When "Castle" made its debut in 2009 with Nathan Fillion portraying the charismatic crime novelist Rick Castle and Stana Katic playing the tough-as-nails Detective Kate Beckett, nobody expected that the show would last up to eight seasons, much less Fillion himself.
"It's officially the longest I have ever done anything," the actor told Stuff NZ. "What happens when you play a character for eight years? I have become invested in characters I have played for far shorter periods of time, so to say I am invested in Richard Castle is something of an understatement."
Fillion has already done over 150 episodes of the series. The show's success can be attributed to the love angle between Castle and Beckett, and it was only during its fifth season that producers caved in to fans' desire to unite the two.
They got engaged in the sixth season, then got married in the seventh. Many assumed that the show will lose its appeal once the two got together, but if anything, their union only bolstered the show. This is why a lot of fans are very upset that season 8 separated their favorite couple, although the new showrunners insist that the two remain "desperately in love with each other."
Aside from the steamy relationship between Castle and Beckett, Fillion suspects that the show's success has something to do with their realistic approach to solving murders.
"I like to think of it as being not tricked up," Fillion said. "It's simple, real."
To make this connection to reality possible, Fillion and the other cast and crew members observed and talked to as many individuals in the police line of work as they can.
"We met a lot of homicide detectives when we were filming the pilot in New York, and these guys were not dark, haunted, brooding, take-off-your-glasses, husky voiced guys," he shared. "They were just regular guys."
As for Fillion's observation, he believes that cops, just like everybody else, want to live a normal and happy life, and it just so happens that they are good in solving mysteries and find fulfilment in seeing justice served.
"They just have very funny stories which happen to start with, so this guy gets killed... I think they enjoy their work, they're not haunted by their work, they're there because they're good at it, they enjoy it and it satisfies them in some way," he said.
