While most people know of the relationship between Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion as being a Firefly - and, by extension, Serenity - thing, there really is so much more than that to their collaboration. Even before Fillion became Captain Malcolm Reynolds, he was working with Whedon on Season 7 episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and the years since their sci-fi show was cancelled they've found time to work together on projects like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Much Ado About Nothing. They have the kind of friendship where if one were to have a biography written about them, the other would write the introduction. And, believe it or not, that's exactly what has happened.
We recently brought you the heartfelt email exchange between Tom Hiddleston and Joss Whedon that was published in the new book about writer/director/showrunner, and now USA Today has published -in full - the foreword to the tome that was written by none other than Nathan Fillion. If you want to read the full thing you'll have to head over to the source (or buy the book), but you can read an excerpt below:
My generation, we were kind of raised on the super-cool, "I can handle anything" with a gun in his hand hero. Any situation you throw at him, he can handle it — with catchphrases. It was very cool.But Joss Whedon's version of a hero doesn't always win. He loses more than he wins, and when he wins, the victories are tiny, but he takes 'em. "That's a victory! I call that a victory!" It's a tiny victory — he takes it, and that's what he walks away with. And that's something I can actually relate to....I described Joss to a friend as we were on our way over to his house for a party. And she's heard me tell stories over the years about this fellow. We went to his house, we had a great time, and on the way home, she said, "You know, I got to say, from your description of the kind of guy this guy is, and from all the stories you've told me — I expected him to be six two, chiseled jaw, long, wavy golden hair and bright blue eyes and gleaming teeth, and just chesty and ..." The guy, she said, "when you describe him, he's so heroic."And yeah, he is. He's heroic like that.
Joss Whedon has easily one of the biggest geek fanbases in the world, and Fillion's words give away that he is most definitely one of them. It definitely helps that every point the actor makes is completely dead-on in his assessment, as Whedon certainly does have an incredible writing voice that speaks to everyone in his audience.
"Joss Whedon: The Biography" is written by Amy Pascale and is in now in stores everywhere. Joss Whedon's next film, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, will arrive in theaters May 1, 2015.
