Once We Came of Age | Episode 12

Summary

Once We Were Spacemen

Episode 12: "Once We Came of Age"

Hosts: Nathan Fillion & Alan Tudyk
Release Date: January 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this intimate and delightfully offbeat episode, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk dive into the theme of “coming of age”—but, as always, through their unique blend of sincerity, deadpan humor, and wry self-reflection. They reminisce about improvising as actors, muse on the trials of navigating adulthood (in sometimes hilariously questionable ways), and open up about formative moments in their lives. The episode covers stories of family, first creative experiments, the pain of trying to fit expectations, and lots of laughter—including a darkly comic story about deer hunting and a passionate discussion about, of all things, flashlights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. On Sarcasm, Texting, and ‘Bright Ideas’

[02:03–06:28] “Bright Ideas” Segment

• Nathan pitches the concept of a punctuation mark to signal sarcasm in text messages: “I think we should start using the upside down question mark to indicate sarcasm.” (Nathan Fillion, 03:10)
• Alan riffs on the idea, joking about rap names and the generational divide: “That’s a Gen X thing. Psych.” (Alan Tudyk, 03:42)
• Alan reflects on how sarcasm in interviews often gets lost in print: “You say something sarcastic and then you see it written in print and you go, oh, no, that’s terrible.” (Alan Tudyk, 04:05)
• Both lament clickbait, internet drama, and the detachment between content and headlines.

2. On Patience and Empathy (Driving Lessons for Life)

[05:08–07:15]

• Alan shares his approach to traffic and frustration: “It’s a great opportunity to practice acceptance. I don’t know anything about the person in front of me...” (Alan Tudyk, 05:28)
• Nathan emphasizes perspective: “Is your time so important that five seconds is going to throw you over the edge here? What’s going on?” (Nathan Fillion, 06:17)
• Lighthearted banter about the social contract of “the wave” when letting someone merge.

3. Creative Spontaneity: The ‘I Wrote That’ Game

[07:23–17:55]

• New segment “I Wrote That” celebrates ad-libs and personal contributions to scripted work.
• Alan recalls improvising with Robin Williams in Patch Adams:
  • “So I guess I…sort of wrote it. I just repeated it. But I changed my line to what the last guy said. And it…really worked. And Robin was like, yeah, keep that. Which is a really good affirmation to get.” (Alan Tudyk, 10:46)
• Nathan talks about the structural rigor of Firefly writing, but takes pride in his improvised “Faster. Faster. Faster would be better.” line in Serenity (11:56).
• Discussion on balancing improv with respect for writers—Alan compares himself to pepper on Thanksgiving dinner: “You prepare this Thanksgiving feast, and I’m going to come in here at the end. It’s a little pepper on it.” (Nathan Fillion, 09:13)
• Alan shares a story from a Frank Oz film about being pushed to improvise more—a moment involving a misplaced watch that ended up in the movie thanks to Oz's encouragement.

4. When Improv Goes Wrong

[15:20–16:21]

• Nathan and Alan discuss the danger of self-indulgent improv: “If it serves the character and it serves the story, it’s great. But it really takes a presence of mind to know when to pull back.” (Nathan Fillion, 15:20)
• Alan vents about an unnamed actor whose constant improvising wasted the production’s time: “It added a couple of weeks to the whole production.” (Alan Tudyk, 16:13)

5. Coming of Age Stories: Alan’s (Darkly Comic) Texas Rite of Passage

[19:04–29:32]

• Alan tells a harrowing, honest, and blackly comedic account of shooting his first deer as a teen in Texas—a story ranging from awkwardness and personal horror to confusion over family traditions and the legalities of hunting.
• Vivid detail, self-deprecation, and emotional reflection:
  • “I was trying to watch the sunrise. I’m an artist. I’m like in Texas. This is like a deep…struggle in my life, like the Texas man thing. But I’m not that at all…” (Alan Tudyk, 23:21)
  • “I killed. I got drunk. I stole. It was this whole day.…And I got home at night, and right before bed, I just threw it all up. Did you know that about me, Nathan?” (Alan Tudyk, 27:53)
• Nathan responds with warmth and empathy:
  • “Thank you for sharing, Alan. This was incredible. It was an incredible truth that you just shared with us. I’m gonna say thank you. There’s no judgment here.” (Nathan Fillion, 29:05)
• Alan’s vulnerability, combined with Nathan’s supportive humor, highlights their chemistry and mutual trust.

6. Nathan’s (Much Softer) Confession: A Love of Flashlights

[29:40–34:11]

• Nathan sheepishly admits: “I collect flashlights. Okay, next part.” (Nathan Fillion, 29:40)
• Shares his childhood origins story—finding a flashlight at Lake Wabamun, the thrill of exploring the dark.
• Alan teases Nathan about the power and number of his flashlights: “For those listening. These things are the kind that…terrorists could use these to take down a plane. That’s the kind of flashlight Nathan has.” (Alan Tudyk, 32:12)
• Humorous dissection of flashlight features, with faux sponsor plugs (“Time for some light on the cob.” – 33:16), playful terminology, and deep-dive into light “throw” and “cob lights.”

7. Full Circle: From Venison to Helicopter-Hunted Deer in New Zealand

[34:11–36:23]

• Alan recounts eating venison in NZ and the waiter’s disturbing assurance: “Yeah, we shot it from a helicopter…their meat tastes sad. But this one we shot from a helicopter…The last moment they have is running free. And then we kill him from the helicopter.” (Alan Tudyk, 35:10)
• Alan’s trauma resurfaces, echoed from earlier childhood experience.

8. The Value of On- and Off-Screen Friendship

[37:20–39:11]

• Both hosts reflect on how rare it is for on-screen partners to connect in real life:
  • “More often than not, they are not [friends].” (Nathan Fillion, 38:19)
  • “And this is one of those times…those guys actually, they are actually friends…It’s satisfying in a small way…” (Nathan Fillion, 38:29)
• Alan quips: “We’re fulfilling people’s hopes for mankind is what you’re saying.” (Alan Tudyk, 38:56)

9. Self-Soothing, Humming, and The Internet’s Amateur Diagnosticians

[39:17–41:49]

• Alan confesses to humming to self-soothe: “It’s a self-soothing thing…a monotonous, monotone long and drawn out hum.” (Alan Tudyk, 39:25)
• Discusses being labeled online as ADD or autistic and Nathan’s advice to ignore online comments: “For the love of God, don’t listen.” (Nathan Fillion, 41:36)

10. Mothers' Influence, Memorable Advice, and Deep Family Bonds

[45:24–51:16]

• Alan credits his mother for launching his acting career: “She put me in Plano Community Theater…kept pushing it…” (Alan Tudyk, 45:52)
• Nathan recalls his mother’s supportive notebook of advice—including: “Be kind to everyone you meet on the way up, because they’re the same people you’ll meet on the way back down.” (Nathan Fillion, 49:05)
• Amusing stories exchanged about their mothers’ wit and razor-sharp humor:
  • “Alan, I didn’t call you illiterate. I said you couldn’t read. I didn’t say illiterate because I didn’t think you’d understand.” (Nathan quoting his mother, 51:30)

11. Comic Climax: Wardrobe Malfunctions & Red Carpet Etiquette

[51:52–53:12]

• Nathan relives a “two snaps and a zipper” struggle, his fly down at a premiere, and being graciously tipped off by a photographer. Alan doubles over in laughter at Nathan’s retelling.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “I once didn’t get a job where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion type.” (Nathan Fillion, 01:07)
• "If I let you in, give a little wave, man." (Nathan Fillion, 06:45)
• “My line. That was my line. That was my line.” (Alan Tudyk, 16:21) — on the joy of having improvised lines survive to the finished film.
• "We're fulfilling people's hopes for mankind." (Alan Tudyk, 38:56)
• "I collect flashlights. Okay, next part." (Nathan Fillion, 29:40)
• "Be kind to everyone you meet on the way up, because they're the same people you will meet on the way back down." (Nathan Fillion, quoting his mother, 49:05)
• “Alan, I didn’t call you illiterate. I said you couldn’t read. I didn’t say illiterate because I didn’t think you’d understand.” (Nathan’s mom via Nathan, 51:30)
• “I'm going to have a studio. I'm going to have a proper audition thing.” (Alan Tudyk, 54:15) — looking forward to the next chapter.

