Inspired by the Disney and Pixar film Monsters, Inc., the animated series Monsters at Work follows Tylor Tuskmon (voiced by Ben Feldman), a monster who dreams of getting a Scarer at a time when the city of Monstropolis is shifting its concentrate to children’s laughter. In Season 2, Tylor ought to make a decision irrespective of whether to continue his journey as a Jokester alongside his idols Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) or be drawn in by an give from Johnny J. Worthington III (voiced by Nathan Fillion) and FearCo.

The character of Johnny J. Worthington III was 1st introduced in Monsters University, exactly where he was the top rated Scare student and the president of Roar Omega Roar fraternity. Now, in Season 2 of Monsters at Work, he’s the CEO of FearCo., husband to Claire Wheeler-Worthington (voiced by Aubrey Plaza), and father to their two little ones, although nevertheless stirring up problems as a Monsters Universe antagonist.

During this a single-on-a single interview with Collider, Fillion talked about why he loves the Monsters Universe, how it is a blessing to have extended-operating acting projects like voicing a Monsters character or getting picked up for the seventh season of his ABC series The Rookie, embracing the villainous choices of Johnny J. Worthington III, why getting flawed is a lot more enjoyable than getting ideal, and the enjoyable of taking this journey with an animated character. He also discussed his extended-standing collaborative connection with James Gunn, how he identified out that he’d be a aspect of the new DC Universe, and why he’s nicely-suited to play this version of Green Lantern.

Collider: I appreciate you speaking to me about this. I take any excuse that I can get to speak about characters from the Monsters planet simply because I adore them all.

NATHAN FILLION: Thank you for that. I want I could take a lot more credit. I, also, adore to indulge in something Disney and Pixar. When you are telling a story a single pixel at a time, and they’re painstaking more than it, there are no particulars left untouched. It’s amazing what they come up with. The level of imagination that they are tapping into, they’re such talented men and women.

Nathan Fillion is Still Voicing His ‘Monsters’ Universe Character, More Than 10 Years Later

When you have been cast as this character in Monsters University, did you believe it would just be a a single-off job? Were you hoping to get to voice him once again, or does it surprise you that, a lot more than 10 years later, you are undertaking Monsters at Work?

FILLION: First of all, yes, I believed it would be just a a single-off point. Second, I couldn’t think I was obtaining the chance to do so. It was my dream to do so. These projects truly light my imagination on fire. To be a incredibly tiny aspect of the course of action and get to see some of what they’re undertaking behind the scenes, it does not take any magic away from the project, that is for certain. It just tends to make you a lot more impressed with what they’re undertaking, simply because if you see how a great deal function goes into it. You often believe, “Yeah, this is a one-off. I’ve got this.” You by no means believe to oneself, “Maybe it’ll be possible,” but men and women will say that it is probable. When you do a guest star on a tv show, occasionally they’ll say, “There’s a chance that character will come back.” The probabilities are slim that the character will ever come back, but occasionally it takes place, and when it does, it is the present that keeps on providing.

Is it equally surprising that you are right here, six seasons later on a Television series named The Rookie, exactly where you are playing that character? When you began that show, have been you ever worried that there would only be a particular length of time for how extended you could do that show?

FILLION: That’s a query that we get a lot. I often inform men and women, “Listen, don’t get too caught up in the title. It’s a metaphor for life, not a position in the police force.” It’s not about getting a rookie police officer. It’s about getting a rookie at life. It’s about beginning fresh and beginning more than with nothing at all to go on. It’s about possessing the courage to drop every thing and begin once again. That’s what it is about, as far as getting a rookie, so I’m not also troubled by that. But getting capable to play a character in his university days, and then that exact same character, now that he’s the CEO of a giant energy organization, you begin to really feel like you are on a journey with each other. I’m not the young guy I was at a single point, with the grey in the beard now. It feels comfy and strangely apropos.

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You’re voicing this character that you began voicing a lot more than 10 years ago, and your Television series, which has had a lot more than 100 episodes, has been picked up for a seventh season. Do you ever quit to believe back to the occasions, as an actor, exactly where you didn’t know if you would get to continue getting an actor?

