Green Lantern/Mr. Freeze, onAmerican Dad! (2005),in Pixar'sMonsters University (2013)as Johnny, inGuardians of the Galaxy (2014)as Monstrous Inmate and onGravity Falls (2012)as Preston Northwest. He also voices the lead, Shojun in the animated movie,Yamasong: March of the Hollows (2017).He has also continued voicing characters in video games, such as inDestiny (2014)and inHalo 5: Guardians (2015).

He has also guest starred onThe Daly Superheroes (2012)as himself, onCommunity (2009)as Bob Waite, onThe Comic Book Store Regeneration (2015)as himself, onTwins (2015)as Mountie McMinniman, onCon Man (2015)as Jack Moore and onSpace (2015)as Wernher Von Braun. He also narrated the documentary,Highway of Tears (2015).