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Notable Timestamps

• [02:03] – “Bright Ideas” (Sarcasm punctuation, texting)
• [07:23] – “I Wrote That” (ad-libs, stories from Patch Adams, Firefly)
• [19:04] – Coming of Age: Alan’s deer hunting story
• [29:40] – Nathan’s flashlight obsession revealed
• [34:11] – Alan’s venison-in-New-Zealand/heli-hunting story
• [37:20] – Sincerity: Life & on-screen friendships
• [45:24] – Mother’s influence, advice, and sage wisdom
• [51:52] – Nathan’s red carpet zipper mishap

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Final Thoughts

This episode delivers a beautiful mixture of vulnerability, offbeat humor, industry insight, and warm friendship. Whether they’re discussing trauma by way of venison, trading tender family advice, or nerding out about flashlights, Fillion and Tudyk’s chemistry and candor make for a uniquely compelling listen.

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For new listeners: This is an episode that beautifully encapsulates the show’s signature blend of playful irreverence, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and genuine heart.

Transcript

[Alan Tudyk]

I was in a restaurant that was very fine, delicious food. I got the venison, I ate it. The waiter came by and he's like, how was it? And I said, it was fantastic. It was delicious. That was just. The flavors were incredible. Carissa loved her thing. And he said, yeah, we shot it from a helicopter. Sorry? Yeah, we shot it from a helicopter. You know these deer that they have on the farms, they're sad when they butcher them. The meat tastes sad. But this one we shot from a helicopter. The last moment they have is running free. And then we kill him from the helicopter. I'm glad you liked it. Didn't eat any of that. I did ask him how he killed the dessert when he said, would you like it? We have creme brulee. How did you kill it if it wasn't from a helicopter? I don't want it. Once we were spacemen. Spacemen. Spacemen. I tend to play weird people. Usually aliens and robots and things that don't have romance.

[Nathan Fillion]

I once didn't get a job where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion type. Once we were spacemen.

[Alan Tudyk]

Once we were spacemen.

[Nathan Fillion]

Alan Tudyk.

[Alan Tudyk]

Nathan Fillion. It's good to see you. You know that you and I once were spacemen. It was a time when you and I met. We were in Los Angeles and we got on a spaceship.

[Nathan Fillion]

We flew.

[Alan Tudyk]

There were Reavers alliance, and we flew in space. Until Fox pulled the plug. And now we will forever be as you are once you are. When you were spaceman.

[Nathan Fillion]

And we're back.

[Alan Tudyk]

And we're back.

[Nathan Fillion]

Welcome back, Alan.

[Alan Tudyk]

Thank you. Thank you, Nathan.

[Nathan Fillion]

I have an idea that I want to throw at you, and I'm gonna. We're gonna call this part of the show Bright Ideas.

[Alan Tudyk]

Bright Ideas. I wish I brought my sunglasses.

[Nathan Fillion]

Nice. I like that. I have a bright idea I'd like to share with you.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think we're very much a texting society right now. A lot of things happen in text.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yep.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think often about how humor is lost in text because you don't have the inflection right. So someone can't tell when you're being sarcastic. So I felt there should be some punctuation that indicates sarcasm.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

And there's a punctuation on our keyboards available to us that we don't use. They use it in Spanish. It's the upside down question mark. They put it before a question. So you know the upcoming sentence. I think it's very reasonable practice. You know, the upcoming sentence is going to be a Question.

[Alan Tudyk]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think we should start using the upside down question mark to indicate sarcasm.

[Alan Tudyk]

I think that's. It's at least a good rap name. Like you could have that in your rap name. The upside down question mark. You know, instead of an A B, a lowercase B or something, what would we call this? The question mark? The upside down question mark.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. It has to have a name. The Oopsie Daisy. But an oopsie. Put an oopsie in front of that so everyone knows it's sarcasm.

[Alan Tudyk]

Well, sarcasm is kind of a. I don't. That's. Gosh. This is. This is a Gen X thing.

[Nathan Fillion]

Psych.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's a. It's a way of saying. Not really. It's a way of saying. As if it's the. As if it's the. I mean, oops a daisy's memorable.

[Nathan Fillion]

This is my bright idea. I think it's going to work. And I'm going to start texting you in some sarcastic comments.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay, okay. I'll be the. I'll be the Beta testing. Start doing it. Yeah. That's something that you learn early on. Whenever you are an actor or someone who does interviews, you say something sarcastic and then you see it written in print and you go, oh, no, that's terrible.

[Nathan Fillion]

That's exactly right, Alan. It sounds like you're an a hole. But clearly the tone of the joke, like they should have written there, he said sarcastically, they could really do you a favor if they did that. But now it's clickbait.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yep. The world is clickbait, buddy. That seems like the online world. It's all about clicks. It's all about. People are always trying to monetize the Internet.

[Nathan Fillion]

That gets me down, Alan. I'm not going to lie to you. It's like bad news sells, right? So you'll read an article and say it says something just awful, and then I'll read the article and say, that wasn't an accurate even title. That wasn't even about something bad in the article. The article was kind of straightforward and neither here nor there. But that title. Yeah, it's horrifying. If someone were to just read it and how many people just read that thing and just keep going and go, well, I guess I've learned enough.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's human nature, buddy. I'm afraid it's human nature. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Do you have another bright idea after my upside down question mark idea? Like, is there something that could help you. You think with them? You ever get like upset in traffic and say, oh, you know, you know, it'd be great as if everybody used that left lane for passing I.

[Alan Tudyk]

My bright idea. See, here's the thing with traffic. It's a great opportunity to practice acceptance. I know. This is, this is. This is something I find. This is where I find peace in life, is by going, I don't know anything about the person in front of me. They are in front of me. Sometimes I'll make up stories about them like they're on their way to the doctor's office where someone close to them has bad news, or they. They. It's. It's not looking good. And maybe they're going too slow because they took the wrong pill this morning and they're actually hours from death. I don't know. Maybe that's true.

[Nathan Fillion]

I like this, Alan. No, I like this. I like. I. I think this is a. A fantastic practice because you never know what kind of day that person is having.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

And. And what, what, what. What kind of a difference does it mean to you? Oh, they cut in front of me. I'm going to be, what, five seconds behind what you originally were. Is your time so important that five seconds is going to throw you over the edge here? What's going on?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yep, I will. If I, If I. If I give into it and I honk and yell, I carry. I get really anxious. I get like a jolt of anxiety and adrenaline, and I carry it around with me for so much longer, but if I let it go, it's not two blocks before I've forgotten about them.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, I also, you know, here's the thing. I like to let people in when I'm driving. If I let you in, give a little wave, man.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yep.

