Nathan Fillionis no stranger to the small screen, with the charismatic actor having had plenty of TV success over the years with roles in popular shows likeFirefly, Castle, andThe Rookie. While establishing himself as a certified leading man, Fillion made a thrilling appearance in frequent collaborator Joss Whedon’s supernatural seriesBuffy the Vampire Slayer, appearing in the acclaimed hit as the villainous Caleb during its seventh and final season.
At the time of the five-episode arc in 2003, Fillion had wrapped upportraying Captain Malcolm Reynoldsin Whedon’s sci-fi cult classicFirefly,which was shockingly canceled after just one season. Despite the career setback,Fillion delivered a memorable performance inBuffyas the women-hating Caleb. He bounced back in the TV world just a few short years later when he starred as Richard Castle inCastleand John Nolan inThe Rookie.Let’s take a closer look at his stint onBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Fillion Embraces His Dark Side in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
With a Hollywood career spanning more than 30 years, Nathan Fillion has found major success in both film and television, kicking off his career in the soap operaOne Life to Livein 1994 before appearing in the sitcomTwo Guys and a Girlandmovies likeSaving Private RyanandBlast from the Past.In 2002, Fillion teamed up with writer, director, and producer Joss Whedon for the short-lived space Western seriesFirefly,which was criminally canceled after just one season but developed a passionate following.
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Fillion and Whedon would reunite just one year later when the actor was cast as the sadistic sociopath Calebin the last season of thesupernatural dramaBuffy the Vampire Slayer, causing major chaos and carnage for Buffy and the Scoobies. A barbaric serial killer and defrocked priest, Caleb is the right-hand man of The First Evil and makes his spine-tingling debut in the final five episodes of the show, helping set the stage for its grand finale.
Caleb Becomes a Major Threat to the Scoobies
Whedon went on to describe Fillion’s antagonistic Caleb as “the creepiest priest” before adding that the character “is the most bald-faced misogynist we’ve had since, well, since last year, with Warren.“The sexist Caleb was brought in to serve as a physical threat and henchman to The First Evil (a non-corporeal entity), and by the time he was introduced in the episode “Dirty Girls,” he was serving as a lieutenant to the First. Whedon raved about casting Fillion as a villain,telling Salon.comin 2007:
“He’s pretty creepy, isn’t he? I love Nathan [Fillion]. He’s an extraordinary actor who would not have been available had a certain door not shut, however temporarily. I want to come down against the patriarchy and there was simply no more potent image. At the same time, I’m not coming down against priests. This guy clearly is not one. He’s very bad at it.”
During his brief yet impactful five-episode arc, Caleb murders two potential slayers. He blinds Xander in one eye, and since the character’s body served as a vessel for the First, he possessed supernatural power and strength. The demented ex-priest meets a brutal and fitting demise and is given his just deserts at the hands of Buffy in the series finale “Chosen,“who finally ends Caleb’s reign of terror by using a scythe to cut him in half.
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Fillion was able to shine and showcase his range as an actor by playing the violent and misogynistic Caleb, as it was the first time he tackled a villainous role after largely playing protagonists and heroes. In an interview withComicBookin 2023 while promotingGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,Fillion expressed his interest in playing someone as evil as Caleb once again and praised Whedon for helping him understand how to properly embody a villain. The actor said:
“Joss Whedon taught me a lot about playing villains. The first thing being, the villain doesn’t think he’s the villain. That was very informative to me. He’s not in the corner of wrenching his hands going, ‘I’m the bad guy and I’m going to do something nasty.’ He’s justified and he is righteous… I’m really scared of righteous people because once they’re righteous, they can’t be wrong anymore.”
In the more than two decades since Fillion embraced his dark side, the actor has remained a constant staple on the small screen, portraying author Richard Castle in thecrime mysteryCastlefor eight seasons from 2009 to 2016. Since 2018, the actor has starred in the police proceduralThe Rookie,playing the recently divorced 45-year-old John Nolan, who relocates to Los Angeles to pursue a new career as a police officer; the popular show is currently in its seventh season and has been renewed for an eighth.
How To Watch ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Fans of Fillion andBuffy the Vampire Slayercan relive his villainous arc and binge-watch the show onHuluandTubi, and it is also available to rent/buy onPrime Video,Apple TV, andFandango. Now is the perfect time to revisit the hit in all its nostalgic glory, as a sequel series is currently in development at Hulu with Sarah Michelle Gellarset to reprise her roleand serve as an executive producer.
