Nathan Fillion

### plays Rick Castle

**Nathan Fillion** was born on March 27, 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta to two high school English teachers. Fillion attended Holy Trinity High School, and later attended Concordia University and the University of Alberta, where he considered becoming a teacher like his parents and older brother, Jeff. Fillion was spotted by an agent during his performance in the summer Fringe Theatre Festival. With one semester remaining to complete his degree, Fillion moved to New York City after being offered the role of Joey Buchanan on the soap opera, *One Life to Live*. In 1996, he moved to Los Angeles on the advice of an OLTL co-star. Fillion made his major motion picture debut in Steven Spielberg’s *Saving Private Ryan* (1998). The same year, he was cast as a regular on the ABC sitcom *Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place*.

In 2001, he took on his most famous role to date, as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in Joss Whedon's *Firefly*, and again in the 2005 film *Serenity*. He is also known for his role as the villainous priest, Caleb, on *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*. More recently, Nathan has had supporting roles in *Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters* and Whedon's film version of Shakespeare's *Much Ado About Nothing*. He and *Firefly* co-star Alan Tudyk produced a web series called *Con Man*, with Tudyk directing, which lasted two seasons.

Fillion has made several guest appearances in shows such as *American Housewife, Modern Family, The Santa Clarita Diet*, *A Series of Unfortunate Events*, *The Big Bang Theory,* and *Resident Alien.* He appeared in James Gunn's film *The Suicide Squad* in summer 2021, as a character known as TDK.

As of fall 2018, Fillion has had a leading role and an executive producer credit on the television series *The Rookie*, as Officer John Nolan. The series began its fourth season on September 26, 2021.

Fillion is the co-founder of the non-profit organization Kids Need to Read with author PJ Haarsma. Created in 2007, the organization aims to inspire kids' imaginations by getting more books into underfunded libraries. Fillion also actively promotes several charities that help provide clean water to communities across the globe.

* On Twitter: http://twitter.com/NathanFillion
* On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanfillion/
* Kids Need to Read: http://www.kidsneedtoread.org/

### Just the facts

* He is 6' 1½" (1.87 m) tall.
* Has an older brother named Jeff; they frequently go scuba diving together and post photos to Instagram and Twitter.
* Was going to be a high school teacher if acting didn't pan out.
* Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
* Both parents are retired English teachers.
* Co-founder of Kids Need to Read (with author PJ Haarsma).
* Castle says he got the plot of his first novel watching *One Life To Live*. Nathan's first role was on this daytime drama.

### Other notable roles

* *The Rookie* (2018-current) - Officer John Nolan
* "Uncharted" fan film (2018) - Nathan Drake
* *A Series of Unfortunate Events* (2018) - Jacques Snicket
* *The Santa Clarita Diet* (2017-2018) - Gary West
* *Modern Family* (2016-2018) - Rainer Shine
* *Much Ado About Nothing* (2012) - Dogberry
* *Green Lantern: Emerald Knights* (2011) - Hal Jordan (voice)
* The Venture Bros. (2010) - Brown Widow (voice)
* Halo: Reach (2010 - video game) - Sgt Buck (voice)
* *Super* (2010) - The Holy Avenger
* Halo 3: ODST (2009 - video game) - Buck (voice)
* *Wonder Woman* (2009) - Steve Trevor (voice)
* *Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog* (2008) - Captain Hammer
* *Trucker* (2008) - Runner
* "PG Porn" (2008 / S01E01) - Chris
* *Desperate Housewives* - (2007-2008 / S04E01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10, 11, 16, 17) - Dr. Adam Mayfair
* *Waitress* (2007) - Dr. Jim Pomatter
* Halo 3 (2007 - video game) - Buck (voice)
* *White Noise 2: The Light* (2007) - Abe Dale
* *Drive* (2007 / S101-06) - Alex Tully
* *Lost* (2006 / S03E06 ) - Kevin Callis
* *Slither* (2006) - Bill Pardy
* Justice League (2005-2006 / S04E08, S05E07) - Vigilante (voice)
* *Serenity* (2005) - Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds
* *Outing Riley* (aka *If Dad Only Knew*) (2004) - Luke Riley
* *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* (2003 / S7E18, 19, 20, 21, 22) - Caleb
* *Miss Match* (2003 / S01E11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18) - Adam Logan
* *Water's Edge* (2003) - Robert Graves
* *Firefly* (2002-03) - Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds
* *Pasadena* (2002 / S01E09, 10, 11 ) - Rev. Glenn Collins
* *Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place* (later *Two Guys and a Girl*) (1998-2001) - Johnny Donnelly
* *Blast From the Past* (1999) - Cliff
* *Saving Private Ryan* (1998) - Pvt. James Frederick 'Minnesota' Ryan
* *One Life to Live* (1994 - 1997) Joey Buchanan
* *Ordeal in the Arctic* (1993) - Master Warrant Officer Tom Jardine

### Publicity and interviews

* 08 Nov 11 - LA Times - Nathan Fillion, a pop culture king beyond 'Castle'
* 18 Sept 11 - TVLine - Nathan Fillion: 'I Want Castle To Have a Drunken, Romantic Evening With Beckett, and Then...'
* 16 Sept 11 - AOLTV - Nathan Fillion Talks 'Castle' Season 4, Casting His Dad, New Love Interests & More
* 27 Jul 11 - Collider.com - Comic Con 2011: CASTLE Interviews With Nathan Fillion, Seamus Dever, Jon Huertas, Molly Quinn and Executive Producer Laurie Zaks
* 25 Jul 11 - TVGuide.com - Nathan Fillion Proves He's King of the Castle and Comic-Con
* 2 Mar 11- Backstage.com - King of the Castle
* 22 Feb 11 - TVGuide.com - Castle Exclusive: Inside TV's Hottest Romance
* 6 Dec 10 - Give Me My Remote - CASTLE's Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic and Tamala Jones Talk 'Last Call'
* 7 Oct 10 - tv.com - Five Minutes with Castle's Nathan Fillion
* 4 Oct 10 - The Vulture - Nathan Fillion on *Castle*, *Firefly*, and a *Dr. Horrible* Sequel
* 19 Sept 10 - Collider.com - Nathan Fillion Interview CASTLE
* 15 Sept 10 - USA Today - With Nathan Fillion, there's no mystery to actor's success
* 26 Jul 10 - Comic Con 2010: Castle's Nathan Fillion Talks Tron: Legacy on Red Carpet (youtube video)
* 26 Jul 10 - theFutonCritic.com - SDCC: Nathan Fillion
* 11 Oct 09 - CastleTV.net - iF Magazine Talks To Nathan Fillion
* 5 Oct 09 - Huffington Post - Jenna Busch: Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic Talk Castle
* 28 Sep 09 - WZPL podcast Smiley Interviews Nathan Fillion
* 22 Sept 09 - USA Today Popcandy - A Q&A with Nathan Fillion (pt 2)
* 21 Sept 09 - USA Today Popcandy - A Q&A with Nathan Fillion (pt 1)
* 21 Sept 09 - EW Popwatch - 'Castle' raconteur Nathan Fillion: A man-crush explained
* 10 May 09 - Zap2it.com - 'Castle': Nathan Fillion discusses the finale, season 2 prospects
* 23 Apr 09 - Soap Central asks about playing OLTL's Joey and being king of the 'Castle.'
* 29 Jan 09 - Comicmix