Nathan Fillion Stands By Joss Whedon And Goes One Step Further
Nathan Fillion worked with Joss Whedon on Firefly, Serenity, and more, and now he has doubled down on his support of the disgraced filmmaker.
Nathan Fillion has come to the aid of Joss Whedon, who has all but been labeled as a horrible person in terms of workplace environments. The first to speak up when it came to Whedon’s directorial style was Justice League actor, Ray Fisher. Soon after, more people began to back up Fisher, stating that Whedon had been toxic at one point to them. Those other people were Buffy the Vampire Slayer star, Charisma Carpenter, and fellow Justice League alum, Gal Gadot. However, Fillion has stated the complete opposite. According to him, “I mean, listen by his own admission that guy’s a work in progress and I appreciate that…I would work with Joss again in a second. I would work with him again in a second.”
There has been plenty of negative press about Joss Whedon since he had been tasked with taking over Justice League when Zack Snyder took his exit from the film. Gadot even stated that Whedon had threatened her career. Even odder is that Whedon seemed to not apologize and dig himself deeper. Especially regarding what Gadot said. Whedon stated, “I don’t threaten people. Who does that? English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” That is not exactly the type of response that would warrant Whedon clearing his name. However, Nathan Fillion backed him up still. The actor claimed that Whedon has always been, “funny, self-deprecating, incredibly talented” and “maybe a little haunted.”
Joss Whedon likely is finding solace in that Nathan Fillion is backing him up when it seems that most others have turned their back on the director. Fillion and Whedon had worked on some episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Serenity. However, despite Fillion’s backing up of Whedon, there are plenty of stories that back the claims that he was not a nice person on the sets of most of his work. A costume designer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer had claimed that Whedon got physical with her and dug his fingers and fingernails into her arm. That claim was refuted by Whedon, among most of what has been he has been accused of.
Despite Joss Whedon garnering support from Nathan Fillion, he has yet to return to work on a big show or film. After the workplace environment was made public by Ray Fisher, Whedon was unceremoniously removed from The Nevers. Since then, he has yet to be welcomed back to anything of substance. Fillion backing the man up might help in some small way, but it doesnt sound like anyone is jumping at the chance to work with Whedon again. At least for now. As they say, time heals all wounds. Also, maybe if Whedon just came out and stated that he did these things instead of vehemently denying all the claims, people would be more open to letting him enjoy some recompense.
Nathan Fillion did work with Joss Whedon over 15 years ago, so he might not have seen the side of the man that other actors have more recently. However, Fillion is in support of the famed writer and director, and maybe that could lead to a revival of Firefly at some point. That is wishful thinking, but it could happen. For now, more time has likely got to pass before Whedon is welcome back into the world of filmmaking and television.
