Nathan Fillion Once Named the 1 ‘Castle’ Co-Star He Wanted to Have a Romance Storyline With
Actor Nathan Fillion had Stana Katic as a love interest for eight seasons on Castle. But other than Katic, there was another character Fillion wouldn’t have minded Rick Castle mingling with.
Nathan Fillion joked about sleeping with this character on ‘Castle’
One of the many stories that kept Castle fans coming back to the series was Fillion’s relationship with Katic’s. The titular character, Richard Castle, and Katic’s Kate Beckett spent several seasons teasing a potential romance between each other. Katic was also excited to see if her character would ever end up with Fillion’s, which she looked forward to. Unlike some other fans, Katic felt that the show wouldn’t decline at all if its two main leads became an item.
“I think that those two characters make a lot of sense together,” Katic once told the TV Addict. “I understand that lately, many people have this belief that all the romantic tension and comedy will stop when a couple gets together. But I believe that whether they’re together or whether they’re not together, that tension and sexual swordplay should still be available. I might be overly romantic, but I think that if a couple gets together there is still an element of spice in a relationship.”
What romance Castle had at the time mainly focused on Castle and Beckett. But The Rookie star once joked that there was an opportunity for another love interest when Victoria Iron Gates joined the show. Gates was played by Penny Johnson Jerald, who joined Castle in season 4 as the police captain. In a resurfaced TV Line interview, the Superman star joked about a scenario where Castle would somehow end up in bed with Gates.
“I want Castle to have a drunken, very romantic evening with Beckett, and then say, ‘I think I’m going to regret something I’m about to do’ — and then cut to him in bed, with an arm over him. And it’s Gates,” Fillion said. “We then piece together how the evening happened!”
Stana Katic felt ‘ Castle’ became a different show after her onscreen romance with Nathan Fillion
Castle and Beckett shippers finally got their wish in season 4. That chapter in the series would finally see the two leads get together. Although, unlike Katic, it was a prospect that the Firefly actor initially wasn’t too excited about.
“We’ve all seen Moonlighting, but we’ve also seen Cheers. On Cheers, Sam and Diane were going to get married and, right at the last minute, she said no and blew it, and then he didn’t want her anymore and she had to convince him later,” Fillion once told Collider. “I think it’s a dance that people want to see. It’s a chemistry that people want to see. In the same way that people don’t want to see a perfect hero with no flaws who can handle anything, people don’t want to see a perfect relationship. There’s nothing interesting about that. People want to see you fail.”
Katic also felt the pair getting together gave the show some new direction.
“I feel like it’s a new series entirely,” Katic once told Spoiler TV. “The tone is lighter now that the two characters are together. It’s a treat to go to work.”
However, Katic acknowledged if there was one drawback to her romantic relationship, it was that she was seen with less clothing. The growing casualness of her relationship with Castle meant she’d be sporting much more comfortable wardrobe in the show. But this wasn’t a problem for Katic, nor did she think it would compromise her character’s strength.
“It’s a balancing act to make it sensual and keep it modest enough for network television,” Katic said. “The other element is I’m protective of the character. She’s the romantic lead, but I don’t want her objectified, especially since our audience is so heavily weighted with females. I definitely want her to be respected.”
