Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy (23 page)

BOOK: Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy

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I also need to spend some time away from latex.
—Joss

“It’s not like we’ve forgotten everything. We used up Earth. We colonized a new galaxy. We’ve made it all a bunch of little Earths, but we remember. I mean, we do have written records and all that stuff. And Betamax comes back,” he laughs.

There is a great deal of violence in the show, but Whedon is careful to never be gratuitous with it. “The trick is, you know, always for there to be some meaning or consequence when—every time you draw a gun. That’s why not everybody—a character—can or will,” says Whedon. “The show having become a little more of an action show, there will be a slightly higher body count because of that. But the trick is never to get so cavalier with it that it has no meaning whatsoever.

“How we make decisions is basically about what feels right and natural, and what we need,” says Whedon. “Now, the fact is we could have laser beams. The problem for me is that laser beams instantly feel safe to people. A laser beam can be set to stun. A laser beam makes a cool visual. And I wanted the violence in the show to feel violent. When Kaylee gets shot, I wanted a bullet wound. I wanted it to matter to us the way it matters to us now. And the idea that, yeah, they may have invented cool lasers, but not everybody can afford them, is sort of the premise on which we work.

“And sometimes, you know, we may get it wrong. But basically, the idea is whatever feels sort of natural and endemic is what works. But it has to ring true to us emotionally. And laser beams just were not there. And they take you to a science-fiction place that I feel has been covered too much,” says Whedon.

In casting
Firefly
, Joss continued his tradition of taking risks on relative newcomers such as Brendon (Xander), Boreanaz (Angel), Acker (Fred), and Hallett (Lorne). None of the cast are big-name actors. Some, like Summer Glau, who plays River, have virtually no previous acting experience (Glau’s television debut was in
Angel’s
“Waiting in the Wings” episode, which Joss says was her screen test for
Firefly
). “I only hire incredibly talented people with no experience,” says Whedon, “so I don’t have to do a lot of work. Believe me, I’ve hired a lot of people with a ton of experience who couldn’t walk through a door ... I just love finding these people who’ve done nothing.”

The makeup of the characters and the development of them are a huge priority to Joss and his coproducer Tim Minear. No one is superfluous, and the intention was to reveal their hidden depths over time. “We have nine very specific voices, nine very specific characters,” says Minear. “All of them have different points of view. I find this show much easier to write than
Angel
, because on that show all of the characters have the same agenda. Basically they are all trying to accomplish the same thing. We changed that a little bit by breaking off Wesley and starting to give other characters different points of view, but they still have the same vision.

Believe me, I’ve hired a lot of people with a ton of experience who couldn’t walk through a door . . . I just love finding these people who’ve done nothing.—Joss

“But when I was writing the big exposition scenes for this show, everyone had a point of view and everyone had an agenda. It was much easier to write. Instead of everyone saying, ‘We all have the same goal, how are we going to accomplish it,’ there was some argument about what the goal was and what they should be doing. All of that became a dialogue and it just made it easier.”

Nathan Fillion plays Captain Malcom Reynolds, who took the role despite Joss having gone “Agent Smith on him.”

The lead character is Captain Malcolm (Mal) Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion. Mal is an angry guy who fought on the losing side in the civil war. He does whatever it takes to make a quick buck, but he operates from a moral code, albeit a unique one.

For Fillion, taking on the role of Captain Reynolds was a terrific change from the bumbling oafs he had played in
Saving Private Ryan
and
Dracula 2000
. He wasn’t at all sure he could pull it off, but he was willing to give it a try. “After I finished my sitcom with 20
^thCentury-Fox,
Two Guys and a Girl
, they had given me a deal; [they were] kind enough to keep me around and look for a job for me. They set me up with a meeting with Joss Whedon, the genius who brought us
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
, and I walk into this office, and I’m thinking, ‘Where’s Joss?’ And he’s this guy in the corner with the scraggly beard and this crazy hair, talking like this, ‘Oh it’s going to be a great show,’” laughs Fillion.

“I did. I don’t know why,” laughs Joss about the strange voice he was doing during the meeting. “I went all Agent Smith on him.”

