Canadian-American actor Nathan Fillion is popularly known for portraying the character of Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, and starring as Richard Castle on Castle. The actor is regarded as one of the finest actors in the entertainment industry who in 2018 starred as John Nolan on The Rookie; a police procedural crime drama series.
The Rookie, already in its sixth season, follows the story of John Nolan, who becomes the oldest rookie at the LAPD. The show is based on real-life LAPD officer William Norcross who joined the department in his mid-40s in 2015. The actor has received praise for his performance on the show, but he shares one honest opinion about starring on the show.
Nathan Fillion gets candid about being less inclined to do his stunts on The Rookie
Nathan Fillion’s portrayal of John Nolan on ABC’s The Rookie, created by Alexi Hawley, has been one of the impressive characters the actor has played on-screen. The show follows a man in his 40s, divorced, joins the LAPD and becomes the oldest rookie, setting up a conflict with superiors his age and newbies who dismiss him.
The actor admitted that he trusted the creator of the show at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. He said via Jacksonville,
“I accepted this job before the script was written. That was a first for me, but all the right ingredients were there. It’s everything we need for a successful show.”
Talking about the show, 47-year-old Nathan Fillion shared that working on The Rookie had made him respect and appreciate the work of his stuntmen. In his interview with Stuff, the actor admits that he cannot be like Tom Cruise who pretty much set a standard with performing his stunts no matter how dangerous those might be. Fillion explained,
“I’m not the guy who wants to do the Tom Cruise stuff at all. I used to be the guy who was super excited about doing my own stunts and then you hurt your back and then you hurt your knee…it starts to lose its luster.”
But he has a very specific reason for avoiding performing his stunts as he mentions,
“I have to come to work tomorrow. I have to. I can’t miss it. If I was to sprain my ankle today, a lot of people’s employment is on the line. We are a machine. We can’t stop.”
The actor explains that they cannot hold up production for six weeks and wait for his injury to get better because there are so many people working on the show whose jobs will be on the line if he holds up the production. Fillion concluded that it is why he is less inclined to do his own stunts. Of course age is one of the factors too. Nathan Fillion lastly added that the very talented stuntmen are dying to perform the stunts so he just says that let them do it.
Nathan Fillion talks about the legacy of The Rookie
The Rookie has received a positive response from the audience with Nathan Fillion receiving love and appreciation for his performance on the show. The show recently crossed a milestone as it reached its 100th episode, which gave Fillion a chance to look back on its journey.
The actor, who serves as the executive producer of the show, shared during an interview with THR about the legacy he wishes the show would have. He added,
“One of the worst nightmares for a television actor would be to be forgotten. I would hope the legacy is it turns out to be one of those classic TV shows that people always think about when they think about cop shows, something they think about when they think about reset. I want to become, not iconic but culturally embedded. If legacy means it has to end first, I hope our legacy doesn’t come for a while yet.”
Nathan Fillion did not forget to be thankful for the fact that the show managed to survive the writers and actors strike adding that this is the best job he has ever had among the crew, the people he works for. He mentioned that there is nothing that he could throw at the cast and crew that they cannot handle and it’s a real privilege to work at a place where he smiles when he drives to work.
The Rookie is streaming on Hulu.
