If Whedon had originally intended Mal to be more dark....
POSTED BY: lightinthebrainpan
UPDATED: Monday, August 9, 2004 10:55
VIEWED: 15790
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....why did he decide to cast Nathan Fillion? I'm fairly new to Firefly, have watched the DVD only once through, really love the series, can't wait for the movie; also think Fillion may have chops as a dramatic actor. BUT I do think he was perhaps a long-shot choice for the part of the Captain. Probably were other actors out there who could be "darker." Has Whedon has ever explained why he chose Fillion, who primarily was a comic actor or certainly who tended in that direction? Given that Fox eventually seemed to pressure Whedon to make Mal "funnier" (I'm thinking especially of some of the lines in "Trash," such as when he said "...crazy time," which I thought was perfectly delivered but seemed a bit jarring to me coming from this Captain), Fillion was a good choice.... any thoughts? Or have you guys already talked about this ad infinitum, in which case, never mind?
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Fillion was real good, yeah sure there are others out there who may look slicker or meaner or play a better star trek captain role or look more handsome and speak louder lines
The reason Nathan was chosen is that he fits the role near perfect, he has this way about him when he acts as Mal which describes his history, the story and emotion. Mal is mean and hard, he's been in a war that lost but he feels he can now do right by other good people, such as Kaylee, Shepherd and River. Nathan brings real life to the role and there's an intensity in his eyes, his words and his way of showing Mal to be a man saying 'you can't take the skies from me'
Nathan a real fine choice and a fantastic actor
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I'll admit that when I first watched Firefly, Mal was the hardest character for me to appreciate. At first, I loved the show "except for the captain", I felt he was okay but kind of "cheesey."
I wanted him to be much darker, more grim.
^Mind you, I didn't have a problem at all with his acting abilities, but rather, I just felt that he was miscast.
But as the series progressed, I learned to appreciate his character and the actor portraying him. One turning point for me in my appreciation of the series was when I thought about my desire for a "darker" captain, and realized that I was wishing for a cliche, for the OBVIOUS way to fill the role.
I've since changed my mind and feelings about the role of Mal, I think it's very original to have a Captain who is dark and haunted, but at the same time, isn't closed off or brooding. Who is tortored, yet maintains a sense of humor Who has a pessimistic view of the universe, but still has a positive relationship with his crew, his "family." It makes for a very unique combination of characteristics. I've never seen a character quite like him...
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Quote:
Originally posted by Sardonica:
I'll admit that when I first watched Firefly, Mal was the hardest character for me to appreciate. At first, I loved the show "except for the captain", I felt he was okay but kind of "cheesey."
I wanted him to be much darker, more grim.
^Mind you, I didn't have a problem at all with his acting abilities, but rather, I just felt that he was miscast.
I felt the same way. He initially reminded me of Andy from WKRP crazy as that sounds. I think it was the haircut. He seemed a tiny bit too affable at first but then I started to see the character and now I know that the show really owes a lot to both the character and the actor. It really is a show about Mal's journey.
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Quote:
Originally posted by lightinthebrainpan:
....why did he decide to cast Nathan Fillion?
I don't think folks give Nathan enough credit for delivering Joss's Firefly Frontiersman dialect naturally (as if he'd been speaking it all his life).
Quote:
Fillion, who primarily was a comic actor or certainly who tended in that direction?
Spielberg was sufficiently impressed with his dramatic abilities to cast him in Saving Private Ryan, as Private James Ryan.
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I absolutely thought Nathan Fillion was the perfect choice to play Mal. In the deleted scene from Serenity Zoe said something like
'hope, trust, compassion - those are things he left back there. If Kaylee pulls through I think he'll do right by you'
That's the sort of Mal that I wish we'd seen but obviously didn't turn out to be true. A Mal who whilst appearing incredibly dark still seems to do the right thing by people on his boat. If Joss had been allowed to do that though I think Nathan Fillion totally could have done it - he just had to play it at the degree of lightness Fox wanted. When we see glimpses of the darker Mal Nathan is fantastic. For example in Serenity when he really, really stresses at Zoe:
'our luck! Have you noticed anything about our luck lately'
- that was not the expression of a light man when he did that. Also at the end of Ariel.
Joss Whedon said that he chose Nathan Fillion because he could go from comic to dramatic faster than anyone he'd worked with (apart from maybe James Marsters).
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Quote:
Originally posted by heb:
I absolutely thought Nathan Fillion was the perfect choice to play Mal.
Exactly my thoughts. Dark, funny or whatever, he does it perfectly.
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lightinthebrainpan wrote:
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 18:43
Quote:
Given that Fox eventually seemed to pressure Whedon to make Mal "funnier" (I'm thinking especially of some of the lines in "Trash," such as when he said "...crazy time," which I thought was perfectly delivered but seemed a bit jarring to me coming from this Captain)
It's the last part of this comment which I find myself scratching my head at. Why does the ' your crazy time ' line to YoSafBridge seem jarring to you? I just watched that episode again last night, and I was impressed w/ Nathan's performance.
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I think Nathan's absolutely perfect for Mal, I think the old cliche of the 'dark, brooding Captain' is really tired : Nathan takes it to another level
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Quote:
Originally posted by switchy:
I think it was the haircut.
God bless you; I had thought I was alone. For me, Malcolm Reynolds' hairstyle screams tv star; I wait for the product placement. Maybe it's just cultural. Maybe I'm old and jealous, but then Ron's hair is great.
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