Once We Were Spacemen – Episode 21: “Once We Were Starving Artists”

Date: April 1, 2026
Hosts: Nathan Fillion & Alan Tudyk

Overview

In this deeply personal and hilariously candid episode, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk reflect on the lean, awkward, and resilient early years of their careers in New York and LA. The conversation meanders through stories of struggle, small victories, wild side gigs, unglamorous living arrangements, and the camaraderie that bound them through the uncertainty of show business. Listeners are treated to an inside look at making it as “starving artists,” complete with laugh-out-loud moments, hard-won life lessons, and heartfelt nostalgia.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Life as Struggling Actors (00:00 – 08:37)

• The Bagel & Cream Cheese Days
  Alan opens the episode recalling his creative refrigeration technique during a freezing January in New York, hanging food out his window with shoelaces:

  • “That was my refrigerator. Was. I hung my food outside the window. I’m glad a pigeon didn’t come for that cheese or the bag.” (A, 00:36)

• Cancellation and Post-Firefly Resilience

  • Both recount how they heard the news of Firefly's abrupt cancellation and how the cast responded by choosing joy instead of despair.
  • “I thought, this is gonna be the absolute worst. …And I was wrong. It was like everybody was determined to squeeze every last ounce of joy out of that experience that they could.” (A, 02:35)

2. What’s Good? Alan’s Canine Household (04:41 – 08:37)

• Alan shares chaotic updates on his house full of (three!) dogs and describes adopting the newest member, Maximus Longbottom, and the comic relief and new energy he brings.
  • Hilarious puppy tales:
    “My dog ate sand because it didn’t know. And then it had poops that had sand. It had, like, half poop, half sand.” (B, 05:18)
    “Her hips are moving a lot more because she kind of humps them a lot. …He’s going to have a huge therapy bill because he’s like, when I was young, my aunt humped the hell out of me.” (B, 06:13)

3. Moving Stories: The “Master Box” Rule (08:37 – 14:08)

• Alan is mid-move to New York; Nathan dispenses practical advice:

  • The “master box” concept: Prepare a single box per room containing all essentials for instant functionality on arrival.
  • Alan, never off duty, quips, “Master box is Aunt Clara’s nickname for her vagina because she’s been masturbating.” (B, 10:15)

• Past move tales surface, including wild semi-legal sublets and abandoned apartments in LA post-9/11.

4. Surviving New York’s Rental and Odd Jobs Scene (14:22 – 19:40)

• Nathan details his early days with Canadian ID, struggling to cash acting checks, down to his last $20, buying day-old bagels, walking instead of taking the subway, and the grind of finding an apartment.

  • “I was down to my last 20 bucks, Alan, and I refused to spend it.” (A, 16:16)

• Both reflect on the notorious 15% broker’s fee and the “illegal sublet” dance.

5. Alan’s Bartending Adventures – “Greenhorns” (21:07 – 38:07)

• Alan recounts his time bartending in a seedy New York trans bar called “Greenhorns” (aka Carla’s 2).

  • Memorable characters—a tightrope walker, Chi Chi the Bitch, vodka-and-milk drinkers, and guests like Allison Janney dropping in.
  • “She was Filipino and trans, sitting at the bar, and she fancied me. …The main guy was trying to remember the steps from La Cage aux Faux… while another guy’s hand is up Chi Chi the Bitch’s skirt, and some guy just kept going ‘you’re hot, you’re hot, you’re hot’…” (B, 27:49)

• The “one night only” job ends when Alan’s acting gig miraculously comes through the next day.

• Reflection on pivotal, almost cinematic moments living “Piano Man” lyrics as an out-of-place bartender in Pennsylvania, giving the audience a poignant look at the emotional toll of barely scraping by.

  • “I had tears in my eyes… I’ve somehow, I’ve turned a corner, and I’m not — this is not where I’m supposed to be.” (B, 37:19)

6. Embarrassing Stories: Missed Connections & University Heartthrobs (40:01 - 49:54)

• Nathan’s Bus Pub Crawl Story (University Days)

  • He tells a humiliating tale of nearly rescuing his crush from falling into a puddle during his gig as a party bus host—failing spectacularly:
    “Time slowed down…we’re just about to reach, and then, oh, he’s not gonna make that. And then I just touch her fingertips, and she falls. Bam. On her ass. Ass in the puddle that she just skipped over. …She never even looked at me again.” (A, 44:31)

• Alan’s Innocent Heroics Gone Unnoticed

  • Childhood memory of maybe saving—maybe startling—a girl named Patricia Grisanti from a creek during a school trip.
    “Was she really slipping or was I just like in my own weird, like, oh, she might slip and I just grabbed her. I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe I just grabbed a girl.” (B, 46:35)

• Debate on why funny guys “get the last girl,” and the long wait to finally “have your day.”

7. Postscript: Wild Romances & The Power of Adventure (49:54 – 53:00)

• Alan shares how his relationship with his wife blossomed from their youthful, slightly reckless adventures—like stealing a boat in Central Park (with a two-by-four gondola pole), and later, echoing that with a Venetian gondola proposal.

  • “The only person who wanted to do something wild with me was her. …That’s why I asked her to marry me on a gondola in Venice.” (B, 47:57)

• Recognition of the value in expressing interest:

  • “I opened the door and asked her boyfriend to leave…After that moment both knew where we stood.” (B, 49:58)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Canceled was a dirty word in my vocabulary for a period of time. Mother. Canceled.” (A, 03:30)
• “For every room, have a master box…Have a master box. The master box. …so you don’t have to look for like, oh, where are the pillowcases?” (A, 09:18)
• “He was going on and on, and he had this accent and he was like, oh, this is awful. This is my sixth shift. It’s terrible. I used to—can’t believe this is where I ended up. I used to be a tightrope walker in the circus.” (B, 26:38)
• “If you're gonna suffer and sleep on the floor—right—please do it when you're 22.” (A, 19:07)
• “You're like a minor drug dealer and so they give you respect. And if you're cool with them and they're cool with you, they feel like they're cool.” (B, 39:30)
• “You have to love it if you’re gonna do it. You have to love.” (A, 37:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00 — Starving artist beginnings: bagels on the radiator and creative survival hacks
• 02:10 — The day “Firefly” was canceled and how the cast responded
• 04:48 — Alan’s new dog Maximus and the chaos of a three-dog home
• 09:10 — Nathan’s “master box” moving hack and moving war stories
• 14:22 — Struggling to survive (financially, emotionally) in early New York and the acting grind
• 21:07 — Alan’s legendary one-night stint bartending at a NYC trans bar
• 38:07 — The psychology and hierarchy of bar service vs. waiting tables
• 41:23 — Nathan’s embarrassing attempt to save his crush during a university party bus gig
• 46:35 — Alan’s accidental heroics (or not) from his childhood
• 47:57 — Wild romance tales: boat “theft” and why adventure matters
• 51:23 — Reflections on moving stress, new chapters, and mutual appreciation

Tone & Takeaways

• The episode is a heartfelt, unsparing, and often outrageous remembrance of the “hungry years,” infused with classic Fillion-Tudyk banter: self-deprecating, wise, and always warm.
• Both hosts emphasize that success was preceded by long, rough periods of uncertainty and hand-to-mouth living—making their friendship and later triumphs more meaningful.
• Moving advice, bad jobs, and missed romantic cues all serve a larger theme: every creative has to grind, be humble, and keep a sense of humor.

For fans of Firefly, aspiring creatives, and anyone who’s ever started from scratch—this episode is a masterclass in resilience, humility, and how, once we were (and always a bit are) starving artists.