FILLION: I believe about it continuously. I appear more than my profession and all the men and women I’ve worked with, and the list is brief when it comes to the men and women that are nevertheless right here and rolling along. For a lot of men and women, it is an chance, and then life requires you in a various path. I just had my 30th anniversary of getting in the entertainment sector. For 30 years, I’ve been paying my bills with this a single job, but it hasn’t often been uncomplicated. I was incredibly fortunate, correct off the top rated. Right out of the gate, I was possessing a good time. But I’ve skilled stretches of my profession exactly where I was out of funds, and I was considering about whose basement I was gonna be living in, calling up men and women that I applied to function with and saying, “I need a job.” I believe about my blessings continuously. If there’s a single point that hardship will teach you, it is appreciation for when it is not really hard.

Nathan Fillion Leans into the Flaws of His ‘Monsters at Work’ Character

You’ve mentioned that your 1st impression of your Monsters character was that he was a handsome fellow who appears like he would be well known, but that he could also be a jerk. Did you want to make him a lot more than that in the starting, or did you just want to lean into that and embrace it? He feels like he’s evolved a small, but he also feels like he’s living in his personal planet that he boosts himself up in.

FILLION: As a younger man, I often wanted my characters to be liked simply because I wanted to be liked. The insecurity of getting an actor, you wanna be liked, so you want your characters to be liked. I believed that meant getting ideal and possessing a ideal character, but there’s truly no such point. People are flawed and characters are flawed, and playing flaws is so rewarding. It is such a gold mine of options for how and exactly where to take the story. Harrison Ford after mentioned, “Making a choice in acting is easy, making the right choice is hard.” If something, I adore leaning into flaws. For Johnny Worthington III, a single of his flaws is that he does not know how flawed he is. He’s caught up in loved ones responsibilities and living up to his father’s memory. He’s got his personal motivations, but it does not make him a good guy. The villain of the story by no means thinks he’s the villain of the story, he thinks he’s the hero. I get pleasure from these flaws and these character quirks that make you believe, “Oh, you’re not such a nice guy, are you? You think you are, but your scale is off.”

In his defense, he just has a various point of view.

FILLION: As do we all. But I believe you could pretty say that there are other characters who have kinder hearts.

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What was your reaction to seeing Johnny’s loved ones, the little ones, and their adorable small dog?

FILLION: Part of what I adore about the complete Monsters universe is, if you bear in mind watching the Flintstones when we have been little ones, they’d use the disposal and you’d pull that curtain beneath the sink and see a small saber tooth pig beneath there consuming all the scraps, or taking a photo when there’s a small bird in there with a chisel that is creating the photo, that level of imagination often truly tickled me. That is every thing in the Monsters universe. So, anytime you can learn a small bit about a character in their backstory, with their loved ones or the residence that they reside in, the level of detail and imagination that these guys can take it to is so incredibly rewarding. It’s a larger payoff than would be common.

I adore that he’s such a incredibly snazzy dresser, particularly when it comes to a collared shirt beneath some sort of sweater or outerwear.

FILLION: Yeah, his outer shell does not bely his inner self. What’s harmful about him and what’s possibly not so good about him is that he’s such a good package on the outdoors.

‘Monsters at Work’s Johnny J. Worthington III is Defined By the Choices He Makes

How would you say his style represents him? Did you often know how he would sound, particularly soon after seeing him?

FILLION: I bear in mind seeing a drawing of him when I 1st began undertaking the voiceovers. They mentioned, “Here’s what your character is gonna look like.” I bear in mind searching at the script and doodling small versions of him with expressions on his face, just attempting to envision and scribble it out. While I was undertaking the actual recording, an individual leaned more than and mentioned, “Did you draw these? Hey, guys, look at what he did.” They have been creating a fuss. I believe what tells me the most about Johnny are his options and motivations. What motivates him? Why is he undertaking this? He has essential factors for why he’s undertaking every thing he’s undertaking. He’s got his personal issues and his personal responsibilities, and when he tends to make a decision, he’s a fearful particular person who’s afraid of failure and afraid of not living up to his father’s instance. He does not wanna be in the shadows. He does not wanna be small. He’s got a lot riding on this stuff and it tends to make him a small bit desperate. It tends to make him make terrible options. He’s weak, in that way. It requires a lot of strength to be robust adequate to be type. It’s uncomplicated to be imply. It’s uncomplicated to be uncaring. It’s when you open oneself up that is the genuine challenge. It was these sorts of options that he would make, that truly informed me as to what type of a monster he is.

