Be warned that this contains vague musings on the possible direction of Spike for the rest of this season:
Love Bites!
As ‘Buffy’ settles into its sixth season, Spike is still a vampire lacking in bite thanks to the inhibitor chip in his head. He may not be able to be violent, but he can’t help falling in love: with the Slayer! That’s just another part of the job for James Marsters.
Words: Abbie Bernstein
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Spike is arguably one of the most dynamic characters to be found in genre television these days. A vampire with a nasty reputation, homicidal habits and a tongue as sharp as his fangs, it’s a toss-up as to whether Spike is more appalled by the chip in his brain that prevents him from attacking humans or by the fact that he’s helplessly in love with a vampire slayer.
It’s hard to appreciate just how remarkable his performance is until one encounters actor James Marsters in person. While many actors seem to put a lot of their own personas into the characters they play, Marsters draws Spike from somewhere that’s not on public display. His attitude, body language and even accent (Spike sounds like a South-east Londoner, whereas Marsters’ accent reflects his Northern California roots) are completely different. But most of all, where Spike despises socialising, Marsters wholeheartedly embraces meeting people - workmates, fans, even journalists.
Marsters cheerfully acknowledges in an interview on the Paramount lot that it helps that he’s proud of ‘Buffy’. “I’m blessed because I like my job. There are a lot of TV shows where someone would have to work very hard to come up with good things to say about [their] show. A lot of shows suck. Actors who work on shows that suck know it. This is very easy. I don’t have to edit myself, because I actually think my show is great.”
In Marsters’ view, what’s right about ‘Buffy’ starts at the top with creator Joss Whedon and the series’ leading lady. “Sarah Michelle Gellar rocks. She’s a total pleasure to work with. I can’t say enough about her. She’s easily half of the reason that the job’s so [much] fun.”
The actor sounds positively in awe of series creator Joss Whedon and the ‘Buffy’ writing staff, who he says have taught him much about characterisation. For instance, the fifth season episode ‘Fool for Love’ revealed that in his mortal life, far from being a holy terror, Spike had been a sensitive, poetry-writing nerd. “I would have said that he was a bad-ass punk rocker”, Marsters laughs. “I have the imagination of a gerbil. To let the audience see the world through your character’s eyes, you have to be human, which means you have to be fallible. You need to bump into walls and smell bad sometimes. The audience wants to be cool, and so they will respond to a really cool character, but their real interests are with the characters they can recognise themselves in. The interesting thing about the character, from the beginning, was that on the one hand, he was a real sociopathic killer who really enjoyed torturing people, but then again, he was a very sensitive and attentive lover.”
Acting is more than a profession for Marsters. If it weren’t for performing, he opines, “I would be in jail. Acting saved me from a lot of self-destructive behaviour, hanging around with the wrong kind of people, looking for a certain kind of adventure, I guess.”
Still, some of the rougher times have provided a useful frame of reference. “An actor should try to live as wide a life as possible”, Marsters believes, “because you almost never play an actor. You always play a fisherman or a politician or something else. Experience is good. Those [bad] days certainly helped me with Spike.”
Marsters studied acting at Julliard and went on to co-found the New Mercury Theatre Company, moving from Chicago to Seattle. Last year, he appeared on stage in Los Angeles at the Hudson Theatre in ‘The Why’, a play about high-school shootings. This year, he filmed an episode of ‘Andromeda’ as Archduke Charlegmagne Bolivar. “That was fun - I got to be a big prick in that.”
In the feature film arena, Marsters completed a starring role opposite ‘Buffy’ colleague Amber Benson (Tara), in ‘Chance’, which Benson wrote, produced and directed. “She put a tight crew together”, Marsters enthuses. “I’ve always been impressed with her as an actor, but as a director and as a writer and big time as a producer, she’s a total professional. I’d work with her again any time.”
Marsters is particularly excited about his appearance with Roger Daltrey in the ‘Jimi Hendrix Blues’ episode of VH-1's fantasy anthology ‘Strange Frequency’. “[It’s] about a roadie who sells his soul to the Devil to become a rock god. Well, I was shooting with Roger Daltrey, so he was right there. The [onscreen] band were all musicians, and we would play music together on the sides. I like blues-driven rock. It fitted [me] perfectly.”
Marsters continues to regularly appear at LA-area clubs playing and singing when he’s not busy acting. He is also among the ‘Buffy’ cast members who often gather at Joss Whedon’s home to socialise and make music. Of course, Spike sings in the ‘Buffy’ musical episode ‘Once More, With Feeling’. Marsters is full of praise for Whedon’s abilities as a composer and lyricist. “[Whedon writes] very complicated chord progressions, but doesn’t know musical theory, so it’s all by ear, so it’s almost unfair.”
For the past two seasons, John Medlin has been the ‘Buffy’ stunt co-ordinator. According to Marsters, Medlin’s increased input has allowed work to progress more swiftly. “They are letting John Medlin almost direct some of the stunt sequences, which simplifies things greatly - it’s a lot quicker. It’s just the [fight] choreographer going ‘Right here, take a punch’. They’ve put in a lot more gymnastic moves for Buffy. I think we’re going to see more wire gags.”
As far as Spike’s stunts go, Marsters relates, “They let me do almost anything. If my feet leave the ground, then [it’s] not me - it’s [Marsters’ stunt double] Steve Tartaglia. If he’s falling out of a building, hitting cement or flipping up and doing wild kung fu kicks and stuff, that’s going to be Steve, but everything else is me. So it’s about 70 per cent me and about 30 per cent Steve but that 30 per cent that Steve’s doing is all the really cool stuff!”
However, most of Spike’s punch-ups are handled by Marsters. “In a way, stunt fighting requires more control than real fighting, because in real fighting, you’re just going for your target and right through. In fake fighting, you have to pass through a very narrow corridor to sell it as a punch for the camera angle and still be a safe distance. So it’s [a] kind of dance.”
There are real risks involved. “Stuntmen are instructed if they clip [actually hit] actors, they get fired,” Marsters explains, “so I always tell stuntmen that, ‘If you clip me, I will deny it. So don’t be careful.’ I’d much rather get a good shot than be too careful. But it’s dangerous work. People do get popped in the nose a little bit.”
As for what will happen with Spike this season, Marsters claims not to know, but he would like to see the vampire get that violence-inhibiting chip out of his head. “I hope so”, he says fervently. “I don’t know [if it will happen]. The thing is, now that he’s in love with Buffy, he’s got a real good reason not to kill people. But [if the chip is removed], then he gets to decide not to, which I think is more interesting than [having the choice] taken out of his hands.”
Chipped or not, Marsters reminds us that “[Spike is] a soulless slime. He is an evil character who is in love with someone who is good, so in order to be the kind of man that she could love, he will try to be good. Do I think that Buffy will ever reciprocate Spike’s affection? No. I think I’m totally beneath her. I think she’s a good person who knows right from wrong. I think that Spike is just wrong. No matter what he tries to do to impress her, he’s evil. I stuck her with a cattle prod just a few months ago - come on!”, he laughs.
Still, the smitten Spike will likely continue to follow Buffy’s lead. “However she feels about the situation”, Marsters observes, “he’ll probably try to help her.” The vamp can’t help it. “He’s love’s bitch.”
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