Nathan Fillion’s achievements as an actor in Hollywood speak for themselves. The Canadian-born star is probably best known for playing the mystery novelist Richard Castle in the ABC crime drama series Castle.
It was a role that brought Fillion a lot of acclaim, including multiple People’s Choice Awards for his performance. Still, he wasn’t without his naysayers, with some fans suggesting that his acting in the show might have been so bad that it was eventually canceled.
That would appear to be especially harsh on a man who featured in every single one of Castle’s 173 episodes, over the course of the eight seasons that it was on air. A more realistic explanation for the eventual end of the show might have been the well documented rift between Fillion and his main co-star, Stana Katic.
Away from Castle, Fillion is also synonymous with other major roles in The Rookie, Firefly, and DC’s Justice League projects, among others. He is also relatively familiar with the sitcom genre.
In February 2015, he made a cameo in The Big Bang Theory on CBS. The following year, he started to play a recurring role as Sarah Hyland’s boyfriend in ABC’s Modern Family..
How Did Nathan Fillion Land His Role In Modern Family?
When Nathan Fillion got the opportunity to feature in Modern Family, it was hot on the heels of the confirmation that Castle had been canceled. A lot of speculation regarding the future of the show had been rife beforehand, with a number of the cast members having already renewed their contracts for the new season.
It was mid-way through the month of May 2016 that ABC officially announced that Castle would not be returning for a ninth season. Around that same time, the producers of Modern Family were on the hunt for an actor to fill the shoes of a new character they wanted to introduce on a seven-episode arc.
The character was a local news weatherman called Rainer Shine. With both Modern Family and Castle being on the same network, the decision makers from the sitcom production were well versed with Fillion’s work.
The month after Castle was canceled, Fillion was called by the casting team on Modern Family and offered the role of Rainer Shine.
Nathan Fillion Felt Nervous About Playing Rainer Shine In Modern Family
Nathan Fillion debuted the character Rainer Shine in Weathering Heights, the fourth episode of Modern Family’s Season 8.
One of the sitcom’s main characters Phil Dunphy is shown as a massive fan of Shine, and he introduces his daughter Haley to him. He ends up regretting the decision, however, as the weatherman begins to pursue a romantic relationship with her.
Phil was famously portrayed by Ty Burell, while Blind Date actress Sarah Hyland played the part of Haley Dunphy.
Despite his years of experience working in top Hollywood productions, Fillion admitted that he was a bag of nerves about stepping into this particular role. Writing on Instagram before his first ever table read for the show, he said: “About to do the #ModernFamily read through. Super excited. Little nervous.”
Fillion was interviewed by the New York Post in October 2016, and he referenced his character’s relationship with Phil, saying: “He is shocked and horrified but the reality is he kind of set us up accidentally. “He hates it but it’s also all his fault.”
Nathan Fillion Enjoyed His Time Working In Modern Family
Over the years, guest stars who appeared on Modern Family only had positive things to say about their experience on the show. The same was true of Nathan Fillion. Despite the early jitters that he had about joining the cast of a show that he had admired from afar, he settled in nicely and went on to really enjoy his time on the set.
In his interview with the New York Post, Fillion felt that the character was in line with other roles that he had taken on previously. “It’s kind of a niche for me to play characters who are vain but don’t know that they’re vain. It’s something I’m practiced at,” he said.
“It’s very easy to laugh at a character who’s that stupid. He’s kind, he’s nice, he’s sort of charming, but he’s just so cheesy and so flawed.”
At the same time, the actor hinted at a desire to perhaps appear in The Walking Dead, a dream he eventually never got to fulfill. “I could always be a zombie. Of all the TV shows I watch, I think that’s the one where they suffer the most for their art,” Fillion observed.
