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Comic-Con 2015: Fillion Fandom in Full Force at NerdHQ

By Lora Grady

Actor Nathan Fillion has played a lot of roles in his career, including starship captain ("Firefly"), mystery writer turned sleuth ("Castle"), and superhero ("Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog").  Each of these projects seems to function as a kind of a gateway drug into "Fillion fandom": viewers will see one of the actor's projects, get hooked, check out his other work, and realize that he is not only a consistently versatile, funny, and (usually) charming presence onscreen - he's also a genuinely nice guy who's open and engaging with audiences, and always ready to help support a good cause.  Looking for proof?  Check him out at NerdHQ.

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Nathan Fillion answered a grab-bag of questions from the audience at NerdHQ

NerdHQ is a popup gathering, gaming, and event space that comes to life each July in San Diego, during Comic-Con.  A charitable undertaking that's affiliated with actor Zachary Levi's organization The Nerd Machine, NerdHQ was created to raise funds for Operation Smile.  NerdHQ brings its signature series, "Conversations for a Cause", to San Diego, giving lucky ticketholders a chance to attend small (200 capacity) gatherings to hear from and talk to actors, directors, and pop culture personalities.  Mr. Fillion can usually be counted on to host several of the "Conversations", running the Q & A as he did at this year's "Doctor Who" NerdHQ event, and he's usually up for one or two ad hoc "Signings for Smiles" and "Smiles for Smiles" mini-fundraisers - during which fans make a donation in return for an autograph or photo op with the star.  All of this is on top of holding his own "Conversations" - two this year, on Saturday and Sunday - during which he answers questions from fans and pretty much effortlessly charms everybody in the room.

The second of Mr. Fillion's NerdHQ panels this year was chock-full of eager folks excited to spend some quality time with their favorite captain/writer/superhero, and they had plenty of questions.  And they ran the gamut:  fans wanted to know about his upcoming work, previous roles that he might like to revisit, and how he's navigated Hollywood machine and come out the other side still smiling.

Early in the conversation a question came up about "Con Man", a new project that Mr. Fillion and his "Firefly" co-star Alan Tudyk are launching.  Funded by a $3 million-plus influx of cash garnered through a Indiegogo, "Con Man" is an online series slated for release on Vimeo.  It's a clever, pointed, and very funny sendup of sci-fi fandom and the convention scene.  Said Mr. Fillion:  "Alan's been talking about it for years.  We'd go to conventions and he'd say, "That thing that happened would be a great idea for ‘Con Man'."  His character (an actor who's typecast after playing the lead on a popular but cancelled - hmm, sound familiar? - sci-fi series) considers himself doomed to the convention circuit.  He doesn't realize how good he has it; he takes for granted what he has, this incredible, close community.  He takes the positive stuff and twists it up and every time he does he really gets kicked in the nuts, and he has to learn a lesson from it - he just doesn't get it."  And he drew an emotional parallel: "We all know how there are people out there who just don't get what we're doing here.  Ok, I always get sappy on the last day of Comic-Con..."

The actor quickly broke the mood by displaying for the crowd the first of what would prove to be many (many!) items that he had brought along to auction off on behalf of Operation Smile.  "Look at what I have here: zombie apocalypse slippers!  I saw them on Amazon." 

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A lucky fan won a charity auction and went home with whatever Mr. Fillion is holding here - plus a bunch of other stuff.
Because that apparently wasn't random enough, he quickly added other items to the package:  "I'm gonna throw this in: a Christmas CD from the guy whose parents wrote "Afternoon Delight."  A stack of "Con Man" tattoos.  And some signed fan art."  The bidding started at $10, and Mr. Fillion continued to up the ante, pitching in a jar of vegemite ("I put a note on it that says "do not eat" - not because it's poison, just because it's bad"), "Con Man" magnets, a set of sides (i.e., script pages) from "Castle", and a t-shirt declaring, "Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman. Or better, Nathan Fillion."  Bolstered by the fun patter and the crowd's desire to support a good cause, the bidding went up to $500 - and for later auctions it went even higher.  Should he ever give up on acting, Mr. Fillion may have a career ahead of him on the auction circuit.