I walk into this office, and I’m thinking, ‘Where’s Joss?’ And the scraggly beard and this crazy hair, talking like this it’s going to be a great show.’
—Nathan Fillion

“But we talked about this wonderful show,” says Fillion. “I’d only read a treatment for the script, like a play-by-play; basically, what’s going to happen. And I was in love with it. I said, I love this character. I love how dark he is. I love how he makes such hard decisions. I love what a tough-ass he is. I’m so NOT this guy,” he laughs. ”But he had me come in and audition anyway, and he gave me the part.”

Captain Reynolds must make tough decisions on a consistent basis, without the luxury of having time to mull things over. He’s the leader of the hodge-podge crew, and if he has to shoot someone to protect his people, he’ll do it without hesitation.

“That’s another thing that interests me about Mal,” says Whedon. “He’s is very much ‘I’m pure pragmatist,’ but at the same time he will lay down his life for his crew, for these people. They are his family. He takes care of them. He, you know, he has that hardness, but with that hardness he doesn’t really admit to himself how he feels about them most of the time.”

Zoe (Gina Torres) served with Mal in the war and is also a mercenary, thief, and smuggler when necessary. She sticks with her friend through thick and thin and there’s a lot of friendly chemistry between the two characters. Romance is not a possibility, since she’s married to Wash (Alan Tudyk), who is the calm one in the bunch. And it’s a good thing, because he’s the pilot of the ship.

I went all Agent Smith on him.
—Joss

Gina Torres plays Zoe, Mal’s second in command. Torres has also guest starred on
Alias,
and plays a role in the
Matrix
sequels.

“I was thrilled that this was a woman who was clearly layered,” says Torres. “And it wasn’t just—she wasn’t just a badass. You know she has a relationship. She has a mission. She’s righteous. She’s great. And there’s a lot of—there’s a place to go with that. There are a lot of places to go with that.”

Sean Maher plays Simon Tam, the Central Worlds doctor who sacrificed everything to save his sister.

Simon Tam (Sean Maher) is a wealthy doctor from the center of civilization. “Simon and his sister, River, are on the run from the Alliance because she was being experimented on and he discovered it,” Minear says. “He rescued her from her torture and now they are on the run on this ship. I think Simon is a guy who came from a privileged background and who probably supported the unification of the planets. He was on the side of the government during this war, and now finds himself on this ship with these rebels. He couldn’t have imagined himself here before, but he’s got nowhere else to go.”

Summer Glau plays psychic River Tam, Simon’s sister. River is a genius of sorts, but she also suffers from government experiments gone array. She usually says the wrong thing at the wrong time and has a way of creating chaos at inopportune times.

Adam Baldwin (not one of the brothers) portrays Jayne. “Jayne is sort of mercenary who signs on to make a living and this is just what he does,” says Minear. “This guy is a straight-on mercenary and it’s sometimes hard to figure just how far he will go to make some money. He’s big and mean and loves to fight. If someone needs to be killed, Jayne is the go-to guy. Yet he does have a soft spot for Kaylee.”

Jewel Staite plays Kaylee, the ship’s mechanic. “She’s a cheery, upbeat engine-room professional, she’s the Scotty of the show,” laughs Minear. “She’s a happy girl who loves life and can fix just about anything. While her cheerful personality sometimes wears on the crew’s nerves, there isn’t a one of them who wouldn’t lay their life on the line for her.”

Inara (Morena Baccarin) is the “companion” on the ship, or, as Joss delicately put it, “She’s the whore.” She helps smooth relationships with any onboard guests and entertains them. She’s dubbed “The Ambassador” for her easygoing ways, but she isn’t to be taken lightly.

“Inara is very classy, you know she isn’t what you think of when you think of a whore,” says Baccarin. “Joss has written this wonderful, beautiful character, who brings the class and nurturing in the spaceship, which is really great. I get to do all of these super things, like know how to play instruments in bands and wear pretty dresses and be classical. It’s wonderful.”

Ron Glass plays Book the Shepherd. He’s a traveling man who is out to see the universe and spread the good word. He’s a nice guy, but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty if necessary.

“He’s clearly a man of letters, and a man of the Word, so to say, and he has a big heart,” says Glass of the Shepherd. “He’s really interested in people’s humanity and people’s advancement and their consciences and that kind of thing. At the same time I think he lived a lot of life before he became that person, and he has a lot to offer these other characters Joss has created.

Alan Tudyk plays Wash, Serenity’s pilot, and Zoe’s husband.