[Nathan Fillion]

If you don't wave, I just go. Karma's a. You're gonna. That's gonna come back at you. Also, if I let you in, don't drive like a. Like a right dummy. I. I just let you in, you.

[Alan Tudyk]

Know, let him in. That's. I think that's what I'm doing.

[Nathan Fillion]

I've been hurt before, so.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay, stuff. When I let you into my heart, you better give a wave.

[Nathan Fillion]

My heart's so tiny and tar black. Yeah. All right, Allan, I've got another portion of the show I would like to start.

[Alan Tudyk]

A new. A new. A new. A new. Oh, good.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. This is a new portion of our show. This show was this. This part of the show is called. I wrote that. Oh, yeah. This is actually my. My brother's idea. My brother comes up with a lot of bright ideas.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

Some of them, I go, this One I think is right on the money.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay. I'm thinking, should it be like a. I wrote that. Should it be the sound of a typewriter, tick, tick, tick kind of thing? And then. And then the ding. And then. I wrote that. I wrote that.

[Nathan Fillion]

I like that.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. Okay. Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, what was your second option?

[Alan Tudyk]

I wrote that. More confident. Look what I wrote sort of thing. I wrote that. But I think the other one, because it's more from a thing of, Hey, I wrote that. It's that.

[Nathan Fillion]

That one sounds like you're a little upset that you didn't get the credit.

[Alan Tudyk]

Hey, I wrote that.

[Nathan Fillion]

As I'm sure you are aware. You know, writers are amazing. Writers are incredible. They are amazing. But there are occasions that present themselves where you, you know, where the. The writer couldn't possibly predict that on set this would be happening at this time, and this person would be doing that, and this prop would be here. And then you're very. There's a truth right in front of you. And you access that truth in a very clever way that it's incredibly satisfying.

[Alan Tudyk]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

So is there a movie, a television program out there that I would have seen that you're in, where you can point to a line and say, I wrote that. Not to say you're taking credit for the part of the. Listen, this is. With all respect to writers who are incredible, who do a job that I cannot do. I like to say my job is more like pepper. You prepare this Thanksgiving feast, and I'm going to come in here at the end. It's below pepper on it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Not enough pepper. What's the problem? You don't like my cooking? But okay, fine. I get.

[Nathan Fillion]

If someone's going to taste that and go, is that pepper? Then that's. You're welcome.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes, of course. Yes. There's a lot. I think the first thing I did when I did Patch Adams, there was a line right before me. So we're all in it. So it's Rob Williams and Michael Jeter. Brilliant. Michael Jeter. And Ryan. I'm sorry, Ryan. I'm not forgetting, remembering your last name right off hand. The actor Alan is thinking of is Ryan Hurst. There's a group of us in rehab in a sort of group therapy session, and we're all riffing on. Because Rob Williams character, there's a. There's somebody who's comatose. He's got his arm up, and he says he's got a question, and he's like, I don't think that's funny. You're making fun of A man's infirmity. And he's like, no. I mean, look at this. Hey, how high is Wilt Chamberlain? Ah. Oh, hey. And he's doing his Rob, we think. And we all start pitching in with our ones. And we're having fun in this meeting. And somebody before me says, hey, how does Hitler say hello? And ho, ho. We all laugh. And then I. It's my turn to do one. And I just repeated the thing the guy before me said. How is it that Hitler says hello? Ha, ha, ha, ha. Crazy laugh. So I guess I. I sort of wrote it. I just repeated it. But I changed my line to what the last guy said. And it. It really worked. And Robin was like, yeah, keep that. Which is a really good affirmation to get.

[Nathan Fillion]

My gosh, I can only imagine Robin.

[Alan Tudyk]

Williams going, yeah, that's funny.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh.

[Alan Tudyk]

So I've. I've had. Good. How about. You also are very clever in things. And what are some of your early ones? Do you remember?

[Nathan Fillion]

I don't know about early. There was when we did Firefly, I was in that. The speech was very particular. Oh, God.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

And it was important to get it right. It was nearly prose. So you didn't really. There was not a lot of room for improv. There was not a lot of need.

[Alan Tudyk]

No.

[Nathan Fillion]

For improv.

[Alan Tudyk]

It was almost like verse. The way that he wrote.

[Nathan Fillion]

He wrote.

[Alan Tudyk]

It was like a song. It had a certain rhythm to it.

[Nathan Fillion]

But there was a point in time that I'm very proud of in Serenity, where Joss actually gave me permission. He said, okay, and this is going to happen. This guy. And then you say something Mal would say. And we were, what in the Mule? Getting away from the Reavers. And the Reavers are coming. They're getting closer and closer, and they're just about to hit us. And then you say something Mal would say. And the line I came up with that I'm still very proud of was faster. Faster. Faster would be better. Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

I'd know that line. I like that line very much.

[Nathan Fillion]

Kind of like a controlled panic.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes. Faster. Faster. Faster would be better. Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, Great. That was in Serenity.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, it is in Serenity. Yeah. To this day, I'm very proud of that. Now I know. Here's the thing. Hiring. Alan Tudyk is hiring for that.

[Alan Tudyk]

I don't know. You know what's wild is I would not improv because I came from the theater. And you don't improv in the theater. You don't. Not without express permission. And after it Failing many times over the way that they wrote it. And, you know, maybe a gentle suggestion, but like, when I worked with Frank Oz, he was so good with maybe why I like. One of the reasons I like working with me. There's a thing where I'm. Again, I'm high in this movie. I come up, I locked myself in a bathroom, and I look in the mirror and I'm saying, keep it together, keep it together. Keep it together. That actually was. I stole from Frank Oz's Bowfinger. That's what Eddie Murphy kept saying, Keep it together. K I T. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. K I T. So I was saying, keep it together, keep it together, keep it together. And he never caught on to that. And the line is, it's okay, you're fine. Cause I've just been told I'm on drugs. So now I know I'm on drugs. I say, I'm going to be hind. He said it was going to be eight hours. I just have. And I look at my watch and I say, seven hours left. Or something like that.

[Nathan Fillion]

And then I. I just saw this scene.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. So I scream, and then downstairs they hear me and I'm doing it and I. And I had this thing. I was like, oh, it'd be funny if I do the wrong hand. I don't know where my watch is.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yes.

[Alan Tudyk]

And then I was like, no, that's stupid. I don't want to do that. That's just too. That's too obvious and too cheap. And I do the scene and. And Frank comes up. He's like, hmm, it's. Yeah, go, go again. But really, really show your chops this time. He would always tell me that show your chops, which is such an intimidating thing to hear. That means, like, really show us what you got.

[Nathan Fillion]

So.

[Alan Tudyk]

God, like. So I do it again. He's like, ah, all right. Yeah, that was good. That was good. No, but really, really, really give us, give us. Do it, do it. Walk away. And we did it. And I think we did it one more time. And then he came up, he was like, we could move on. We got it. But I really, really want you just to really show your chops, Alan. And then I did the thing where I look at my thing and I go, where's my watch? Oh, gosh, here it is on my other hand. And he didn't know it was in there, but he kept pushing me. Damn it. And so I was like, I guess all I have left is that thing I was thinking was dumb. I'll Try it. And I love that moment. I think it worked so well in that moment. It doesn't come off as cheesy.

