Nathan Fillion

Born: March 27 1971
Where: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The actor made his mark when he brought his TV role of Captain Mal Reynolds to the big screen in the sci-fi adventure Serenity.

Other feature appearances have included the spoof horror Slither and the sci-fi sequel White Noise: The Light.

The son of teachers, he originally intended to teach English in high school but went on to study art while acting in his spare time.

After working in local theatre and TV, he moved to New York in 1994 where he was nominated for a daytime Emmy award for the role of Joey Buchanan in the soap One Life To Live.

Relocating to Los Angeles, he landed the supporting role as a jukebox repairman in the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place.

In 1999, he had a memorable cameo role as "the Minnesota Ryan" in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.

However, it was as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the Joss Whedon science fiction TV Firefly for which he won the Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award.

However, the show - despite a loyal following - performed badly and was pulled leaving Fillion "heartbroken".

Next up was the recurring role of the villainous Calebo in the final season of Whedon's series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In 2005, Whedon managed to resurrect the doomed Firefly project, unite the original cast and make the acclaimed sci-fi action thriller Serenity.

Fillion followed this up with the role of the local sheriff Bill Pardy in the underrated horror-comedy Slither in 2006.

Recent work includes the sci-fi horror sequel White Noise: The Light as a widower with paranormal powers.