'Mothman' and 'Firefly' actress Jewel Staite

Jewel Staite is probably the happiest person with whom I've spoken all year—so much so that transcribing my conversation with her just put me in a better mood. We're supposed to be talking about the Syfy veteran's new film Mothman, but we rapidly get sidetracked, instead opting to discuss Louisiana; the availability (...ish) of strong female roles on television; and especially Firefly, that cult TV show from 2002 and perennial geek classic. Looks like the cast of that show is still just as obsessed with it as its fans are. Enjoy the interview!

So let’s talk about how you got involved with doing Mothman.
Well, I got a script offer last summer; the Syfy channel has always been really good to me, and they originally told me it was going to shoot in my hometown, in Vancouver, so I signed on. Then pretty much last-minute it got switched to Louisiana. [laughs] And I’d never been anywhere near Louisiana, so I didn’t know what to expect. All of a sudden, though, I was on a plane and I was on my way, and it turns out I totally loved it. Now Louisiana is one of my favorite places in the world. It was just a joy. It was great.

Louisiana seems like such a cool place; it’s so cool that you got to film there!
Oh, it was awesome. Have you been there?

No, but I’d really like to.
It’s amazing! First of all, I really love the music down there; I’ve always loved the music down there. The big jazz bands. Put that with the fantastic food… [laughs] Then add the beautiful architecture, and it’s just kind of the perfect place for me, so I just adored it. It’s a great, great place. Tons of fun; really amazing people. It was awesome.

It seems like the ultimate road trip destination.
Definitely, yes. I want to travel more around the South—I’d love to hit up Georgia, you know, see Savannah and all that kind of stuff. I just love that architecture. One of these days I might do a Southern U.S. road trip.

The Southern U.S. also has a very different attitude toward living.
Totally! It’s a more relaxed way of life, definitely, and I live in L.A., where there’s tons of traffic and definitely a lot of hustle and bustle. It’s very health-conscious there, and in the South everyone just kicks back and drinks juleps and eats mac ‘n’ cheese. [laughs] I was like, “This is amazing!”

Tell me about it. I live in New York now, and I’m moving to L.A. next year for college, and it’s just…
From one crazy city to another, yeah.

So I’m already thinking, “Oh, for my winter break, maybe I can visit New Orleans!”
I know! You have to go down there and relax. [laughs] Get out of L.A.!

I’d love to. By the way, you mentioned that Syfy has been really good to you in the past, and you certainly have done a lot of sci-fi projects. Was that intentional?
It’s kind of been a coincidence. I just wanted to pick really strong, interesting characters to play, and I think in the sci-fi genre there are a lot of those roles written, which is really great, so it just kind of turned out that way.

It’s great that there are so many in sci-fi, but it’s kind of frustrating that outside that genre there aren’t nearly as many great roles for women.
Yeah, yeah, unfortunately. I mean, unless you’re a lawyer or a detective, which is really prevalent right now on primetime television. It’s kind of nice to have that option; thank goodness for sci-fi.

Yeah, and if you ever get sick of space, you can go be a crime-solver. There ya go.
[laughs] Absolutely! There’s always that.

Honestly, one of my favorite female characters on television right now is Kate Beckett on Castle.
Yeah, she’s pretty great. She’s a strong female, for sure. I like that she’s not totally straight-faced; I mean, she gets to be funny, and working opposite that guy… Nathan Fillion is kind of a jokester anyway, so I’m sure they had to search for a female lead who could compete with that sense of humor. [laughs]

Everyone on that show plays off him really well. The woman playing his mother is hysterical.
Yeah, she truly is. She’s great.

Have you kept in touch with him since doing Firefly?
Oh, absolutely! Definitely. Yeah, we’re actually all in touch, pretty much the whole Firefly cast, still, which is kind of ridiculous. [laughs] It’s been a long time, but we definitely bonded on that show. And Nathan was actually the best man at my wedding.

Oh, no kidding!
Yeah, so to say we’re still close is definitely an understatement. We’re all still very good friends.

I’ve talked to people who think it’s ridiculous that Firefly fans are still obsessing over a show that was on for one season years ago, but I think it’s justified in light of the fact that you guys are just as obsessed.
Totally! Nathan keeps doing shout-outs on Castle; I love it. [laughs] I think the fanbase has realized that the chemistry we had on the show was really real. I think you can tell that we genuinely did care about each other and it was not just acting. But, yeah, it certainly was a special time of my life, and I’m really glad that other people were so affected by it because we certainly were.

And, like you, a lot of the other Firefly actors have stayed in sci-fi. Morena Baccarin is on V—
Yeah, that’s right! She gets to play the baddie, finally. [laughs]

Exactly. And Gina Torres has done a lot of other shows with Joss Whedon that were within…
That were staying within that vein, yeah, absolutely. I think we’ve all been really lucky; I mean, who would have thought a show that only aired eleven episodes could propel our careers in such a way? So, yeah, we’ve definitely been really fortunate.

Even if it didn’t stay on the network, it’s great Firefly resonated so much with fans.
Absolutely. Yeah, after all, that’s how the movie got made: the outpouring of fans that demanded it. So I’ll always be indebted to them.

Well, I’m sure Joss was happy to oblige!
Yeah, he always said he wanted to continue the story, even if he had to do Firefly puppet theatre. [laughter] He would do it. And we were like, “Totally, Joss! We’ll follow you wherever you go!”

I am curious… in light of revelations that there will be a sequel to Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, is there any chance you will be involved with that?
Well, I haven’t been approached, but if Joss were to ask me I would… definitely consider it. I mean, I don’t know how great a singer I am… but I would love to be involved with anything Joss is doing. He’s a brilliant man, and he’s one of my favorite directors I’ve ever worked with. So I would be glad to join, definitely.

What would you have done if Firefly had lasted long enough for him to write a musical episode?
[beat] I don’t know! [laughs] That thought always terrified me, and I know I wasn’t the only one in the cast. A bunch of us were like, “Please don’t do that! We’re not musically talented!”

Well, except Nathan, obviously.
Right. He’s great. He actually used to host a karaoke night—he let that slip a few years ago—which I thought was hilarious. He’s definitely a jack-of-all-trades. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had been a ballet dancer at some point in his life. I think he’s one of those people who can do anything; it’s really frustrating.

Now I really want to see him dancing ballet.
I know, right? [laughs] He should be on Dancing with the Stars! [laughs] Oh, he’s gonna kill me… he’s gonna kill me for saying that.

The cast of Firefly should reunite and form a dance troupe.
Totally. You know what? I’m gonna pitch that idea to Joss. [laughs] Especially if he puts me in Dr. Horrible too.

Do it. Let’s see it happen.
[laughs] I’m going to!

You can catch Mothman on Syfy.