[Nathan Fillion]

It did work well. And I love that he trusted you with that.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, he was. He was. He was big about trust. I trust him, and he trusts me, and that's. That was just sort of the deal.

[Nathan Fillion]

I know that scene. I love that scene.

[Alan Tudyk]

Now after, I think, doing voiceover so much, where sometimes I'll have sessions especially. It depends on Disney. It depends on what I'm recording. It depends on the thing. But a lot of times you'll have a session that's like four hours long, and you've got two hours worth of recording. And the other two hours are improv. There's been a lot of that. It depends on how big your character is. But that's a lot of improv. So I've gotten much more used to it. And definitely in Resident Alien, I was involved in shaping more of what I said.

[Nathan Fillion]

I think there's a danger in improving. If it serves the character and it serves the story, it's great. But it really takes a presence of mind to know when to pull back. Because this actually just serves me.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, yeah. I did a movie once, not gonna say which one, but it lasted two weeks longer than I was. Sort of like calculated. Cause I was frustrated and wanted to go home. And that one actor kept improving and was doing that. They would. If you don't know how to improvise, don't do it. Because they kept doing things that serve their character, not the scene. And they'd start and I'd be there in the scene going, that's not gonna make the movie. We're going nowhere here. This doesn't help. And none of it made it in the movie. And it really. It added a couple of weeks to the whole production.

[Nathan Fillion]

Frustrating.

[Alan Tudyk]

Expensive frustrating. It was. At the time, I was a younger man.

[Nathan Fillion]

Two weeks, man. Oof. Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

But improv's fun. I. I will. Carissa knows this more than anybody. When we watch something that I'm in, I will go, my line. That was my line. That was my line. And I have a great joy in going to Comic Cons when people say, could you write this one line? And I write that line. My line.

[Nathan Fillion]

You know, when I did Castle, I had a lot of free reign, which was a lot of fun. It was nice. My brother would call me and say, I saw the episode. I loved when you said this. And he would always. Because I think my brother and I very much share a sense of humor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So all the things that tickled him were the things that I came up with in the moment.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. When you're in the moment, you don't know if it's gonna work or not. You know, you're there and you're not. There's always the might not be right, and it might not make the movie. Or the, you know, whatever James Gunn put in that Gary line in Superman that we were both in. Totally both in Superman, I had a much smaller role. But it's okay. We aren't. It's not a competition, Nathan. But the Gary line, you know, he says, yeah, four. I'm like, perhaps you'll give me a real name one day. He's like, four's a real name. So is Gary. And I had told David I wanted to do that so he knew what the order of it would be. He didn't know it was gonna be Gary. I just said, just. I just wanna say this thing about my name. And. Cause he laughed after that. And I think that's out on the Internet now. But, you know, it's in James Gunn's hand to either put it in or not. He doesn't have to put that in his movie. There's plenty of takes where I don't say it. I was glad he did.

[Nathan Fillion]

Here's what I think. One of the wonderful things about working with James, when it comes to that, is he'll throw something in with you. He's got that microphone so that he's. Although he's over there in Video Village, he's also present right there on set. So he'll say, oh, yeah. Oh, do that. But add this to the end and make that look longer. Like he sees something that you're doing. And now he's right beside you.

[Alan Tudyk]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

Improving along with you. That was great. That was great. Even longer. Stretch that look out so long. Yeah, he. He participates in a way I find very satisfying.

[Alan Tudyk]

I was there for two weeks. He followed me around, even back to my hotel. It was strange. Remember, I was brushing my teeth and then on the. God, Mike, you're not going to floss.

[Nathan Fillion]

I was like, all right.

[Alan Tudyk]

He's like, get the back ones, Alan. It was a little intrusive, but I appreciated it.

[Nathan Fillion]

Shall we do let's get to know you better?

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, God, yes. I know you and you know me.

[Nathan Fillion]

Let'S get to know you better.

[Alan Tudyk]

Let'S get to know you better Nathan. We should also have some. Some. Some listener questions at some point. We could figure that out.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, that's a Great idea, Alan.

[Alan Tudyk]

To, like, submit listener questions from the mailbag type of thing.

[Nathan Fillion]

I shouldn't act so surprised when you have a good idea.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's a. It's a class. It's a classic. It's an old classic.

[Nathan Fillion]

We're definitely gonna do that. All right, let's get to know you better, Alan. Tell me something that I don't know.

[Alan Tudyk]

About you from a killer. Whoa. How about that? Did you know that about me?

[Nathan Fillion]

We suspected.

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm a killer. Grew up in Texas. Good taste, listener. The following content is a personal story involving the hunting and death of an animal. If this content may be difficult for you, feel free to skip ahead 9 minutes and 43 seconds or choose another episode. I killed a deer once.

[Nathan Fillion]

I didn't know. This is not something I would have guessed about you.

[Alan Tudyk]

It was the day I became a man, Nathan.

[Nathan Fillion]

There was a rite of passage.

[Alan Tudyk]

It was. That's how it was set up. I was in South Texas. We have some land. We got like 200 and something acres down in South Texas. And I was a kid. My grandpa took my brother and I out to the land. My sister was there too, but she was off with my dad. They were going to kill some rabbits. Also killers. I don't know what the whole killing thing is. It's not like we needed the food anyway. Whatever. It's just what you do. That's sport. So where they live, this is a real thing like it? Actually, they do need the food. So they kill for food. And so I was in a deer blind. This deer blind happened to have plywood walls. It seemed very, very unsportsmanlike. But it had plywood walls and it had a swivel chair in it. My brother was down in some oat field way down. We dropped him off. And I was over here. And there's little squares cut out of the plywood box so you can see out. And there was a field in front of me. They're like, deer will come into there to eat. Great. So I was turned with my back to that where the deers were gonna come. And I was watching the sun come up. Cause it was pretty. And I was 16 or 15. 16. And I heard a twig snap. The classic twig snap. I turned around and there was a deer there. And it was a mama deer with two. I. Let's just say it was a mama deer. If you want to fill in what the two was just. That's. You'll have to guess what I was gonna say. Ears. Two ears. It had two ears with it. And I started to turn my chair around and it went. And it looked up at me, right at me, right at me. And I was breathing. And it just went back to eating. It couldn't see me. They see these blinds are there all the time, but they don't recognize it as human because they can't see it. It's just a little box. They don't see the. Behind the square. So I start turning around, it looks back up, goes back to eating. I get all the way back. I put the massive high powered rifle. 30 OP6, man, come on, clock that time on some bitch. I aim, pull the trigger. It's the safety's on. I start hyperventilating. Full on in like a panic, breathing. I had to put my face into my shirt to calm down. The deer stayed. When I turn and look again, its butt is to me. Well, I'm supposed to. The only thing my grandpa told me because I don't know anything about this. We grew up in the city. We were just there for holidays, relaxing, you know, killing things, just relaxing. So it's got his butt to me. He said I was supposed to shoot it in the neck. And then the second I shot it, I'm supposed to take this buck knife that he handed me, run down and slit his throat. So easy as that man. Come on. So I look up, its butt is to me. I can't even see its neck. I aim where the. No, no, no, it didn't. I aim where the neck is going to be when it turns around and I hit the blind with my hand. And it turned its head, it craned its head around to see what it was and I shot. I must have closed my eyes because it fell right where I shot because it had pierced its spine and gone out the front of the neck. This is a terrible story, isn't it? This is a terrible story. This is a terrible story. I'm telling a terrible story. But listen, let me try.

