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10 JULY
“You guys like watching me getting humiliated…” |
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James Marsters: “You guys like watching me getting humiliated…”
James Marsters has been a really busy guy lately. He’s returned to Smallville as Brainiac, taken on the role of Piccolo in the upcoming big screen version of Dragonball, had a recurring role on Torchwood, had a cameo as real-life serial killer Ted Bundy in the TV miniseries The Green River Killer and played a number of concerts in support of his new album, Like a Waterfall. Talking with the audience at Creation Entertainment’s Grand Slam convention in Burbank, California, Marsters talked about his latest projects and looked back at his time on Buffy.
After attending Star Trek conventions in your childhood, how did it feel the first time you were a convention guest yourself?
It makes me appreciate that you guys are letting your freak out! I had a lot of the best times of my life with Spock ears [at conventions]. There are a lot of intelligent, interesting, wonderfully weird people in my fan base.
How was it filming Dragonball in the extensive Piccolo make-up?
The first time we did the make-up, it took 17 hours, so four hours seemed like nothing. My costume looked great, but I couldn’t breathe in it.
Any surprises in doing a big budget movie?
I suspect it’s going to turn out really well, but so much is done in post-production, it’s difficult to gauge. In Durango, they wanted Piccolo to be more beautiful, and I wanted him to be old, decrepit and ugly. There are no mirrors in prison. [The character has been in prison for two thousand years.]
The character started out looking young and beautiful. I went to the make-up artist and said, ‘The producers want the character to be beautiful, but the producers ain’t here. And we’re going to put back with paint what they took away with the sculpt [prosthetics make-up].’ The director agreed with me. I would rather have been fired than mess up Piccolo.
Will fans of the Dragonball and Dragonball Z series like the movie?
There have been some changes, but it’s true to the heart of Dragonball.
What was it like playing serial killer Ted Bundy?
The first thing is, I walked on set and the director said, ‘You look exactly like Ted Bundy!’…A friend of mine, [playwright] John Pielmeier, wrote it, which is one of the reasons I did it. A killer thinks everyone else is a killer – [in their minds] they’re just protecting themselves…It’s okay when you’re shooting, but after, when you go home, you feel dirty.
How was the Buffy reunion at the Paley Center, when you were on stage with Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar and other Buffy cast and writers?
From my side, it was kind of a letdown – there were good questions, but we didn’t say anything really dangerous. Well, Seth [Green] did. I felt like we were trying to protect something. I felt like the audience was ready, but we weren’t.
How did you feel about not being a Big Bad on Buffy?
I was really, really, really mad about not being a Big Bad. [Marsters found out that as a regular, Spike was supposed to be pathetic.] But you guys like watching me get humiliated. I decided to suffer as beautifully as I could, with dignity.
How did you feel about the end of Buffy as a series?
The end of that show was not about Spike, it was about the Potentials. I would have liked the Potentials not to have been on the show. Lovely women, but I would have liked [Spike] to have chosen to sacrifice himself.
Would you rather do a Buffy/Spike movie or a Spike/Drusilla movie?
I had this idea [for a Spike movie] for Spike in London. We never saw Spike proactively say, ‘I want that’ – he’s a loser, he should want something very small. He tries to date a new woman and tries to keep her from finding out he’s a vampire – I think it would be hilarious. She finds out he’s a vamp, is disgusted [and leaves him]. He tries to fight a monster – it blows up to six times as big as he thought it was. He runs away saying, ‘I need a witch, I need a librarian …’ He does get a new pair of boots at the end.
If Spike and Angel were hanging from a cliff and Xander could only save one, who would he save?
Spike, ‘cause he’s a little lighter. I think Xander would ask, ‘Do I have to save either?’
What do you think of Spike in the new Angel Season Six comics?
I haven’t read the comics, but I’m very afraid of this. I don’t have to re-enact the character [for the comics], but I feel like [Spike is] my character, too.
Who’d win in a fight, Spike or Brainiac?
How good a weapon is humour? I’d wish Spike would win, but Brainiac has superpowers …
Do you have a favourite character you’ve played onstage?
Macbeth, because that’s a very mature look at evil as a product of human choices.
What makes you cry?
Thinking about my kids, or if I lose hope for a few hours...I can be a subversive artist just by crying in public. |
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NEWS INTERVIEW
IN
RADIO TIMES |
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James Marsters Interview (January 2008)
Best known as rock 'n' roll vampire Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Marsters is the latest addition to the cast of Torchwood. He plays Time Agent Captain John Hart, the dark reflection of John Barrowman's heroic Captain Jack.
Is Captain John American or English?
