The Serenity’s crew is an odd assortment of characters each aboard for their own reasons. The personalities of each of the crew and how they interact with each other is one of the greatest strengths of the series. All cast members are back in the big screen feature film, Serenity.

Malcom “Mal” Reynolds - The Captain (Nathan Fillion)

A former soldier that lost in the battle against unification of the planets by the Alliance, Mal now captain’s the Serenity with his main goal to keep the ship flying and its crew intact. His desire for a normal life is a constant conflict with his desire to stay in space. He’s witty and very bitter over losing the war, and sometimes flies on the shady side smuggling, stealing, and conducting illegal salvage operations...but he has his limits and won’t murder, kidnap or participate in the slave trade - though he certainly won’t hesitate to shoot if needed. There are very few people he trusts and is still very upset they lost the war.

Nathan Fillion was most recently seen as one of the stars of Two Guys and a Girl as Johnny Donnelly. He aslo appeared in Saving Private Ryan, Dracula 2000, Blast from the Past and more. He also appeared in the final episodes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer playing evil priest Caleb.

Zoe - The Soldier (Gina Torres)

A loyal comrade during the war, Zoe serves on board the Serenity along with her husband, Wash. Has the strength and experience to take command when needed. She is a serious bad-ass as likely to punch or shoot someone as she is to talk. One of the few Mal trusts and she would follow him to hell and back.

Gina Torres starred in the syndicated series Cleopatra 2525 though she’s also been in Hercules and Xena, Alias, 24 and many others. She also ha a role in Matrix 2 and 3 and appeared in season 4 of Joss Whedon’s other series, Angel. She married Matrix star Lawrence Fishburne in 2003.
 

Wash - The Pilot (Alan Tudyk)

Zoe’s husband, Wash is very calm, laid back with a sense of humor but is otherwise pretty unassuming and far from the hero type. Zoe loves him and his calm demeanor...but just might have a thing for the Captain as well. He can be a bit jealous and doesn’t like the way Zoe tends to blindly (in his opinion) Mal’s orders.

Alan Tudyk - has been in a number of stage performances as well as being several voices in Ice Age. He’s had roles in A Knight’s Tale, 28 Days, Hearts in Atlantis and Patch Adams. He has the title role in I, Robot and appeared in Dodgeball.

Kaylee - The Mechanic (Jewel Staite)

The ship’s engineer, Kaylee prefers life on her ship to any planet. She is young, sexy, and relentlessly cheery. She loves life, the ship, and is fiercely protective of Serenity. She has an intuitive sense for ships and how to fix them and does not want to let the Captain down in keeping Serenity running smoothly.

Jewel Straite - At nineteen, Jewel has already been an actress for 13 years. She’s been seen in The X-Files as well as The Immortal, Seven Days, So Weird, and films Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Dangerous Care and Goldiggers.

 

Inara - The Ambassador (Morena Baccarin)

A “Companion” by trade, no one seems to know what such a high-priced working girl is doing on the very low class Serenity. She’s elegant, educated, and beautiful. She maintains her own space - a shuttle on the ship - and only has the high class and decent clientele. Prostitution is legal on almot all planets and she is nicknamed “The Ambassador” by the crew since most worlds won’t dock with a ship without a decent companion aboard. She doesn’t count the crew among the her clients.

Morena Baccarin is making her TV debut in Firefly coming from the world of theatre and independent films including Way Off Broadway and Perfume.

Jayne - The Mercenary (Adam Baldwin)

Big, tough, gruff and often unpleasant, Jayne is a loyal soldier...till he gets a better offer. He’s good in a fight, but would sell out the crew in a heartbeat if there was something in it for him. He develops a begrudging respect for Mal and the rest of the crew - but if a better offer does come along, you never know where Jayne might go.

Adam Baldwin was most recently seen in the recurring role of Knowle Rohrer in the last season of the X-Files. He also had roles in Independence Day, The Patriot, Wyatt Earp, and Full Metal Jacket as well as appearing in the final episodes of Joss Whedon’s series Angel.

Simon Tam - The Doctor (Sean Maher)

Often disagreeing with the Captain, Simon comes from a wealthy family with a privaledged upbringing quite different from his life aboard the Serenity. He was in favor of the Alliance which puts him at odds with Mal. River is his sister and is fiercely protective of her. Once he displays his skill at planning capers though, he fits in a little better with even Jayne giving him some respect.

Sean Maher has been in 3 Fox dramas, Party of Five, The $treet, and Ryan Caulfield: Year One as well as having the title role as Brian Piccolo in Disney’s TV remake of Brian’s Song.

River Tam - The Fugitive (Summer Glau)

River is a lot like other teens - except that she can read most minds and is being sought by the Alliance. Simon is her brother who will do anything to protect her. She is extremely smart, severely disturbed and a teenager. She tends to blurt out what she (and everyone around her) is thinking.

Summer Glau guest starred in Angel as a ballerina before getting this, her first series regular role. She’s a classically trained dancer who has also appeared in a variety of theatre productions.

 

Book - The Shepard - (Ron Glass)

A priest and missionary, he’s the older and wiser member of the crew. He wants to see the universe and wants to spread hope everywhere he goes. While he’s found God, he’s not sure if he’s found himself. He’s well educated and spends a lot of leisure time with Inara...just to talk, of course.

Ron Glass has been in a number of series including Barney Miller and a number of others including stage, tv and film work.