Nathan Fillion And Seth Green: 25 Years Of Friendship In 1 Hour On The Dragon Con Stage

Conventions

Sep 29

Dragon Con panel — Image Source: *Dragon Con TV*

Dragon Con attendees were treated to a highly anticipated event featuring Seth Green and Nathan Fillion, with guests literally lined up around the building for almost two hours in advance! The Sunday panel promised to be a conversation for the ages with these two on stage.

Nathan Fillion’s career really took off with Firefly when he played Captain Malcolm Reynolds, though one of his earliest starring roles was in the ‘90s comedy Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. Since the early 2000s, Fillion has acted in several other series, movies, and video games, including Castle, Santa Clarita Diet, and Destiny. Currently, Fillion is John Nolan in The Rookie, which aired its sixth season earlier this year, with Green having an appearance in season 2.

Seth Green got his start with some bit parts in shows and movies before being cast in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Oz and the Austin Powers films as Scott Evil. In recent years, Green has been focusing on long-term projects: over 22 seasons as an actor on Family Guy as well as another 11 seasons as a writer, director, and producer on Robot Chicken.

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The pair's friendship spans over 25 years and began through mutual connections from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Green and Fillion wouldn't have crossed paths on the set of the show itself, as Green's last appearance as Oz was in season 4, while Fillion didn't join the cast until guest starring as Caleb in season 7. They first met at Nicholas Brendon's house (who played Xander on Buffy) well before Fillion's appearance. This introduction through mutual friends highlights the familial relationship of the acting community and leads to unexpected and lasting bonds.

There were Dragon Con moderators for this panel, but they focused on taking questions from the audience and letting Green and Fillion run the show. The actors kicked off the conversation by comparing notes about the parts that they didn’t get, with Green even saying, “Just remember, I’m like 1-for-90.” The discussion then moved to their acting “nemeses,” with Green playfully blaming Fred Savage and Jason Bateman for snagging roles he wanted.

This led to an amusing anecdote from Fillion about getting out a ticket by signing an autograph for the police officer - who thought that he was Jason Bateman. Fillion and Green continued to entertain the audience with their comedic wit and undeniable connection as the session progressed, delving into their professional and personal lives through audience questions about both their individual and shared experiences.

What kind of advice do you give somebody for starting a new career, just branching out?

Green: “I’ve found the best success always comes with very intentional hard work and…a general kindness to other people. No matter what job you’re attempting, you should attempt it in earnest and really put the effort into it that it requires because no job is successful without practice and intentional effort.”

What superpower would Peter Parker get if a radioactive Seth Green bit him?

Green: “He could easily squeeze into small spaces…Peter Parker is so funny. Peter Parker is so fast…The way he gets out of fighting a lot is by confusing his opponents by being hilarious and roasting them while he’s getting his *ss kicked. So, I don’t know, maybe he helped enhance that.”

Fillion started talking about a group of their friends all going to Portugal together, answering the question directed to Green by explaining, “Every day with Seth was like participating in a variety show…That would be Peter Parker’s power, a variety show.”

When you come to Dragon Con, what’s your favorite thing to do?

Green explained: “It’s my first Dragon Con! It feels weird because I’ve been hearing about Dragon Con forever. I went to San Diego [Comic-Con] the first time in ‘94 and I’ve been hearing about Dragon Con forever as the people’s con, the costume con…that it’s a super con…”

He continued with an interesting analogy: “I found what I think is an appropriate comparison, and I hope nobody takes this the wrong way. I feel like Dragon Con is the Taylor Swift concert of cons… [like how] that show was not just an exceptional show but, the vibe, all the people who were there, [they] were there on purpose. They didn’t care if it was your first time seeing Taylor Swift…They were like, ‘I love this, I’m going to make you love this. Also, I’m going to show you some love. Here’s a bracelet. Here’s some seek and find swag.’”

Fillion, who has been coming to Dragon Con for many years, really celebrated the fans as well: “The enthusiasm, the inspiration, just the costumes, the sheer hours that people have put into their costumes. The effort, the love, the heart, the dedication. All to just kind of explode in these four days. It’s palpable, it’s measurable, you can see it. It’s a very enthusiastic con.”

Green: “The genesis of [cons] is just nerds that want to commune without fear of persecution. And it’s really healthy here.”

If you were to come home and find seagulls in your house, how many seagulls would it take until you thought somebody put them there on purpose?

Their expressions while being asked this question from the audience
Image Source: *Dragon Con TV*

Green: “Two. One seagull, you’re like, ‘Oh man, how did this seagull get in my house?’ Two seagulls, you’re like, ‘Somebody’s f*cking with me.’”

Fillion: “For me, it’d be a flock of seagulls and I’d want to hear them play.”

Seth Green was asked, “What was your best experience on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”

He explained: “So we [had] already been working together with all this crew [for] ten to twelve episodes before I had to be naked on set for the first time…it was the first time they were like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna have to wear a sock on your business and just keep it out of frame.’ It was the stuff with Veruca [played by Paige Moss]. And so we’re in Griffith Park, filming it in a public park…The first day, everybody else on set is way more uncomfortable than you. If you’re the naked person on set, you can really run that set. If you don’t care about people seeing you, you can be really funny. So that’s what I did.”

Of course, he needed to demonstrate how he messed with the crew on set, with Fillion as his guinea pig.

Is there another movie or series of movies that you wanted to remake in Robot Chicken format, à la the Star Wars specials?

Fillion: “How about Firefly?”

Green: “Man, we would do a Firefly special in a second.”

Fillion: “What about that?”

Green: “Yeah, that’d be awesome…The hardest part is…It’s still technically Fox, right?”

Fillion: “Yes.”

Green: “So that folds into Disney. It’d be tricky, ‘cause Adult Swim is still Warner Bros. …that’s the trouble we’ve had with getting Marvel.”

Fillion: “Isn’t there some sort of parody rule that allows you to make whatever?”

Green: “Yeah, we could make whatever, but if you wanted to do it with everybody, then we need to get cleared. Like, the reason we were able to do The Walking Dead and get all The Walking Dead actors to do it was ‘cause we knew those producers, between [Robert] Kirkman and Scott Gimple, they were like, ‘Yeah, do whatever you want.’ AMC signed off to let us use everything without any kind of threat of potential prosecution. Then it all gets covered under parody, but…that would be cool. I’d like to do a Firefly.”

Fillion: “It’d be fun.”

Green: “Yeah, that’d be fun.”

Video drone — Image Source: *CultureSlate*

Before long, it was time to wrap up the hour-long panel. Fillion flew a drone up to get a video of the audience, which hit a screen, inadvertently knocking it out of commission temporarily. Fillion then expressed how much their friendship means to him, saying, “I am glad we have been friends for 25+ years or something crazy like this. I love you, man! I love being your buddy.” Green’s simple “Me too!” spoke volumes.

As the session ended, there was such a buzz of excitement in the air for both the actors and the fans. Green and Fillion’s genuine warmth had the audience chatting about the unforgettable experience even after leaving the room.