At the time of our chat, the renowned actor is only a short time away from heading Down Under for Supanova Pop Culture Expo, and those outside the community probably expect Fillion to be focusing on his past seven years working on runaway crime drama/comedy Castle — but those people would be wrong. “What I find so amazing about Firefly fans is that they don’t go away. Just more and more of them just keep coming. I talk to people and they say, ‘Oh my god, I just discovered that show two weeks ago. I didn’t know anything about it, someone said ‘you have to see it’ and now I can’t believe there’s no more!’ — and that was 13 years ago! That’s a long time!”
"One of the few fortunate things about being cancelled so early is that Firefly never had a chance to suck."
He’s not wrong — in the ensuing decade-and-a-bit since Joss Whedon’s beloved sci-fi series bit the dust after a single season, the world of television has almost totally transformed as tastes and trends have given rise to online streaming services and heightened viewer engagement through social media. It gives a man time to think on what was, what could have been and whether the series’ short lifespan — punctuated by equally beloved feature, Serenity — was actually a blessing in disguise. “I always wonder about that, but I find the one fortunate thing, I think — or one of the few fortunate things — about being cancelled so early is that Firefly never had a chance to suck. We never had that, ‘Oh, season two was very slow,’ or ‘They didn’t really do anything about this particular storyline in season three’… We got out of the gate, we were having a great time, and then — snuffed out. So it shone quickly, and it shone brightly, and then it was extinguished. But it was always bright. I always wondered, would social media, had it been more prevalent, as it is today, would that have played a larger role in the survival of Firefly? But there are shows… that have all the advantages of today and still shows are being cancelled… so you never know.”
With an eighth season of Castle looming under the guidance of new show-runners (but old hands) Terence Paul Winter and Alexi Hawley, it’s all academic anyway — and, besides, Fillion is thrilled to just have the chance to engage with fans of any ilk. “I love this part, because when we film the show, it’s almost like we’re in prison; there are no windows, there’s no sunlight coming in, we’re on a set, we’re locked in, and we are so removed from the fandom when we actually make the show. So… I’m very excited to get to an entirely new continent and see where people’s heads are at, and see what’s burning in their minds, what drives them, why do they watch, what do they like — I’m very excited.”
