Nathan Fillion was Captain Tightpants on Firefly and Serenity. He’s the debonair crime novelist Richard Castle on Castle. He was Captain Hammer on Dr. Horrible. And now the Canadian actor is Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing.

Fillion was persuaded by Firefly director Joss Whedon to take on the role of the bumbling watchman in Whedon’s modern-dress film version of Shakespeare’s play and ended up being the funniest thing in a pretty funny movie.

But don’t look for Fillion, 42, to become a regular Shakespeare actor.

“It’s pretty daunting and it’s a heavy load. I was unprepared for how challenging it would be. But now that I’ve done it, I kind of want to scratch it off my bucket list and end on a high note,” he says on the phone from L.A.

Much Ado, which has Whedon alums Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof from Angel playing Beatrice and Benedick, is a sort of culmination of the Avengers director’s get-togethers with his various cast members.
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Tom Lenk and Nathan Fillion in Joss Whedon’s Shakespeare adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing. zoom
Nathan Fillion, left, with fellow cast members Clark Gregg, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and director Joss Whedon at the Hollywood premiere of Much Ado About Nothing. zoom

“We used to do Shakespeare brunches at Joss’s house. He’d send out emails to see who could attend and he would cast a Shakespeare play, and we’d sit around in the backyard garden and read and enjoy a tasty brunch, and he kept saying, ‘One day I’ll film one of these things,’” says Fillion.

Much Ado did indeed end up being filmed at Whedon’s house, though with quite a bit more fanfare than scrambled eggs. The movie also stars Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Sean Maher (Firefly), and Reed Diamond and Fran Kranz from Dollhouse.

Tom Lenk, whom Buffy The Vampire Slayer fans will know as Andrew, plays Dogberry’s underling in the film and the two are a bumbling detective sitcom waiting to happen. “I have found that if you want to be funny, all you have to do is stand next to Tom Lenk,” says Fillion.

A decade after Firefly was cruelly cancelled and eight years after Serenity came out, Edmonton-born Fillion is still revered by the fans known as Browncoats for his role as the roguish captain with the snug pants. He was just announced as a co-star guest (with his Firefly co-star Morena Baccarin) at FanExpo, which takes place in Toronto Aug. 22 to 25.

Fillion, who also stars in the upcoming Monsters University as the “jock jerk” and in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters as Hermes, enjoys the convention experience immensely and promises that only work commitments or medical ailments would keep him away.

“People get excited. Build up the anticipation for an entire year, they save their money, they know what they’re going to buy when they get there, they know who they’re going to meet. By the time I get there, everybody is so excited, it’s so palpable, and the camaraderie and brotherhood is just something that brings people together. [Read the full interview]