I’m torn about even posting this but I think I owe it to Nathan Fillion to make sure that people on my blog and on twitter know that he finally responded to the eternal twine joke and that he declined publicly on reddit so we should just leave him alone.
A very sweet fan asked on reddit if he was aware of our request for a ridiculous picture of himself holding twine and he responded to her:
Sigh. Please understand. I’m an actor. I act, tell stories, all for a living. My job is not to respond to every demand placed upon me from an audience on the Internet. I don’t do those things because I don’t feel it’s right to ask. I don’t ask those things of my gardener, the guy at the car wash, or the kid who bags my groceries. Why ask it of someone because they are an actor? Is that being fair? The argument could be made that its only one request, but then how many people would be unhappy that it wasn’t their request I responded to? Not all actors care about things like this, but I do. It’s just a product of my experience. The more people push, the meaner it gets, the more uncomfortable it is for me. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I hope we can all put it in the past with no hard feelings. I don’t have any.
Hi. I’m the chick who asked for the twine picture a billion years ago (in internet time). Thanks so much for finally answering this question. Without a response I had no way of knowing if you were okay with me continuing to joke about it or not, but now that I know I can happily give up my ridiculous quest. Thanks for responding and I wish you luck in your fabulous career. Please know that I only chose you because you seem like a good sport, you’re as active on twitter as I am and I’ve always loved your work.
Just to answer a few other questions brought up here in the comments, I did originally offer Nathan $750 for himself or for his charity to take the picture (because as an author I’m a big fan of his get-kids-to-read-charity). After that it just became a running gag that I thought wouldn’t hurt someone of his stature from my little blog. When I go on book tour (leaving again in a few days) “Has Nathan Fillion ever held twine” is the number one question I get. People love you and so they want that connection with you and think it’s easy to think that we all have a one-on-one connection with you.
On the other side of the coin, I’m asked for ridiculous things and pictures all of the time and try to do them because I only have 1/6th of the twitter audience that you have and so it’s easier for me. Also, my only job is to be a storyteller so I have much more time to be ridiculous. (And I’m not referring to being a “famous blogger” which I would never classify myself as. I {surprisingly} have a book on the NYT list about all the ways that I have mortified myself. It’s a very thick book.)
I do appreciate you taking the time to answer this and from now on when people ask if you’ve taken the twine picture instead of answering “I still have hope” I will say that you’ve respectfully declined and I’m sure my fans will just be happy that you responded.
Thanks for not having any hard feelings and good luck with all you do in the future!
In related news (and this is the last I will say on the subject out of respect for Nathan Fillion’s feelings) my husband is my gardener, the guy who washes my car and the person who helps me with my groceries and he said he didn’t really want to pose with a ball of twine either.
Point, Nathan Fillion.