One of the people on the US Browncoat site is in that drama class he mentions at the bottom, which he returns to ever so often. They've mentioned a few times he has just turned up at lessons and hung out with the kids.

gossi | September 07, 14:34 CET

And yet again someone credits him with appearing on Buffy before Firefly ;)

Grounded | September 07, 14:35 CET

That headline does indeed rock. As usual Nathan comes across as a top bloke.

Why am I not amazed he started out in improv ? Quick wits and the legs of a dancer, the two things most needed in improv work. And the hair, the amazing acting hair. Quick wits, dancer's legs and acting hair, the three things most needed in improv work. And soft hands. OK, quick wits, dancer's legs ...

Saje | September 07, 14:49 CET

Can I please marry that guy?
He makes me think of my time in Canada, which was such a fantastic time (I also got introduced to Joss Whedon there).

Ariane | September 07, 15:00 CET

aww, Nathan has a cat!

annosuperstar | September 07, 15:18 CET

Great interview, but just to be fair to the USA, (because behold me, I am Fairness Girl) there are plenty of people and places in the USA where courtesy is common. I enjoy Canada when I go, but like the USA, it is not homogenous and in the matter of courtesy it all depends on where you are and who you run into. I have had extraordinarily good and bad experiences in both countries. (/Fairness Girl)

newcj | September 07, 16:05 CET

My eye was caught at the link at the bottom: "Wanna respond?" Were people using "wanna" this much before Whedonisms began world domination?

OneTeV | September 07, 16:21 CET

"Wanna" is a Whedonism? Since when? I've always used "wanna." It's much easier than stopping ever so briefly between "want" and "to." I hate proper English most of the time...and I was an English major.

[ edited by pat32082 on 2006-09-07 15:00 ]

pat32082 | September 07, 16:59 CET

I always let people with less stuff go in front of me in the grocery line. I kind of live in a small town so doesn't happen often but it does happen.

I don't know about everyone but I think I was using "wanna" prior to 97. If not "wanna" then definitenly "gotta."

war_machine | September 07, 16:59 CET

He auditioned for Buffy in the beginning, didn´t he?

( Not as Buffy though..)

[ edited by onesnailshort on 2006-09-07 15:12 ]

onesnailshort | September 07, 17:12 CET

He's got the legs for Buffy though (even if it was Angel he went for ;).

Wanna, gotta, gonna, haveta etc. were all in fairly wide use when I was a kid (and that was, err, pre '97 anyway ;) since they're very natural slangy corruptions of normal speech.

Maybe there's a case to be made that written English is freer to be more slangy post Whedon but I think that's probably more to to with the internet. As more people use less formal written communications (email etc.) then written language in most contexts has become a bit less formal all round I reckon.

I also agree with newcj et al that the whole politeness thing is all down to where you go and who you meet, not necessarily which country you're in. Britain, like Canada, is supposedly famed for its well-mannered populace but we have our fair share of ill-mannered plonkers over here too (though I think there's some truth to the old chestnut about city-folk having worse manners than others).

Saje | September 07, 17:39 CET

Joss Whedon was in Canada? When? How did I miss him?
And Nathan is playing to the crowd with the politeness talk. I *do* find a difference between the U.S. and Canada in that respect but part of it is because we talk about that politeness so often that it actually happens more often, I think.
However I do remember waiting to get into a large room to see James Marsters in Toronto. We formed a long line that snaked back and forth, keeping as many people in a small space as possible while still orderly.
One American said to the other "What are we doing?" And her friend's reply was "We are queuing. Canadians do that" She was very proud of her grasp of the local vernacular and customs.

Lioness | September 07, 17:46 CET

I just keep thinking how lucky the kids would be to have him as a teacher! :)

Nebula1400 | September 07, 18:16 CET

Fairness Girl, aka newcj, is correct. There are myriad polite Americans. In the past week three different people in three different stores asked me, with my lesser load of purchases, to jump in front of them in line. And one lady, who had way less merchandise than me, also urged me to go first. Of course, all this was after I extracted the skunk from my car.

Doan wanna, but gotta run, I'm late for a billiards match. If I could only find my darned queue.

jaynelovesvera | September 07, 18:27 CET

I just love Nathan! If I had a teacher with his looks and charm I would never have graduated! I would have been too busy staring at him!

And, want to jump on the politenes bandwagon, I have also let people go ahead of me in line at the grocery store!

Firefly Flanatic | September 07, 18:48 CET

One American said to the other "What are we doing?" And her friend's reply was "We are queuing. Canadians do that" She was very proud of her grasp of the local vernacular and customs.

Hah. Ah, now yer queue formation is an entirely different beastie and not subject to the same provisos as manners. The sun may have set on the empire but there is still one thing the British (and common-wealth countries) do better than anyone else in the world and that is queuing.