He's English. I come from the stage so you develop an accent for anything that you might be cast for, so I have a workable German, French, Russian. I have a fair Italian in my pocket too.
There's a joke in there somewhere… So, tell us about Captain John.
He's a doppelgänger for Captain Jack, which is to say that he's enough like the lead to shed new light on him. I am a Time Agent just like Captain Jack but unlike him I haven't reformed - I am not trying to dump my past and become a good person.
So I come to Earth fully thinking that Jack has got some scam going, that he's conning somebody, and I'm really impressed by the con because he's got so many toys. But he won't let me in on it and that p****s me off, frankly. I ultimately find out that it's not a con, that it's actually real, and I don't understand that. My basic job is to seduce Jack back to the dark side.
So you're the bad guy?
I'm very bad - I love it. I mean, they only let Spike [who Marsters played in Buffy the Vampire Slayer] be bad for three episodes, then they put him in a wheelchair and they took his teeth out and beat him on the head and made him wear a dress. John is just unrepentant evil which is so fun to play. Sociopaths are the best.
The jacket John wears looks slightly Adam Ant.
Hell, yeah! Basically, he's got a jacket from fighting in the Napoleonic wars. He's got a snakeskin sword from Korea that I think he had to kill someone for, his boots are from Italy circa 1640 and he's got gun holsters from the American West.
If you have a cool costume it all goes well. It affects you as an actor - you walk around, you feel cool.
Torchwood's a sexy show - everyone fancies everyone. Anyone John has his eye on?
John's a Time Agent and I understand Time Agents go for anything with a postal code, which is wonderful. So John's got his eye on everyone, including a poodle that he sees. Seriously, it's in the script - "Look at him/her; oh my god that's beautiful." "That's a poodle."
John's from the 51st century. What's futuristic about him?
Well, he has a different perspective with regards to sexuality. And a different perspective with regards to power and money.
When he talks about sexuality, it amazes him that people can only love one person. It just seems like a real waste. When he says he can make a lot of money, he's talking about enough money to buy a planet. And power - he's used to a level of power that Earthlings don't understand, and that leads… Well, if you have ruled or destroyed entire planets or tried to conquer a whole galaxy, then the workings of one planet seem a bit tame.
The role must be quite a laugh…?
Oh my God, dude, I'm having the time of my life! I don't think I've had this much fun on a set in my life, to tell you the truth.
Were you a fan of Doctor Who or Torchwood before you joined the show?
I knew Who from the '70s. I knew the fuzzy headed Who [Tom Baker] and loved him well. But I've moved around America all my life - California, New York, Chicago, Seattle - and [the show] does not get into all of those markets, so it was kind of hard.
In America only the really smart, cool people had the Doctor Who t-shirts, so if you see that - "Oh, I wanna talk to you". Also, artists, writers, they know Doctor Who. I was on a music tour about eight months ago and one of my tour managers, Lisa Power, said that she wouldn't go out to the bar with me after the show because Doctor Who was on, so if I wanted to hang out with her I had to bring my bottle up to the room, so I did.
About 15 minutes into the episode, I was convinced that I wanted to be on that show, so I called my manager, who was in the next room, and he called Russell [T Davies] and asked if there was any room for me on the show - and he said "No" [laughs]. But they said they would be willing to put me on Torchwood. And Lisa said, "Oh my God, I love Torchwood more than Doctor Who! Go on that!" My only real question was, is Russell T Davies producing this as well? They said "Yes". That was all I needed.
What was it like coming into an existing ensemble cast?
That's the point - they are a true ensemble cast, they support each other, they understand that their performance is dependent on everyone else's. So I was welcomed with open arms. I love the cast. There's no egos, man. There's nobody saying, "Look at me" or "I need more attention".
Eve [Myles, who plays Gwen Cooper] is God's gift. I have never worked with an actress who is that cool, that game for violence. We have quite a lot of physical stuff and, look, I'm used to Buffy Summers, man, so every time we did a stunt it was like, "Are you OK?" or "I actually touched you - oh my God!" And Eve was like, "Try to hurt me, pal. Bet you a pound you can't hurt me!" [laughs].
John Barrowman's a larger than life character on set, I believe…
The first day on the set I was a little taken aback (I have issues. I had a weird childhood) [laughs]. And he noticed that I was a little uncomfortable with how forward everyone was with each other. The first day he saw me kinda going, "Oh my God". And the second day we do a big fight scene and he's a totally different person - 'cos he knows that I am weak, basically, and scared, and he totally changes. He's my acting partner and he wants to know what I'm comfortable with, what I'm not comfortable with, and how we can protect each other during the day.
