Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have been in the news a lot lately, thanks to the premiere of their crowdfunded web series, Con Man, which hit the schedule this fall. Because Con Man is about a science fiction series that was cancelled too early, it parallels the two men’s experiences on Firefly in a lot of ways, which has led to a lot of stories from the set coming out. In a recent Fatman on Batman episode, Nathan Fillion revealed a memorable moment from his time on set, noting that it happened when the cameras had actually stopped rolling. Here’s what he had to say:
There was an episode where we were transporting a bunch of cows (steaks were in short supply), and at the end of the episode, we’re all sitting around a big table, and we’re enjoying steak. That day, filming that scene, was in the morning right before lunch. They called lunch, and we’re all sitting around a table with steaks in front of us. A couple of us stayed in costume and ate lunch, space lunch. Splunch. It felt good. It was moments like that that made that set, that little area, feel like a home.
If you haven’t seen Firefly in a while, the episode he is referring to is “Safe,” which actually featured the crew trying to sell a bunch of cattle the team had landed at the end of the prior episode. The episode actually ended with the dinner scene he’s talking about and a pretty nice conversation between Simon and Mal, who weren’t really fond of each other but still were part of a team. But I love that this story isn’t just talking about a moment we actually got to see on our TV screens. Instead, we get behind-the-scenes insight into what Fillion and a bunch of his on-set pals did afterwards. I also find it amusing that the food was still good enough after shooting the scene that Fillion and co. willingly stuck with the steak rather than grabbing whatever craft food services brought in. Sounds like pretty cold good eating, to me.
Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk aren’t the only ones who have had Firefly on the brain lately. Recently, Gina Torres also revealed the actually onscreen moment with Captain Mal that also still sticks with her. You can check out that full story, here, but we will say that an iconic Firefly line is most certainly involved.
Obviously, Firefly is long over and cancelled. A lot of series have come and gone in the time since Firefly was on the air, but the show’s fanbase is loyal enough that stories like these still have meaning and stick. If you’d like even more information from the set, you can check out the full episode, hosted by Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin, below.
In addition, if you are interested in the new webseries Con Man, do give the episodes a watch over at Vimeo.