When you are undertaking the voice functionality for a character like this, that you are revisiting at various points more than the course of 10 years, but he’s animated, he does not transform his age unless he’s drawn that way. Do you really feel like you are often discovering a thing new or various with him, just about every time you voice the character, or does it really feel like revisiting and catching up with an old buddy?

FILLION: It’s a small of each. If I was just watching this plan, I’d be studying about these characters as we go along. You discover by means of watching people’s options, and that is the exact same point with these characters. I just get to discover it a small faster than the audience simply because I get ahold of the script a small earlier. You see their journey and you see what’s essential to them and what matters to them. In his heart, this is exactly where he lives. If that is the finish-all be-all, every thing you do has to push into that target. I believe we continuously discover about men and women and about characters by means of their options, so I’m studying correct along with the audience. We’ve been by means of a lot with these guys, by means of extremely poignant moments of their careers, back to their schooling, the factors that shaped them, what brought them with each other as amazing close friends. And now, later on in life, we see exactly where they’ve come to, and we see them passing the torch to the subsequent generation as they come up. That’s genuine life. It’s the circle of Monster life.

What Was Nathan Fillion’s Reaction To Learning He’d Be Playing Green Lantern in the New DC Universe?

You have been close friends and collaborators with James Gunn for a extended time. What was it like when he came to you and mentioned, “How would you like to play a Green Lantern?” Was that how that conversation went?

FILLION: We have been basically at the premiere celebration soon after Suicide Squad and he was in a massive crowd of men and women. We saw every single other in the crowd and I congratulated him, “Oh, my God, that was amazing. It’s so great.” He goes, “Hey, did Peter [Safran] tell you what we’ve got for you next?” I mentioned, “No, he hasn’t said.” He looked about like an individual was gonna be listening. We have been in a throng of men and women, but he leaned more than and mentioned, “You’re gonna be Guy Gardner.” In my thoughts, it just says, “This guy is just firing on different cylinders and he’s taking things in different directions, and that’s what makes his stuff so satisfying and so fun to watch.” He’s got various concepts and they are so worthy.

I applied to gather comic books. I had a comic book rack in my space that you could spin. It had all these pockets and you could spin the rack. You applied to go to the drug shop and acquire comics, and they applied to have the rack. I remembered Guardians of the Galaxy and that I couldn’t relate to it in any way. I just couldn’t get into it for any explanation. Spider-Man held a thing for me. Batman had a thing that I truly liked inside. The X-Men, I couldn’t get adequate. But Guardians? Eh. And that film moved me. Those motion pictures make me really feel factors. And not just crying, but feeling joy and feeling connections and feeling the adore. It’s about loved ones. It’s so a great deal about loved ones. I just believe that is what James Gunn does very best. He says he’s considering of a thing else that we’re all considering of, and he just tends to make it so a great deal superior, and he tends to make the factors that matter to us all.

It also appears like that would not be a single of these projects that would really feel so a great deal like a a single-off simply because there could be motion pictures and Television shows, and you could be voicing the character in video games. There could be a lot of factors that come with signing on to play that character.

FILLION: Yes, certainly. What a mensch. He’s an incredible human.

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For an individual like you, who was such a fan of comic books, does your brain just explode with the possibility that you could be living with a character like that for a although?

FILLION: Constantly. The worst point to take place to an individual in my position, as an actor, is to be forgotten, and men and women like James Gunn retain undertaking factors that make it not possible for men and women to neglect that we’re out right here and we’re telling stories. He’s on an amazing journey and he keeps turning about and saying to me, “Come on, let’s go!”

Without saying a thing that would get either a single of us in problems, why do you really feel like you are nicely-suited to play this version of Green Lantern?

FILLION: The reality is that men and women have flaws. We all have quirks. We all have vulnerabilities. You could have the most excellent loved ones, but be like, “Oh, my God, my dad drives me nuts. He’s got this one thing.” Everybody’s got a thing, and I adore to lean into these faults and flaws. It’s what tends to make men and women genuine and what makes it possible for audiences to relate, simply because we all know what that is. We all have our personal. We witness it in other men and women. Guy Gardner is 90% flawed and does not care. That’s a single of his flaws. I believe there’s a genuine freedom in playing that. So, for a guy who likes to play flaws and flawed men and women, Guy Gardner is a gold mine.

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Monsters at Work is obtainable to stream on Disney+. Check out the trailer:

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