[Nathan Fillion]

This is the truth that I didn't know about you. And listen, I can see the pain in your face as you tell.

[Alan Tudyk]

I was trying to watch the sunrise. I was watching the sunrise. I'm an artist. I'm like in Texas. This is like a deep. This has been a struggle in my life, like the Texas man thing. But I'm not that at all, you know, I'm. Anyway, I didn't like sports. I wasn't good. Anyway, let's just calm down a little bit. I'm gonna hyperventilate again. Okay, I'm good. So I shot and then I pick up the buck knife, and I'm climbing out of this deer blind, running over to it, like, cut its throat. What the hell? I don't want to cut its throat. It's still alive, but it's paralyzed. You're laughing because you can see how awful this situation is.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm. I'm beside myself. I'm so sorry.

[Alan Tudyk]

It was terrible. It was a horror.

[Nathan Fillion]

This young man just having just. Just this confused, like my grandpa told me. I know I should. I'm supposed to. Yeah. What do I like? You're just. You're not the man you are now, for certain.

[Alan Tudyk]

But I'm done pretending. I'm just who I am, you know? I'm not trying to be something I'm not. And that's. I was trying to be man. And so it kicks its legs when I come. I put the. The knife on its throat, and it's kicked its front legs and blood squirted out of the exit wound. Jesus. I know. It was a horror show. Horror show. We. We should put a parental advisory on. I don't know, just everybody, if you have get queasy about this stuff. And I'm so sorry. And I love animals. Anyway, I go, I'm not gonna. I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this. I get my gun. I went back up, got the gun, and came back to shoot it one last time to put it out of its misery. But it was already. It had already passed. And then I just put my arm around its neck and laid down on it because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was so gorgeous. And now this is a female deer. My dad had said before I went up, he said, my grandma said, if there's a deer, kill it. And my dad said, well, hold on, Ralph. Hold on. Not if it's a female deer. I think that's illegal. He goes, nope, it's legal out here. You kill a female deer or a male deer. It's fine. And so I kill this. They come around about 30 minutes later, they heard the shot in the truck. My brother was really good in biology and science and loved those types of things and didn't have queasiness at all about it. He's like, you didn't slit his throat, you idiot. You're ruining the meat. So he goes in there and cuts the jugular vein, which was disgusting. And my grandpa goes, well, we're gonna need to saw this thing's head off. Cause you can't kill female deer out here. Oh, God. What? So I'M poaching or I'm breaking laws. So we did that out there. And then we took out all of the innards, which was the worst smell ever. And I know, hey, guys, if you're like a hunter and you're like, listen to me, you're like, God damn, boy, what the hell is wrong? Look, I don't. I wasn't. I shouldn't have been there. That smell, it smells like death. It's death, death, death. And I did skin it. When I got back to my grandma's house, we brought it there and we got back to their house and I skinned it. My grandma was. It was so confusing because she gave me hugs. Hug, hug. Congratulations. You killed your first deer. You did it. And it was like, she's female. She's mother. She's my mother's mother. She represents all of that. And she's so happy. I've done this thing that was so horrible. I skin it, we put it in the truck, we go to this place and I drop it off into a walk in freezer where there's a bunch of deer carcasses. We drop it off, it's a bar, and my grandpa orders me a beer. Now this is about 10 in the morning at this point. Then the.

[Nathan Fillion]

How old are you again? At this point?

[Alan Tudyk]

15. And the bartender comes over, he's like, hey, does anybody talk to my brother and I, either one of y', all, There's a Thunderbird out front there. I got that same Thunderbird. That thing's been parked here for two weeks with two flat tires. Somebody busted my driver's side window. I'll give you some money if you go out there and steal the window out of there. And my grandpa goes, I got a screwdriver you can use. And here's this. So I went out and stole the window out of that car. I pulled it out and brought it in, dropped it on there. I got paid, I got drunk, I stole, I killed. It was this whole day, and I got home at night, and right before bed, I just threw it all up. Did you know that about me, Nathan?

[Nathan Fillion]

I can safely say I did not know this about you.

[Alan Tudyk]

That was my coming of age story.

[Nathan Fillion]

So after killing and drinking and stealing.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

And getting paid for it and praised for it. Right?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Were you a man?

[Alan Tudyk]

I don't think so. I think I was confused. I think I was all of it.

[Nathan Fillion]

All of that for not. It missed the mark. That was a lot of cultural pressure you were under as a young man. Yeah, I don't know I'm gonna tell you, I don't think your dad. Your grandfather was a good influence. I think he was.

[Alan Tudyk]

My grandpa was a very complex individual, I imagine.

[Nathan Fillion]

Here's the screwdrivers.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn't. Yeah, he drew his lines in different places than most people. As far as what's crossing the line, he was cowboy. Real cowboy.

[Nathan Fillion]

Well, Alan, despite all that, I'm gonna go ahead and say he turned out. He turned out great.

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm so glad. I'm so sorry for anybody like you wouldn't. Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

This was. Thank you for sharing, Alan. This was incredible. It was an incredible truth that you just shared with us. I'm gonna say thank you. There's no judgment here. This is. You were a young man. You were 15 years old. No judgment. This is incredible. I appreciate so much that I got to know you better.

[Alan Tudyk]

What is the. Just. I just wonder about the statute limitations on some of these crimes. I've just admitted to run a recording.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm going to look that up and take that up with our legal department promptly.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

After this recording.

[Alan Tudyk]

Cool. We got a legal department. Okay. Good, good, good, good. Thank you. Wow. How about you? What do I not know about you, Nathan?

[Nathan Fillion]

I collect flashlights. Okay, next part.

[Alan Tudyk]

You ever kill anything with those flashlights?

[Nathan Fillion]

You know, that was pretty intense and deep. I'm not gonna lie. I don't have anything. Anything equitable to offer you. I was gonna. You know, I like gadgets. One of my things that I'm pretty OCD about is flashlights. I love a good flashlight. I this. This story. I should have gone first.

[Alan Tudyk]

Well, I'm interested. Let me just tell you that. When did this first flashlight obsession start? Because I've noticed I was a young man.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm so glad you asked, because I thought about this. I was a young man. My dad's friend, Jim Olsen had a son who was my age. They would bring us out to Lake Wabamun and Lake Wabamon. The Olson's had a family cabin on the lake, right on the beach. It was really fun as a kid. Oh, my God. It was really cool to be out there. Right down the road were the sand clips. You had the old general store nearby with the soda machinery. Put the coins in. He'd open a door. He'd pull the one soda can out of the refrigerated, sliding the long, skinny slidy door that had them in there. And it was paradise growing up to have that kind of access to a lake. And the kids next door had a trampoline and they lived out there. One day I was moving from one cabin to the next. In the tall grass between the two cabins, there was a flashlight. An old timey metal, chrome, really pretty, had a bulb in it, flashlight. And I said, hey, do we have any batteries for this? And yeah, Jim had some batteries in the kitchen junk drawer and threw him in there. And I had a flashlight. And nighttime out at the lake, it got dark. Got real dark. Yeah, I had a flashlight. And from then on, the more intense and brighter and better the flashlight, the more I just really enjoyed it. I always have a flashlight. If I travel, I have like a little clip on, little led, little flat something. Just a good little flashlight. If I were to be stuck in the wilderness with my bag, I get on a plane with, I'd be okay for a while. I got stuff in there.