More questions followed on other side projects.  On "Community": "Joel McHale would call me up to do a thing on the show - ‘You need me when?  Today?  In 20 minutes?  Sure, yeah.'  And that's how it goes.  If he calls again, would I go?  Absolutely.  And will it be last minute?  Absolutely."  On "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (a low-fi labor of love created by writer/director Joss Whedon during the 2008 writer's strike, starring Mr. Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris):  "It was a fantastic time, and great to do something without producers getting in the way.  It was fun with everyone pitching in and saying, "Let's do this!"  We ran late one day and lost the (day)light and we hadn't rented lights, so this guy picked up a flashlight and shined it on Neil Patrick Harris and we shot the scene that way, with the flashlight on his face.  To me, that's what "Dr. Horrible" is all about, just making something great with your friends."  On "Much Ado About Nothing" (another indie undertaking by Joss Whedon):  "We shot it in Joss's backyard.  It's like this fairytale garden.  I had a scene with Alexis Denisof, and I was mesmerized, thinking - ‘Wow, he is really good.'  I never got Shakespeare in school, but watching him I realized, ‘Oh, that's what that means.'  And it's even more impressive because while he was saying this beautiful dialogue he was running up and down two flights of stairs at Joss's house, being chased by these two other guys also running up and down the stairs."

An audience member asked about the inevitable ups and downs that accompany an acting career - "How did you stay motivated during the hard times?" - and Mr. Fillion had some advice that could apply in many different life circumstances.  "I always try to remember that I'm living my dream.  Sometimes it's can still be hard; I don't get enough sleep, I get grouchy, everyone does.  But I ask myself, ‘What would I rather be doing?'  When I'm around someone who's complaining I ask them, "What would you rather be doing?  Where else would you rather be right at this moment?"  For me the answer is nothing, and nowhere.  Even my worst day is a great day."  This philosophical outlook continued when someone asked, "What have you learned about yourself through the characters you've played?"  "I've learned that part of this job is putting yourself out there for judgement and having a thick skin.  In the beginning I always wanted to be cool, and to have no faults.  That's a crappy way to go, because if you're always focused on yourself and serving yourself, you're not serving the show, the scene, the story, or the other actors.  It does the opposite of what you want to do: it makes you look bad.  Instead you have to think, ‘How do I make this a great scene?' and give everything you've got, and think about it as a team effort.  It's scary to let go of (thinking) ‘I have to take care of myself', but when you do it's a very safe place to be.  I've learned to be unselfish."

The "Conversation" at NerdHQ went on for more than an hour, and fans loved every minute of it.  In between the questions Mr. Fillion continued to auction off an increasingly bizarre grab-bag of items - "Con Man" tattoos, an autographed "Mal Reynolds" figure, "Star Wars" cooking paraphernalia ("It's a Boba Fett grilling set!"), and his badge from Comic-Con ("That's gonna get you into some trouble...") -  and was consistently hilarious, always candid, and very engaging.  He gave the audience more than they could have asked for.  He guided the conversation to the perfect endnote when the time came for the last question, and the subject was "Firefly".  An audience member asked if Mr. Fillion would continue to do voice work for future "Firefly" videogames, and his response had the crowd applauding and cheering - and it should raise a cheer in the hearts of Browncoats everywhere.  "Anything I can get my hands on to keep "Firefly" alive, I will do.  Every time I come out to cons, there aren't less "Firefly" fans, there's more.  I meet people all the time who say, ‘I just started watching it, and it's great!' We've all been at that spot, having the experience of watching it for the first time.  Why would I ever, ever want that to die?  It's fantastic.  You know, I've said it before, and it's true:  It's not the saddest thing that "Firefly" died, but it would be the saddest thing if it stayed dead."

Judging by the raucous applause that capped the end of Mr. Fillion's engagement, there's no way that is going to happen.  Fans love him as a captain, and they will keep watching "Firefly".  They love him as a writer and sleuth, and they will keep watching "Castle".  You can bet they will watch him as a humorously self-involved actor when "Con Man" debuts.  And whenever they can, his followers will keep coming back to Comic-Con and NerdHQ to spend time with this captain and hero who's as much of a fan as they are... and yes, a genuinely nice guy.

What did you think?

View all articles by Lora Grady
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