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Before he was the face of hit cop drama The Rookie (or a familiar face to space-cop drama Lanterns), nathan Fillion was getting his ass kicked by one of the best to ever do it - Sarah Michelle Gellar's titular character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And while the show was no doubt a positive experience for the actor, the whole ass-kickery of it all did permanently affect how he approached one element of his acting career.

That is, the stunts.

The story came up as part of The Rookie panel hosted by Hulu at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Fillion, who plays lead character John Nolan in the hit cop drama, was joined by a host of cast and crew, who were all asked as part of their discussion - in a show as action-packed as The Rookie, how do you approach stunts?

"The youthful Nathan," Fillion began, "Had a very, 'Oh, I wanna do my own stunts like Tom Cruise' attitude. Then 32 year old Nathan got kicked in the knee on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's never been the same.

In case you forgot, Buffy fan, Fillion plays the sadistic Caleb, a seemingly-innocuous priest who is actually a servant of the First Evil. And while we wish Fillion himself no harm, seeing a character like Caleb get the crap beat out of him was always a pretty satisfying event. It only sucks that it came at a cost.

"Ever since," Fillion concluded, "I'm more mature. Recently, I say 'I can't wait to see how my stunt double does this.'"

For all the trouble that Officer Nolan has gotten into across 8 seasons of Hulu's hit cop drama, we're thankful for that. Especially since, the way season 9 is shaping up, that's not going to stop anytime soon. In other words, we're also excited to see what you do, Nathan's Stunt Double.

The Rookie season 9 debuts on Hulu January 2027.

Want to catch up with Hulu's hit cop drama? Let Popverse share everything we know about The Rookie's season 9.