The cast of the short-lived, but well-loved, sci-fi series Firefly are keeping busy these days. Between TV shows, film, webseries, and voice acting for animated flicks, the crew of Serenity are still in the mainstream’s eye. Where can you find your favorite characters now? PopCultHQ gives you the rundown on the latest projects from all of the cast.
Nathan Fillion:
The lovable Captain Malcolm Reynolds… ain’t no power in the ‘verse can stop this actor’s appeal. Fillion is currently on a roll with his hit ABC series Castle. Currently in its 8th season, the show continues to be a success, receiving awards and nominations yearly. Nathan just won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Crime Drama TV Actor on January 6th, 2016.
Fillion, along with former Firefly co-star Alan Tudyk (see below), launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in 2015 for a comedic webseries entitled Con Man. The series raised more than $3.1 million and successfully launched on September 30, 2015. You can watch this fun series on Vimeo On Demand.
Fillion will also be lending his voice in the upcoming animated action comedy film Henchmen where he portrays Captain Superior. Henchmen will debut in theaters later in 2016. Nathan has been the voice of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan in a number of direct-to-video, DC Comics animated films over the last 5 years.
Gina Torres:
Mal’s former Browncoat partner at the Battle of Serenity Valley, the kick-ass Zoe Washburne, is still fairly active today. She and her husband, Lawrence Fishburne, have had recurring roles on the NBC show Hannibal. In 2013, Torres appeared as a guest on Fillion’s Castle. 2015 was a busy year as she starred in three episodes of the ABC drama series Revenge, was the voice for Ketsu Onyo in Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD, and even made an appearance in Fillion and Tudyk’s Con Man webseries.
Alan Tudyk:
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! The witty pilot of Serenity, Hoban “Wash” Washburne, husband of Zoe, brought some great comedic relief to the show. Tudyk has had quite a busy 2015 and 2016 looks like a full load as well. Last year, Alan lent his voice to Chatsberry on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, a police officer on Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, Ludo and King Butterfly on Disney XD’s Star vs. the Forces of Evil, and as Green Arrow in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game Infinite Crisis.
As mentioned earlier, Tudyk joined Nathan Fillion as creator, writer, director and executive producer of the webseries Con Man, when Alan portrays Wray Nerely, a former celeb now living on the convention tour. He is lending his voice again for two 2016-released animated films, Zootopia (March 4) and Moana (November 23), both which are in pre-production. Alan will also be playing a performance-capture character in December’s Star Wars Rogue One.
Morena Baccarin:
As the personal companion Inara Serra, Baccarin stole the hearts of many viewers. Morena has kept herself busy since the cancellation of Firefly. She has been the voice of some DC Comics animated films (Talia al-Ghul, Black Canary, Cheetah, and Gideon) and has been nominated for a number of awards for her work on television series V and Homeland. Currently, Baccarin can be seen in her recurring role as Dr. Leslie Thompkins on the Fox show Gotham. Also, look for Morena as Wade Wilson’s girlfriend in the upcoming release of Deadpool (February 12, 2016) with co-star Ryan Reynolds.
Adam Baldwin:
Good ole Jayne Cobb. The hero of Stanton.
Baldwin has a number of DC Comics and Marvel Comics animated films under his belt, being the voice of such characters as Hal Jordan/Green Lanter, Clark Kent/Superman, Parasite, Metamorpho, and Vance Astro. In 2015, Adam also appeared on an episode of Fillion’s Castle and reprised his role as Jayne Cobb for the role-playing video game Firefly Online. He is also credited as a voice actor for a number of video games, including Halo 3, Half-Life 2, and Mass Effect 2. Your days of not taking Adam seriously are coming to a middle. Currently, Baldwin is devoting his time as a political activist.
Jewel Staite:
Kaylee Frye, the lovable mechanic on Serenity, showed that a girl with a sweet smile and loving persona could also get her hands dirty. Jewel had an exciting 2015, as she became engaged mid-year, and gave birth to her first son in December. Since Firefly‘s cancellation, she has racked up a number of sci-fi roles in her repertoire. Jewel has appeared on Stargate Atlantis, Warehouse 13, and Supernatural. Her latest filming project, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, debuts January 22, 2016. In it she plays Cassie Cranston, the “town slut” turned sex columnist. Also just announced is her appearance in an upcoming episode of the new series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, a spin-off of The CW’s Arrow and The Flash shows.
Sean Maher:
The highly-educated, yet stiff, Simon Tam grew into a likable and strong character as the series progressed. Since Firefly, Maher has been the voice of Dick Grayson/Nightwing in three DC animated films. He also has earned credits for roles on CSI: Miami, Ghost Whisperer, The Mentalist, Human Target, and Warehouse 13.
Sean appeared on two episodes of Arrow during the 2013-2014 season as Mark Scheffer/Shrapnel. In 2015, Maher appeared on the Fillion/Tudyk webseries Con Man.
You can see Maher later this year in the film ISRA 88 and The Old Hag Syndrome.
Summer Glau:
The gifted, but quirky, River Tam played a unique role on the sci-western Firefly. Had the series continued, I am certain there was a lot more to Glau’s character that could have been explored, as seen in the follow-up movie Serenity. After her role as River, Summer had roles in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Alphas, Grey’s Anatomy, and was the voice of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl in the animated film Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
During the 2013-2014 season of Arrow, Glau was featured in nine episodes of the hit show as Isabel Rochev. 2015 brought Summer her first child (daughter Milena) and reunited her with former co-stars Fillion and Tudyk in their webseries Con Man. It has been just announced that she will be appearing on Fillion’s Castle series later this year.
Ron Glass:
Ah Shepherd Derrial Book. We hardly knew thee. The ending of Firefly did make me curious as to, as Jayne would say, “How does a shepherd know so much about crime?” This was another character, like Glau’s River Tam, that could have been explored deeper. I recall first seeing Mr. Glass on Barney Miller in the late 70s-early 80s. He has amassed quite the resume with his acting credentials.
Though he hasn’t done much as of late, he has had some important roles on televisions series CSI, Dirty Sexy Money, Major Crimes, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Glass also added his voice to the video game Ancient Space.
There you have it, folks. All the latest on the Firefly alumni. Now that director Joss Whedon is finished of his projects with Marvel, could a reunion of the Serenity crew be in the cards? Time will tell. Fortunately, most of the cast members take time throughout the year to attend various sci-fi and comic conventions. Check out our list of the conventions for 2016 and see if any of your favorites are coming to a city near you. You can also watch the entire season of Firefly on Netflix.
