I bought this book and after Jane's intro, turned avidly first to Nathan's essay, drawn by its title (and went next to Natalie Hayne's, which I also loved.)
Nathan is almost larger than life, in so many ways - it really tickled me that he included his mom's permission slip at the end. It's very balancing.
He's got a way with words, that Mr. Fillion. Auditioning sounds very stressful. I for one am very glad he got the part. Even more so on hearing how much he wanted it.
OH my god..... I am so emotional.... verklempt... talk amongst yourselves. I loved the bit about dreaming and fantasizing about flying then getting the wings. Sometimes I begin to wonder why I am so enamoured with Firefly and the cast crew involved, and this essay just reaffirms it.
I choose to believe Nathan would feel the same way had the show gone on for 10 years. Maybe not realistic(or fully realized...ahem), but that's what I want to believe. Cuz Nathan's just one of the awesomest actors I've ever met. I'll never forget the Kerry Fundraiser when my hubby wanted to get a poster autographed and all we had was a crappy pen, and Nathan went digging for a marker. Then he let another actor use his back as a table to sign for us. And then when he poked Nick Brendan's eye out again for me. See? Awesome.
This made me smile so much. It made me happy to be able to keep scrolling and reading. So well-written and saying all the things one hopes a favorite actor playing a favorite character really feels about the part.
See we're such a family- I teared up too, came back here and didn't feel alone anymore. :) That was a truly beautiful essay, makes me respect Nathan all the more. It seems like he understands and appreciates how important Firefly is to people. Sometimes the feeling that it creates and the importance it takes on to people transcends words- I know I've been unable to coherently describe its' absolute magic- but he did a wonderful job. Wow. Just makes my love for the verse grow(hard to believe that's even possible). And I'm all weepy again...
Was planning on getting this book for myself while doing my x-mas shopping next week, but may have to take a special trip to Powell's Bookstore now, just so I can have a little Malcolm/Nathan fix wherever I go.
Plus, they don't know it yet, but half of my family is getting this book for x-mas. The other half, Firefly itself.
Oh, wow. I've always raved about Nathan's performance as Mal, and this just explains so much about how he was able to imbue the character with as much life and depth as he did. Excellent read.
That was just so beautiful! I have loved a few shows but Firefly will always be my favorite. I can watch it over and over again and never get bored, never want to skip an episode, a scene, or a sentence. I love every character and enjoyed every moment they were on screen. I actually ached for this show when they canceled it and mourned for my loss. The movie helped and I'm happy for it but I'll always wonder where Joss would have taken us with these beloved characters who do feel like family to me.
Oh, wow. Tears, man - I have tears. Just beautiful.
I have both of those collections, but have yet to get the time to finish either one. Nathan's recount of his overall experience is just further proof of how special the whole 'verse really was/is.
The love Nathan has, and so eloquently writes about, for Mal was/is palpable for me when I watch an episode of Firefly or the movie Serenity.
I love that essay and will definitely be getting that book. In fact, I'm getting one for me, and one for my sis for Xmas.
So, what was it like to be Mal? I don’t know. ... I guess, imagine wanting, all your life, to be able to fly. Daydreaming about it, fantasizing about it. Imagine that flying was all you ever wanted. Then, for a few months, somebody gave you wings.
Damn. If that doesn't sum it up, then I don't know what. And whoever it was that also went up for the part, I bear him nothing but good will, but I simply cannot imagine anyone else playing the part of Mal. Nathan was, and is, the Captain of Serenity for all time, heart and soul.
So: I come back here to post my tears and the gorramn deck is already awash in them, with a danger they'll leak down through the grating into the works, maybe even crash the ship.
From a DVD extra, Nathan: "I am so not this guy."
Yet he wanted what he recognized in the character when he first read, then got the part and won us over.
I, Mal, indeed.
Thank you, Nathan and Joss.
What I love about Nate is he gets it. Really gets it. That he's a fan, same as me, gawking over and indulging in an experience that we shared. Somehow we two (and the lot of you) strangers are brought together, aligned, and travel some distance together. And we're friends, amnesiatic friends who will kind of forget each other but not the journey we took together, though displaced by time we may have been. He took the trip years before I did but I joined him, the years later, to share the experience.
Why "Firefly"? Why that show? Why come? Asking myself this question is like asking myself why I love mom. I just do. She taught me things. She was there when I hurt. We laugh together. She dared me in all the right ways to improve myself and wonder what was possible. So though I ask myself "Why Firefly?" it's not a question I question much at all.
Now I feel I've gone all squishy on the inside. As an outsider looking in at myself, I question, "Don't you feel kind of, I dunno, embarrassed that you're expressing such at a television show?" And the answer is, honestly, I should. But I don't. I just don't. I won't deny the wonderful experience I had with these characters. We did amazing things together. We. Us. Family. Shared history.
Thank you, Nate, for being a part of my family (and you, too, crew!). Could I possibly be any more fan-y? Maybe I ought to exercise more.
I couldn't finish it. It just brought the ache back too strongly. Sounds lame, or candy-assed, or get-a-grip-on-priorities. I couldn't even finish Firefly Flanatic's post! "I have loved a few shows but Firefly..." did me in. That's as far as I got.
Maybe it's because I'm so tired... but I'm still hooked.
That was beautiful. I have tissues, if anyone needs one.
I'm so glad that this role was so much more than just another pay packet to Nathan and the rest of the cast.
I have been to a convention where the 'guest star' answered in monosyllables and basically said they'd never watched the show and did not understand the interest in it.
And yes, it was a Whedon show.