[Alan Tudyk]

You got stuff? I got a first aid kit.

[Nathan Fillion]

I got like some beef jerky snacks just in case, and a sewing kit and a flashlight.

[Alan Tudyk]

I have probably seven flashlights. Six of them were gifts from you.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm pretty sure that sounds about right.

[Alan Tudyk]

The power went out not too long ago, like last week, up in my neighborhood for whatever reason. And I kept finding new flashlights, if I found one. And then I'm like, well, where's that other one? It was supposed to be here. And oh, look at this little one. Oh, yeah, Nathan gave me this. Oh, look at this one. Oh, this is one of those pinch. Oh, yeah, this one. But you do have flashlights that. For those listening. These things are the kind that they go. Terrorists could use these to take down a plane. That's the kind of flashlight Nathan has. He's got ones that can. That have such brightness, so many lumens that it's like, do like a nighttime baseball game. Because Nathan's out there shining his flashlight pretty particular.

[Nathan Fillion]

Like, so many flashlights have all these. You have to cycle through low, medium, high, and then there's a strobe, and then there's an sos. Like, that's a lot of functions on a flashlight that I really don't need. I like the cob lights. It's like a line of LEDs along the side of it.

[Alan Tudyk]

One of our new sponsors, Cobb Lights. When you can't see, turn on your cob light. Idiot.

[Nathan Fillion]

Time for some light on the cob.

[Alan Tudyk]

There you go.

[Nathan Fillion]

Creamed light or light on the cob?

[Alan Tudyk]

Fresh cob lights. So you like a cob light. Does it give a wide beam?

[Nathan Fillion]

That's the throw. You're looking. You're the term. You're Looking for.

[Alan Tudyk]

I need some terminology here, man. The throat.

[Nathan Fillion]

So some lights I have have, like. Like a sliding lens on it, so you pull it back real far, and it's. You got a wide throw, and you, like. That's the kind of thing. Like, you can play baseball underneath that. But if you need some distance, like, you want to see the owl on that tree a mile away or take down the plane. Right. Easy, easy.

[Alan Tudyk]

Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

But, yeah, that's. I collect flashlights. I do.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's so nerdy. That is such a specific nerdom that I. It's. Bless you, sir.

[Nathan Fillion]

That started when I was a child. I had. While you were out there, Nick, taking lives. Bambi's mom.

[Alan Tudyk]

I was just in New Zealand, and the guy. We were at a very nice restaurant.

[Nathan Fillion]

And you needed a flashlight.

[Alan Tudyk]

And I needed a flashlight. And I got a venison steak. They have deer out there. They have herds of deer that they. It's like cattle. They'll have. You'll see a field of sheep, a field of cattle, and a field of. I was like, what the hell is that? It's a deer. Oh, they're deer. They keep them in fences and not even high fences. They don't get out because they get fed. They're happy to be livestock.

[Nathan Fillion]

I love New Zealand.

[Alan Tudyk]

I love New Zealand, too.

[Nathan Fillion]

If anybody has a chance to get out there, please visit New Zealand. It is wonderful. We had the lovely Gina Torres on. On our show here.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

And we talked about this, and I said, new Zealand kind of reminds me of Star Trek, because they'll go down and they'll visit a planet. They can breathe the air. They have plants and stuff, but they all look a little different, a little off. They got animals. They're just a little different. Little different animals.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. I had some incredible adventures in New Zealand.

[Alan Tudyk]

Well, I was in a restaurant that was very fine, delicious food. I got the venison. I ate it. The waiter came by, and he's like, how was it? And I said, it was fantastic. It was delicious. That was just. The flavors were incredible. Carissa loved her thing, and. And he said, yeah, we shot it from a helicopter. Sorry. This is a fine. The finest dining that we had had there. Yeah, we shot it from a helicopter. I said, oh. He goes, you know, these deer that they have on the farms, they're sad when they butcher them. Their meat tastes sad. But this one we shot from a helicopter. They fly in. The last moment they have is running free. And then we kill him from the helicopter. I'm glad you Liked it. Didn't eat any of that. I. I have trauma. I have childhood trauma about this.

[Nathan Fillion]

And then he said, would you like some Parmesan cheese?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, Parmesan. Oh, right. Thank you. No Parmesan cheese, please. I did ask him how he killed the dessert, but he said, would you like it? We have creme brulee. How did you kill it? If it wasn't from a helicopter. If it wasn't from a helicopter, I don't want it. You got.

[Nathan Fillion]

This is one of the things I love about your stories. You bring the characters to the story. I see his face. I see how he breathes. You got the accent down just a little, but, yeah, your shoulders come back because he was a little bit more. You embody. When I get a story from you, you embody the characters in there, and your shoulders drop and you go, I'm sorry. How did you kill it? And you're back up. You. I'm. I'm. I wish I had that gift, dude.

[Alan Tudyk]

It'll get you talking by yourself in supermarkets like we talked about on that other podcast. So people right now are listening to us talk to one another about what we like and what. Who we are and what we are about and what makes us up and our opinions just on random shit. That's what people are listening to right now.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. When you see like that, it doesn't seem so valuable. You know, you start pulling this thread, Alan, the sweater will unravel.

[Alan Tudyk]

Don't. I mean, yes, we once were spacemen, and we're gonna have. We have guests, and that's great. This has been going well. So people have been listening to this and not going, I want.

[Nathan Fillion]

And yes, Alan, you're very. You're worthy. You're worthy to know. And like I said, I would like people to get to know you a little better. And here's another thing, too, I think that I think is part of what makes this thing that we're doing special. And it's that when I'm watching TV and I see two guys up there on the TV who are getting along and having fun and doing a job that is amazing and has a lot of mystique, I hope in real life they're friends and they're having adventures, more often than not, they are not.

[Alan Tudyk]

Nathan mentioned this to Melissa o' Neil in episode nine. Once we were rookies, but sometimes they are.

[Nathan Fillion]

And this is one of those times when the two guys that were having those adventures that are so full of mystique and adventure and craziness and had production Value behind it and this and that. And we don't know what's going on behind the scenes sometimes those guys actually, they are actually friends, right? They are actually buddies. And to know that I think is satisfying in a small way that makes it interesting enough to say I could probably hang out with those guys.

[Alan Tudyk]

We're fulfilling people's hopes for mankind is what you're saying. And sort of the.

[Nathan Fillion]

That is not at all what I said. Okay.

[Alan Tudyk]

However, okay, okay. Maybe I got, I got too excited about my.

[Nathan Fillion]

Took a little.

[Alan Tudyk]

It's pretty.

[Nathan Fillion]

That'S way up there bringing down a little bit.

[Alan Tudyk]

Okay.

[Nathan Fillion]

Alan, is there an activity that instantly calms you humming?

