Nathan Fillion has been a familiar face and voice on our screens for more than 30 years, having appeared in 100 movie and television roles, and voiced numerous video game characters.
After winning a legion of fans for his roles in Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Firefly and in the titular role in Castle, he returned to television screens in 2018 in The Rookie.
Though he’s captured the hearts of millions worldwide, Fillion has never married but has been engaged three times, and once admitted his former girlfriends would describe him as “unlucky in love“.
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Nathan Fillion was born in Edmonton, in the Canadian province of Alberta, on March 27, 1971.
He reportedly lost the hearing in his left ear when it is six. He has never spoken directly about his hearing loss or how it occurred, but has referenced it at times.
“You don’t look deaf in your left ear,” he once wrote on Twitter, now X.
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During a San Diego Comic-Con International event he said, “I’m good in my right ear,” when a panellist asked how he was able to hear a question from the audience.
After attending Catholic high school and then university, he started working in theatre, television and film productions, then honed his improvisation skills in Theatresports with Rapid Fire Theatre.
He moved to New York in 1994, and soon appeared in several episodes of the soap opera One Life to Live as Joey Buchanan. The role saw him nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series.
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He won the role of Minnesota Ryan in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, and the following year he appeared in the Brendan Fraser movie Blast from the Past.
More movie roles and TV guest appearances followed before he was cast as Johnny Donnelly in the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, appearing in 60 episodes between 1998 and 2001.
He followed this with guest appearances in TV dramas Pasadena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer before starring as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the sci-fi series Firefly.
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Next, he appeared in the 2005 film Serenity, and returned to One Life to Live as a guest star.
He played Dr Adam Mayfair in the hit TV show Desperate Housewives and starred opposite Keri Russell in the 2007 film Waitress.
It wasn’t until he was 39 that Fillion landed his biggest role as the titular character in the TV series Castle, which first aired in 2009.
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He played Richard Castle, a mystery novelist who helped the NYPD solve murders. His co-star was Stana Katic, who played homicide detective Kate Beckett.
But while the two appeared to have amazing onscreen chemistry, resulting in their two characters marrying in the season seven finale, it was a different story behind the scenes, with rumours persisting that the two did not get along.
Hello! reported in 2023 that sources claimed the pair did not speak to each other on set if they were not in a scene together and even had counselling to resolve their differences, which at times left Katic in tears in her dressing room.
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When Katic announced in 2016 she was leaving the show after eight seasons, Fillion took to Twitter to post a tribute to his co-star.
“Castle has been one of the greatest joys of my creative life… Stana has been my partner all this time, and I thank her for creating the character of Beckett, who will live on for all of us as one of the greatest police officers on television,” he wrote.
“I wish her well and have no doubt she will succeed in everything she pursues. She will be missed.”
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It later emerged she had been fired and the network ended up cancelling the series.
Other roles
During his time on Castle, he worked on numerous other projects, including as a sought-after voice actor for video games.
He played Dogberry in the 2012 film Much Ado about Nothing and voiced Johnny in the 2013 animated film Monsters University.
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He starred in seven episodes of Santa Clarita Diet and had a recurring role as self-absorbed weatherman Rainer Shine, who dates the much younger Haley Dunphy in Modern Family.
The Rookie
In 2018, he was cast as John Nolan in the police drama The Rookie, playing a 45-year-old divorcee who joins the Los Angeles Police Department. It is now in its seventh season.
Just last week, Fillion appeared on Good Morning America where he described The Rookie as “probably the best job I’ve ever had”.
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“God, I’m having a lot of fun. I’ll tell you, 31 years in the business, this is probably the best job I’ve ever had,” he said.
Fillion, who voiced the character of Headpool in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine also talked about his role in the soon-to-be released Superman movie.
He plays Guy Gardner, who described as a “super jerk” and “the worst Green Lantern available.”
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Fillion also appeared in the Netflix TV series The Recruit, where he had a recurring role as CIA director Alton West. The show was cancelled this year after two seasons.
Private life
Fillion has never married or had kids but has dated a who’s who of actresses and has been engaged three times.
His first engagement was in 1995 to actress Vanessa Marcil, of General Hospital and Beverly Hills 90210 fame.
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The couple reportedly dated for eight months before Fillion popped the question but within six months it was over.
She reflected on their breakup in a 1997 interview with Soap Opera Digest, in which she said distance played a part, as he was based in New York at the time while she was in California.
“That was really hard for me,” she said. “One of the reasons why I think my relationship didn’t work out with Nathan [is] you really have no time for a social life when you’re doing this. Especially if someone lives that far away.”
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Fillion’s next high-profile relationship was with Entourage actress Perrey Reeves. The two dated from 2005 to 2009, which is thought to be his longest relationship.
Fillion started dating Guardians of the Galaxy star Mikaela Hoover in April 2013 and the couple became engaged just months later. However, they called it quits before they made it down the aisle.
He reportedly started dating Spanish actress Christina Ochoa in 2014 and again quickly popped the question, however, that relationship also fizzled out.
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In 2015, Fillion was linked to George Clooney’s former girlfriend, actress Krista Allen, who most recently played Dr Taylor Hayes in The Bold and the Beautiful.
The two reportedly dated for about a year after they hit it off when she guest-starred on Castle.
In an interview with Women’s Health in September 2010, Fillion was asked what his former loves would say about him.
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“Oh, boy. I’m still in touch with about 90 per cent of my exes,” he said. “They would describe me as being unlucky in love.”
He also said he remained ‘baffled’ by women.
“My brother used to say that when you deal with women, it’s difficult to remove emotions from an argument,” he said.
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“I never really knew what he meant,” he continued. “Then I read an article that said when it comes to emotion and logic, men’s and women’s brains are different – my brother was right!
“Women are very mysterious, but that’s part of their joy.”
Now 53, Fillion reportedly has a net worth of about $30 million, earned mostly from his $150,000 per episode paychecks for his roles in The Rookie and Castle.
He lives in a sprawling LA mansion, which he shares with his cat Bowie.
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