Thank god Nathan 'gets it' and looks back as fondly, if not MORE fondly, than we do.
I just adore the way this man expresses himself. Can't wait till he writes his memoir...or book of essays...or whatever he cares to put his mind to writing.
That was so very beautifully shiny *sniffle*. It made me ache all over again for the loss.
I'll always miss BtS and AtS but they each had a good run. As much as I loved Serenity, it was just one two hour plus film, and so there will always be an empty place where the rest of Firefly should be.
Damn but Nathan is eloquent! He may be the perfect man.
Nathan is almost larger than life, in so many ways - it really tickled me that he included his mom's permission slip at the end. It's very balancing.
QuoterGal | November 28, 23:18 CET
Kiraboodog | November 28, 23:27 CET
swanjun | November 28, 23:30 CET
Evilpony | November 28, 23:39 CET
TDBrown | November 28, 23:42 CET
Does anyone know who this was?
electricspacegirl | November 28, 23:50 CET
ChosenOne5376 | November 28, 23:51 CET
Sunfire | November 29, 00:03 CET
Just... tears.
Thank you.
Robogeek | November 29, 00:07 CET
kurya | November 29, 00:07 CET
silvius | November 29, 00:13 CET
(not all the essays are as emotive as Nathan's but they're all worth reading)
Saje | November 29, 00:21 CET
I'm all teary and sniffleying and yea. Warm inside.
kbmartinez | November 29, 00:23 CET
Samantha | November 29, 00:27 CET
rivergirl | November 29, 00:28 CET
m'cookies actual | November 29, 00:33 CET
awww Cap'n.
SillyD | November 29, 00:35 CET
Rogue Slayer | November 29, 00:43 CET
Super-duper shiny!
hmbscully | November 29, 00:47 CET
onthedrift | November 29, 00:51 CET
Succatash | November 29, 01:19 CET
Dana5140 | November 29, 01:24 CET
Plus, they don't know it yet, but half of my family is getting this book for x-mas. The other half, Firefly itself.
daedreams | November 29, 01:26 CET
That was super duper.
leafblown | November 29, 01:33 CET
Kirochka | November 29, 01:38 CET
Resolute | November 29, 01:39 CET
orphea | November 29, 01:52 CET
deepgirl187 | November 29, 03:03 CET
I've got something in both my eyes...*sniff*
lone fashionable wolf | November 29, 03:18 CET
Craig Oxbrow | November 29, 03:46 CET
Also, the note from his mother is just hilarious.
rianeiru | November 29, 05:26 CET
OzLady | November 29, 06:00 CET
And Jayne with his mom-made hat.
mockingbird | November 29, 06:00 CET
Also, what a fine essay. Nathan's clearly a man of great intellect, humanity and wit.
[ edited by melanie on 2007-11-29 04:09 ]
pillboxed | November 29, 06:12 CET
library hooligan | November 29, 07:18 CET
Harmalicious | November 29, 07:35 CET
Firefly Flanatic | November 29, 07:40 CET
I have both of those collections, but have yet to get the time to finish either one. Nathan's recount of his overall experience is just further proof of how special the whole 'verse really was/is.
clarkkent179 | November 29, 08:57 CET
I love that essay and will definitely be getting that book. In fact, I'm getting one for me, and one for my sis for Xmas.
AmazonGirl | November 29, 09:52 CET
Spikesgurl | November 29, 10:11 CET
Damn. If that doesn't sum it up, then I don't know what. And whoever it was that also went up for the part, I bear him nothing but good will, but I simply cannot imagine anyone else playing the part of Mal. Nathan was, and is, the Captain of Serenity for all time, heart and soul.
Wiseblood | November 29, 10:58 CET
From a DVD extra, Nathan: "I am so not this guy."
Yet he wanted what he recognized in the character when he first read, then got the part and won us over.
I, Mal, indeed.
Thank you, Nathan and Joss.
FloralBonnet | November 29, 11:07 CET
Why "Firefly"? Why that show? Why come? Asking myself this question is like asking myself why I love mom. I just do. She taught me things. She was there when I hurt. We laugh together. She dared me in all the right ways to improve myself and wonder what was possible. So though I ask myself "Why Firefly?" it's not a question I question much at all.
Now I feel I've gone all squishy on the inside. As an outsider looking in at myself, I question, "Don't you feel kind of, I dunno, embarrassed that you're expressing such at a television show?" And the answer is, honestly, I should. But I don't. I just don't. I won't deny the wonderful experience I had with these characters. We did amazing things together. We. Us. Family. Shared history.
Thank you, Nate, for being a part of my family (and you, too, crew!). Could I possibly be any more fan-y? Maybe I ought to exercise more.
RhaegarTargaryen | November 29, 11:10 CET
Maybe it's because I'm so tired... but I'm still hooked.
RBB | November 29, 11:15 CET
I'm so glad that this role was so much more than just another pay packet to Nathan and the rest of the cast.
I have been to a convention where the 'guest star' answered in monosyllables and basically said they'd never watched the show and did not understand the interest in it.
And yes, it was a Whedon show.
Thank god Nathan 'gets it' and looks back as fondly, if not MORE fondly, than we do.
missb | November 29, 11:24 CET
swanland | November 29, 11:39 CET
I'll always miss BtS and AtS but they each had a good run. As much as I loved Serenity, it was just one two hour plus film, and so there will always be an empty place where the rest of Firefly should be.
Damn but Nathan is eloquent! He may be the perfect man.
Shey | November 29, 16:46 CET
I adore that man.
teradia | November 29, 19:45 CET