11 Quick Questions for Nathan Fillion

Hearing loss is a big issue as people age, but you went through it as a child when you lost hearing in your left ear [after surgery to relieve chronic ear infections]. How do you cope?

You adapt. I lean toward people. I prefer when I drive because everybody’s on the right side — it’s where I sit at the table. I try to make sure I keep people on the right side of me, and if I have someone on the left side and I’m having a conversation, I just tell him, “I’m deaf as a post in this ear, so if you say something, I’m going to have to have you repeat.” I’m not ashamed. [If I didn’t hear something] I just tell them, “I have no idea what you just said.”

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You grew up in Canada but have been a U.S. citizen since 1997. Do you visit Canada often?

I don’t go back home a lot. I never go back in the wintertime. I think I see Vancouver more than I see Edmonton, my hometown. I was there last summer. My niece got married. It was fantastic. The weather was incredible, but the mosquitoes were also huge. They’re massive monsters.

So you’ve become a total Californian?

I have climatized very nicely to warmer regions. I don’t see the need to be cold. I’m very sensible. It doesn’t make sense to me. There are people who are passionate about it and I admire them. I’m jealous of them. They want to go skiing or snowboarding. Nope, I’m good.

In “The Rookie,” Fillion stars as John Nolan, a man in his 40s who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department.

Gilles Mingasson/ABC via Getty Images

Growing up, what TV shows were your favorites?

I used to get off of school at 3:30 and run as fast as my little third-grade legs could carry me to get home by 4, because that’s when Gilligan's Island was on. … I dreamed about living on Gilligan's Island. I wanted sand between my toes. I wanted to sleep in a hammock. I wanted a little car made of bamboo and coconuts. I watched all the really great detective shows. Simon & Simon —  we loved that show. Boy, that was the only time my dad would really let us crank that little tiny speaker on the TV was to listen to the theme song on Simon & Simon. Then, later in life, I got to work with [Simon & Simon actor] Ed McCready. This is what’s so amazing about living in this town and being in this industry. This is the world where those worlds were made, and when you come and you start working in this industry, you start patching those worlds, it’s phenomenal. As a fan of television, it’s incredible to get to be here, participate.

Both of your parents were English teachers. I bet there was a lot of reading in your house growing up.

Growing up as a kid, you know all the time you have a set bedtime, but [my parents let us] stay up a half hour later if we were reading. And they didn’t care what we read, so I read comic books. That was my thing. I loved comic books. People made fun of you back then, but now if you’re the guy that has all the comic book knowledge, you’re the smart guy in the room.  I read a lot of Marvel stuff. I was big into Spider-Man, X-Men, a little bit of  Moon Knight stuff, a lot of Batman.

As a comic book fan, you must have enjoyed your work as the voice of the Green Lantern in a couple of the animated Superman movies.

I have. When the COVID lockdown hit, I said, “Well, fortune will save the prepared,” and I actually built a studio out of a guest room in the back of my house that was only basically [used for] storage. I pulled everything out of there and rebuilt it as a little video set studio so that if I go in the corner I can do recording from home. I wish I did it 15 years ago. So handy to have that — technology, being what it is today — and being able to access YouTube videos to say, “How do I soundproof this room?” Then ordering it and delivering it to your house and doing all the work yourself. It was a pretty amazing experience. I did [it myself] because of COVID. I like to think I’m handy. That’s the old Canadian saying: “If the ladies don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.”

What’s next for you? Any career goals?

I look forward to whatever this next stage in my career is going to be. I am sure it’s going to slow down a little bit. … I look forward to whatever the next phase is, whoever the hot new kid is, this new guy or girl who’s on the scene and they got this incredible new show and it’s going to be amazing and they call me up and say, “Hey, we need you to be the dad. It’s like one or two days a week. We’ll fly you in from wherever you’re going to be.” That’s the part of the career I’m sort of looking forward to — when people don’t need me as much.