[Alan Tudyk]

Really? It's terrible. I don't think people need to get to know me, man. This is bad. This is true. There are people online, there are people who are pointing out like find me in clips and point out that I am certainly add but they try to diagnose me. But this would be, I think something that, this is food for that, that I hum. It's a self soothing thing. It's something that people do. I don't do it like that.

[Nathan Fillion]

Well, hang on, hang on. Are you like a monotonous, a monotone long drawn out hum or do you hum a little tune?

[Alan Tudyk]

No, it's monotone long and drawn out.

[Nathan Fillion]

Well, there's a school of thought that says those are, those are the vibrations that actually.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes, yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Energize you. Yeah, oh yeah, they teach us that.

[Alan Tudyk]

I just, I just do that. But I do that now.

[Nathan Fillion]

Are people around when you're doing that?

[Alan Tudyk]

The only person who's ever commented on it is my wife.

[Nathan Fillion]

Like oh, so you feel comfortable enough to do that in front of her?

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh yeah, yeah, she's, yeah, she knows, she knows I need self soothing from time to time. My schedule's mad, man. You know what? Anyway, I don't want to complain.

[Nathan Fillion]

Here's another thing I'm going to throw at you though. I would recommend against reading those comments. Oh, it's really hard not to google one's self but if you're gonna do it right, for the love of God, don't, don't put any. Well credence do it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Well what it is like I, I think this is just a bigger thing of I should get off of social media because I don't think it's, I don't think it's healthy and I, I go on it because it's so much quicker about news. But you know, we're all learning social media as it goes because it's Brand new. Still. It's still not that long. Hasn't been here for that many years that I'm realizing more and more it's just a bunch of people speaking with authority about things that a lot of them don't know the facts and they don't really have that much authority about the thing they're speaking on with authority. And it's like, why am I listening to your opinion on this? I don't know that this is helping the argument or what's going on. I'm usually looking into what's happening in the news or things like that. Current events.

[Nathan Fillion]

First of all, I think people like the idea of having a voice. I think people like the idea of being heard, but for the love of God, don't listen.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, I think you're right.

[Nathan Fillion]

By the way, was it Shinymile3442 saying that you were. You noticed that?

[Alan Tudyk]

That's the one.

[Nathan Fillion]

The one. That's who comments a lot about your. Your own respect? Yeah, it's me, buddy.

[Alan Tudyk]

All those weird pictures of me sleeping. What's that about?

[Nathan Fillion]

It's. That's from my personal collection. I think I asked you this already. What does the Internet get wrong about you?

[Alan Tudyk]

What does the Internet get wrong about me?

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, I think we talked about this already.

[Alan Tudyk]

Maybe the autistic.

[Nathan Fillion]

Here's the problem with recording these things so. So far apart. We forget what we talked about. But I know we talked about this. And I think I said to you, the Internet says I've been engaged three times. It says I dated Felicia Day. We've never dated. What a lovely lady named Felicia. She's great. We've never.

[Alan Tudyk]

They keep saying stuff like that.

[Nathan Fillion]

That's why. That's. I'm starting the rumors right there. I think she's always been saying that, though. But yeah, I've never been engaged, Alan.

[Alan Tudyk]

Never been engaged.

[Nathan Fillion]

Never once.

[Alan Tudyk]

Wow.

[Nathan Fillion]

What does the Internet get wrong about you?

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm autistic.

[Nathan Fillion]

Why are you rocking when you're talking about this?

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm a rocker. I also rock. So put that in your pipe. It's smoking. I like rocking. It's soothing. But I've been a rocker from way back when I was a kid. I had asthma and I. That was my. I would rock to calm myself down, so I would.

[Nathan Fillion]

This isn't helping that case when you're talking about humming. This is many years ago. I had some construction guys here at the house. They were working on some rooms here in the house, and one of them. All very lovely. One of them Whistled while he worked, and he was clearly, you know, joyful, but he whistled Pop Goes the Weasel. That was the. He only whistled the one tune, and it was Pop Goes the Weasel. So he was working in the back room, and I saw him leave to get something from the truck. I went into the back room and I slipped into the closet, and he came in, started whistling Pop Goes the Weasel, and at the appropriate time, jumped out of the closet and said, back goes the Weasel. And he clearly was not expecting that. And then my. My good buddy Liam, who's my. My contractor, and it's. It's his guys working at the house, he calls me, goes, hey, we're gonna get that stuff in for the kitchen. It's gonna be great. We got the new lighting, and we're rewiring that whole stuff, and that whole back room's gonna be done by, like, Friday. Oh, and do me a favor, don't scare my guys. Hey, Liam, you pick a tune, you gotta dance.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. Teach your guy another song.

[Nathan Fillion]

He was quite literally asking for it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes, That's.

[Nathan Fillion]

I'm sorry.

[Alan Tudyk]

That is great. That's hysterical, man.

[Nathan Fillion]

Okay, sorry. You were. And you were. You were just about to say.

[Alan Tudyk]

I don't think I was. I don't know that I was about to say.

[Nathan Fillion]

It couldn't have been that important. My grandmother used to say if I forgot what I was going to say, she'd say, well, it couldn't have been a liar. The devil would have helped you. Oh. Huh.

[Alan Tudyk]

My grandmother said, thank goodness you're still dead. You're a man now. Today I can respect you. She's a badass.

[Nathan Fillion]

What's something that your mom has kind of imparted to you in your life that you feel has kind of brought you success or that has been meaningful to you? Something that you. Has she ever passed on some advice to you saying, hey, Alan, in life as you go forward?

[Alan Tudyk]

I'm sure she has. I'm sure. I mean, she gave us all kinds. They gave us good values. My mother was the one in my family who said, you should be an actor.

[Nathan Fillion]

She's the one.

[Alan Tudyk]

Well, she took me and put me in Plano Community Theater, and I did fabulous Fable Factory when I was 11 years old at the mall. I didn't do that. She found out about it, and I asked me if I wanted to do it, and I auditioned and I got in it, and she would take me to these classes. She kept pushing it, you know, she kept. She took me to some classes that were about how to become an actor, and A certain point, like around 14, I balked. I didn't like it. I was like, I don't. Because I had auditioned for a couple of things professionally in Texas, like commercials. And one was for an Alamo that they. A movie. The Alamo movie that they play out at the Alamo on IMAX or something. And I hated the rejection. It just really hurt. And I was in rooms where all the actors knew each other and nobody knew me. And I was like, I don't like this. I don't like it. I don't want to do this. And she was cool with that. But she was the one in the household that thought I should be an actor. She's the one who got me into it early.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, so we have. We collectively have her to think or to blame.

[Alan Tudyk]

But yes, she was the one who. It's like, this has got to be worth something. He's my little weird kid over here. Put him in movies. The humming one? Yeah, the one rocking over there in the corner, rubbing clay in his hair. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

[Nathan Fillion]

Boy, did he just eat some dirt.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, no, don't worry. That's the stuff I gave him. It's clean.

[Nathan Fillion]

Why is he rocking and humming like.

[Alan Tudyk]

That's potting soil. It's got, actually some minerals at it. Clear up his worms.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's his favorite.

[Alan Tudyk]

I thank her for that. Absolutely. Your mother's very intelligent, and I can't. What did she. Piece of advice. I'm sure you've gotten a lot of advice from her.

[Nathan Fillion]

Number one. First of all, my mother adores you.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, how great. I love your mother.