I have without a word of a lie stood in a queue to a nightclub for 5 or 10 minutes only to eventually turn to ask the woman next to me why we were standing around waiting (see also, 'queues as an excuse to talk to strangers' from 'Being British 101'). She said 'Well, there was a queue'. It transpired that a large group had arrived, assumed they'd have to queue and stood dutifully outside the door of a fairly empty club for nearly 10 minutes before it occurred to anyone that there were no doormen actually barring entry. Yep, we love to queue

(even queuing challenges like your classic single-entry-multi-exit queue are as nothing to us, indeed we chuckle in a benignly patronising fashion as Johnny Foreigner struggles with the idea that one queue for multiple ATMs - whomever's at the front simply going to the next free machine - makes a lot more sense than the chaotic, monarchy hating, frustration causing, commie pinko free-for-all that arises when each ATM has its own queue)

Saje | September 07, 20:23 CET

I think Nathan's class would be very much like that of Dr Indiana Jones - packed to the brim with adoring teen girls with words written on their eyelids.

The Do That Girl | September 07, 20:34 CET

On top of everything else, I think this is the student newspaper of the University of Alberta, if I'm reading the "wanna respond" address correctly. In other words -- Mr. Fillion took time to give an interview to his college newspaper. I love my captain. ;-)

billz | September 07, 21:34 CET

I recognize that picture - it was taken at Universal during the filming - during one of the days some of the fans were on set as extras IIRC. I think it was taken by Rosie's sister (from OB). He came out and chatted with them and posed for pictures.

That was actually one of his "silly" poses.

Znachki | September 07, 22:19 CET

I was on the OB earlier, I wondered what all the chatter was all about :).

Simon | September 07, 22:22 CET

You wanna know what's wrong with that Fillion fella? Nothing, it seems. *dreamy sigh*

And hey, I'm American and I let someone with less stuff go ahead, I don't go to the "15 items or less" checkout if I have more than 15 items AND I always return the cart instead of leaving it in the parking lot for someone to curse out when they try to pull into a space.

bloodflowers | September 07, 22:22 CET

"This is where I’m from." How nice to hear that from a star who calls the hinterlands home. Usually they can't wait to shake the hinterlands dust from their feet.

(And before I get tomatoes thrown - Yes, Alberta is hinterlands! So I say from the Michigan hinterlands.)

cabri | September 07, 22:32 CET

When you think about it, which I hadn't till now, "hinterlands" is a great sounding word. I'm going to have to start using it. Thanks, cabri.

jaynelovesvera | September 07, 22:36 CET

He's just so dang hot! Makes me wish I was 20 years younger.

madmolly | September 07, 23:37 CET

The guy is my hero. I go to the University of Alberta in Edmonton and I'm in Education just like Nathan. I hope I see him one day.

TheGoodDoctor | September 08, 01:33 CET

It was another (very similar) photo from that set that made me develop my Fillionsexuality. *g*

KernelM | September 08, 02:42 CET

That is one, pretty, pretty man.

Also, does anyone know if his part of Canada he's from is more Rual? I mean, in the US there's a big difference between the North and the South when it comes to kindness. I should know, I'm a southern girl. XD

Elf | September 08, 04:12 CET

Elf, there is no real difference in that way. As Saje mentioned earlier, there are better manners in small towns but I think that is because everyone knows you and if you act badly, people will remark!
And Saje, queuing is all about manners. Isn't standing in one line instead of many the ultimate in politeness? It is thus clear who was first and no one inadvertantly does that most horribly egregious mistake... Jumping the queue.

Lioness | September 08, 04:54 CET

Not to mention cheating the law of always picking the wrong line!

onesnailshort | September 08, 10:15 CET

True Lioness, I guess it is a manners thing and as for jumping the queue, hanging's too good for 'em ;). Only the other month someone jumped a queue I was in, well, there was tutting, awkward shuffling of feet, one person even rolled their eyes ! That's how annoyed we were !

;-)

Saje | September 08, 13:27 CET

He's one of the few people that actually makes me proud of my home country... I'm no patriot, but sometimes it's nice to be Canadian.

Kentonist | September 08, 17:07 CET

I just got the original copy of the paper. I pinned it to my wall.

TheGoodDoctor | September 09, 08:29 CET

It is true. People in the southeastern United States tend to be more polite than in other regions of the country. Rural, small town and small city people will usually be more polite than big city dwellers.
The Canadians I have met did not seem to be an excitable sort of people. I do not know if this impression can be generalized to the entire population, however. There may well be such a thing as a Canadian 'spaz'.

Fillion seems like a swell guy. If he is going for an honorary degree I think he should go for one in Astrophysics or Biochemistry or Renaissance Literature or something like that. :)

wouldestous | September 09, 17:14 CET