NATHAN FILLION
The Castle and Firefly star, 51, returns as John Nolan for season five of the police drama The Rookie (Sept. 25 on ABC). In the new episodes, Nolan achieves his dream of becoming a training officer, but remains a rookie—as the LAPD’s oldest newbie training officer.
What’s it going to be like for Nolan in his new job? Celina Juarez (Lisseth Chavez) comes in and she is very motivated, very driven . . . and very, very young. It’s apropos that she has Nolan as a T.O., because she makes a lot of the same mistakes that he made in the beginning. It’s a very nice echo of how Nolan started.
Which of Nolan’s qualities do you most admire? Patience. Also, Nolan has a gentler temper than I do; I get cranky.
Both Castle and The Rookie are dramas, but they have humor. They are light dramas, yes. There are moments of intensity with largely happy lives, which I think is how my life is, so I hope that’s close to reality.
Are you attracted to the bizarre? You played a head in and
Santa Clarita Diet an octopus in Resident Alien. I don’t say to myself, “I would like to play an octopus next.” No, Alan [Tudyk, Resident Alien], calls me up and says, “Hey, we should do each other’s shows.” He gave me the octopus [and Tudyk appeared on two episodes of The Rookie]. It’s just a matter of saying yes when an opportunity comes down the pike. My opportunities have been largely heroic, sometimes goofy, other times absolutely bizarre. And the important thing is that you’re having fun.
You and Alan have been friends for a long time. We’ve been friends since Firefly [2002], but we met each other years prior. When we became friends, we found out he used to be my waiter at my favorite restaurant in my neighborhood in New York.
What does he do that drives the writers on crazy? Go to Parade.com/fillion to find out.