[Nathan Fillion]

You know, she does you. I will remind you, there was an evening. It was the premiere of Slither.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

We were all sitting down at a table, and, boy, the two of you were like, fricking frack. It was like watching a comedy routine. And I was. At one point, I was like. I had to walk away because I couldn't breathe because you guys were killing me. You guys were killing me. She just adores you. And she's. Yeah, my mom's clever. She's whip crack smart. And she doesn't always go for the jokes and the funny lines, but with you, she was. You guys were on fire. My mom, when I moved away to New York, when I was, you know, heading off across to another country on my own, I left with, like, two big suitcases and a couple of big boxes. Like, I. That was me moving to New York. I had some boxes. In the boxes were some blankets and sheets, you know, so I could Make a bed. When I got a place, a bed that I didn't have yet, some pots and pans, like, stuff I would need to just. Just touch. Just open up a box and set up a kitchen and start the basics. Yeah, some super basics. And so she put together some stuff for me. And I opened up one of those boxes when I got to New York, and there was this little book in it, and I still have. And it was just a little notebook, tiny thing, white, with little lined pages in it. But on every page, she wrote a little piece of sage advice.

[Alan Tudyk]

No way.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah. Like when to use whom or who. Like one of those kinds of things. And one. One of them that I once mentioned her. I've always wanted to learn how to dance the merengue. I think it was something that Steve Martin said in a movie, everyone should learn how to dance the merengue. And it kind of stuck with me. And I said, I need to learn how to dance. And I did. A friend of mine, a Venezuelan friend of mine, was in my apartment in New York looking through this and said, I can teach you how to dance the merengue. She did. She was wonderful. One of the sage pieces of advice in that little book was be kind to everyone you meet on the way up, because they're the same people you will meet on the way back down. And that. That has held a place in my heart since then.

[Alan Tudyk]

Wow. Well, when do you plan to go back down? You've just been going up, buddy.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's got to happen. It's got to happen. But I think all the people I've. I've met on way. On my way up, I think they. They're out of the business. Yeah.

[Alan Tudyk]

Because that was a while ago.

[Nathan Fillion]

It's been a while.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah. That's a very cool thing for her to do. Right.

[Nathan Fillion]

We've talked about success in. In this business. We've talked about how, you know, so much of it is not up to you and how much of it is luck and how much of it is when you get an opportunity. What do you do with that opportunity? And do you blow it? Do you burn the bridge? Or do you nurture a relationship, someone who will have your back when maybe you're not so much in favor anymore. Some people who want to work with you again, people who want to work with you again, can you garner that kind of reputation? And I think that advice of hers has kept me on that path.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yay, Cookie. I like her. I love her, too.

[Nathan Fillion]

Never forget what your mom took me aside one day and Said, watch out for my boy. I don't think he's all there.

[Alan Tudyk]

That's something your mother would say to me. That's so you. Like, think about his mom telling jokes. That was it. There was that one about being illiterate. What was that one? She was so funny.

[Nathan Fillion]

Oh, my God. Okay, here. She made a joke about you not being able to read, and then you laughed and we. Later on you said something else and I went, hey, man, that's my mom. You went, oh, yeah, sorry. So, so sorry. Well, wait a minute.

[Alan Tudyk]

No, you said. She said I was illiterate.

[Nathan Fillion]

And my mom said, alan, I didn't call you illiterate. I said you couldn't read. I didn't say illiterate because I didn't think you'd understand. Sick burn, Mom.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, Sick burn.

[Alan Tudyk]

That was a fun night.

[Nathan Fillion]

It was a great night.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

Do you remember I told you about the disability I have, that if my pants have more than one snap, I'll forget to do up the zipper?

[Alan Tudyk]

Yes.

[Nathan Fillion]

Okay, then that's my nightmare, is because typically you're dressing up when you have, like, the pants with more than the one snap at the top. If you got a hook and a loop and a something and a button on the inside, then the snap that my nightmares. I'll forget that zipper. I was on the red carpet that night that we are talking about for the slither premiere, and my fly was down, and one of the photographers there, who are all, you know, look over here, look over here, look over here. She was like, nathan, Nathan, Nathan. And kind of frantically kind of waving me over, and I was like, this is atypical. Something's wrong. She said, your fly is down. I said, thank you so much. Oh, my God. And I turned and I zipped it up, and I was like, oh, my gosh.

[Alan Tudyk]

She just.

[Nathan Fillion]

That lady just saved me from a tremendous amount of embarrassment. That was super classy. That was amazing. The next time I showed up at a red carpet, I'm up there, I'm getting my photo taken, and a woman from the side over there, the photographer, goes, hey, Nathan, it's me. And it's the same mate.

[Alan Tudyk]

I went, oh, yeah, hi.

[Nathan Fillion]

She goes, I'm the one who told you your fly was down.

[Alan Tudyk]

I was like, jesus, thank you.

[Nathan Fillion]

Maybe don't scream it.

[Alan Tudyk]

Thank you so much.

[Nathan Fillion]

So there's some pictures of me on that red carpet going, oh, God.

[Alan Tudyk]

Jesus.

[Nathan Fillion]

Alan. Another wonderful chat, my friend. Always such a pleasure to have these moments to sit down with you. And so often we do them when we're apart, when we're not anywhere close to each other, sometimes you're in another country and whatnot. But today you're right down the hall. You're at the back of my house.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah.

[Nathan Fillion]

You forgot your microphone.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, I left my microphone in one of the other places and I had.

[Nathan Fillion]

A microphone and an extra thing. So you're in the back of my house right now in what used to be my studio, what is now storage.

[Alan Tudyk]

I was gonna get you to teach me how to do this for when I go to New York. But you don't. You've turned it. You've abandoned it. So maybe that's not true.

[Nathan Fillion]

That's not true. Listen, what you're looking around is temporary. I will teach you. I will show you what to do is. It's going to be fantastic. You're going to have a little studio in your. That's. That's. I'm really excited about your New York placement.

[Alan Tudyk]

Yeah, man.

[Nathan Fillion]

The move.

[Alan Tudyk]

Tight. Yeah, I got. Yeah, I'm going to have a studio. I'm going to have a proper audition thing.

[Nathan Fillion]

Yeah, I saw the photos of that place. I picked out the room that I'm going to use, so. Oh, it's going to be great.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, just have your assistant email me which one.

[Nathan Fillion]

Don't worry about it. I. I've already shipped some furniture.

[Alan Tudyk]

Oh, my God. Thank you for listening. You just bless your heart. You know what? If you haven't yet, why don't you head on over to our Patreon? You're gonna get some bonus content. That's extra content. They're longer episodes. There's more there. You know what's better than less? More. You also get a chance to get your hands on some incredible crap. The kinds you don't need. A waste. Wash off after you're done. And if you love the show, please leave us a review and tell your friends. Once we were spaceman is a collision 33 production. The hell that is. The show's produced by Michelle Chapman, Siobhan Holman. Oh, yeah. And Josh Levy. I wear them jeans. He is of collision 33. It's all starting to make sense. It's edited and mixed and produced by Resident Recordings with special thanks to Courtney Plumquist and Adam Townsell. Are they musics done by Carlos Sosa? The groove line Horns guy. Yeah. And Joshua Moore. Artwork is done by Lewis Jensen. Until next time. I swear to God, I love you. Stop it, boy.