Nathan Fillion Explained the Difference Between ‘Firefly’ and ‘Star Trek’
Actor Nathan Fillion got his breakthrough role in the cult classic Firefly. The series was similar to one of many shows featuring a space crew traveling to different planets, including Star Trek. But Fillion felt Firefly differed from the likes of Star Trek in a pretty grounded way.
How Nathan Fillion felt about ‘Firefly’ comparisons with ‘Star Trek’
On the surface, Star Trek and Firefly might look similar enough without any context. But beyond their premises of space crews exploring the galaxy, they couldn’t have been anymore different. Star Trek often features an altruistic space crew trying to influence the galaxy for the better. Firefly, however, was about individual characters with often vastly different views coming together and simply trying to get by.
Fillion once demonstrated the different personalities of the show in an interview with IGN. He noted that Firefly wasn’t as worried about the science and mechanics of its universe as Star Trek was. And this proved to be an advantage for the Joss Whedon series.
“The benefit of Firefly was that, the difference to the Star Trek kind of shows is [they] were very heavy with the technology, very, very heavy with the technology… so when these kids are watching Star Trek, they’re thinking, ‘Okay, if the warp core were to overheat, would the plasma injectors actually… ‘ Those things are very important,” Fillion said. “In Firefly, if someone said to you, hey man, your carburetor’s shot, you wouldn’t say, ‘Oh okay, well what I need to do is…’ You don’t go in there and fix your carburetor, you’ve got to talk to a guy who fixes it… That’s reality.”
The Rookie star felt Firefly handled the existence of their futuristic technology in a more realistic, relatable way.
“The technology and the sophistication of the future world, it’s a given,” he said. “In our present day, we don’t make a huge deal about our cell phones. Everyone’s got one, it’s attached to their heads now, it’s a nothing thing… That was the idea behind Firefly, it wasn’t about the technology, it wasn’t about the ships, it was about people, it was about personalities. What was important about Serenity was that she was a home, what was important about her was who she was and not her technology.”
Nathan Fillion once named the ‘Star Trek’ actor he still freaks out over
It seemed that Fillion hasn’t lost touch with the Star Trek fan in him. Even with all of his stardom, for instance, he still gets excited over meeting stars like Captain Kirk actor William Shatner. When the space captains first crossed paths, Fillion couldn’t help feel he already knew Shatner.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have met William Shatner,” Fillion once told The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s a big deal to me. Hearing his voice — I know the man is a stranger to me, but it triggered something inside of me. A familiarity. I feel comfortable when I hear his voice. It’s such a bizarre experience to be actually in his presence.”
Nathan Fillion called the ‘Star Trek’ reboot flawless
Star Trek has made it to the big screen quite a few times during the franchise’s decades-long run. In 2009, the movie was given a more contemporary cinematic reboot simply titled Star Trek, which starred Chris Pine. Being a Trekkie himself, Fillion would see the movie, and sung its praises to anyone who’d listen.
“Let me tell you something. Flawless. I really liked it. I’ll put it like a 9 on a scale of 1-10. There was one little thing, I said, eh, movies always lose me when they get to this little area, but 30 seconds later, it’s over, and I’m back in, and it’s fine, and it’s perfect. I was entertained throughout, I was excited throughout,” Fillion once told MyTakeOnTV.