He is a natural born leader and he sees everything on the set, he notices everybody's mood and he acts in a way that helps. I felt safe with him. I felt like I had a true acting partner, 'cos we both come from the stage and we understand what that means.
But the dude's playing a Time Agent who will stick it into any hole he can find, so he's in character and that's what he's thinking. One day he drives up to the set in a big red sports car, gets out, looks at me and goes, "I just did that car. I just had her." And I'm in character too, so I'm like, "Well, she's winkin' at you. I'd do her too." He's like, "The gas cap, man, that's a nice hole." I'm like, "She's winkin' at me now too, I might have to take your lady. Can I have her?" "Yeah." "Nah, I already had her." [laughs] They took the freaky Yank and they broke him in!
You and John are both musical as well. Any collaborations in the pipeline?
I'd love to. He has a fabulous voice. But I don't think he has the time. He's filming, like, three television shows right now. But I did get to play with Gareth [David Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones]. I played The Point [in Dublin] and he got up on stage and sang a Doors song with me, which was just fabulous. I think it was the highpoint of the evening.
Which song?
Roadhouse Blues. It's on YouTube, bro.
Do you get recognised as Spike without the bleached hair?
Yeah.
Do you get tired of that?
I believe that celebrity is toxic to the human soul. I don't want to lose [my celebrity] but I have kept it at arm's length.
My fans are really great, they're very sensitive, they don't cross any boundaries, but at the same time I realise that I can't let their kind words affect me too much or I'll start to think I'm really cool - and as an artist you're going to lose your ability to be human if you start to think of yourself as a star. I mean, somebody flew in from another country yesterday just to stand on the street and watch the action. That is so good for the ego that you have to be careful…
What about Spike? It was left open whether the character was dead or not. Do you see yourself playing him again?
I'd love to. I told Joss [Whedon, Buffy creator] that he had seven years. He approached me about a movie at the end of Angel and I said, "Dude, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. But you have seven years because my character's immortal and I am not." I'm ageing and Spike shouldn't. One of the cool things about vampires is they're immortal…
You seem to be a bit of an anglophile…?
It sounds weird but all the smart kids in my public school growing up were anglophiles. There's something about the language, I think. I don't know. Just a fantasy of another culture that might be smarter, and smart people in America hunger for smarter culture. The Italians developed opera, the French developed ballet and the English developed the language. As an actor, I can dance, but not that well, I can sing, but I'm no opera singer - but I can talk real well. So, Eng-land!
What have you been up to on your days off from Torchwood?
I do not have them. This is my one day off. I'm spending it with my girlfriend, Patricia, who is my secret weapon: we were doing a fight scene and all the fight crew were busy and I didn't have the political power to get them to stop doing what they were doing and help me. So I showed the fight moves to my girlfriend and she picked them up in one pass, dude! So we were backstage doing the moves, and when I was in front of the camera we got it real quick.
The same with lines - I show up better prepared for this role than any other in my life. Just because anything that I do with Patricia is real fun. So if we're doing lines or if we're cooking dinner - whatever it is - it's heaven. I just got a kiss for that - right on |
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JAMES ON TV GUIDE
PICCOLO IS GREEN!! |
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She also saw James Marsters as Piccolo.He was wearing a black and
purple costume with a cape.He was bald, green and had no antennas on
his head."
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Marsters Says Piccolo Is Green!
It seems we finally have an end to the madness. Marsters himself has confirmed that Piccolo will indeed be green in his recent interview with TV Guide.
TV Guide: You're plunging into a big sci-fi feature next. Can you talk about the live-action Dragonball?
Marsters: Dragonball is the coolest television cartoon in the last 50,000 years. Its only failing is that the female characters aren't drawn well — we're going to fix that in the movie. It's got a Shakespearean sense of good and evil and there are incredible action scenes with characters of unbelievable power. It's going to be really visually exciting. I was told the budget is about $100 million.
TV Guide: Nice to know you're so enthusiastic. Who do you play?
Marsters: Lord Piccolo. He's thousands of years old and a very long time ago he used to be a force of good but got into a bad argument and was put into prison for 2,000 years. It got him very angry, and he finds a way to escape and then tries to destroy the world. The cool thing is, anybody who has seen Dragonball knows that Lord Piccolo transforms into a character named Piccolo, and that is a whole other ball of wax. That is one of the most popular characters in the whole series. I've been told I'm working for people who will just flay me alive if I give too much information, but what I can tell you is the character is green, bald and has pointed ears. Heroic wouldn't be the wrong term by the end, but it's a long journey. |
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| Dragonball Sequel To Begin Filming 2009? |
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Second part of Dragonball will be shot in the first quarter of 2009
One of my sources was able to talk to one of the contractors who work with the production of Dragonball in Durango, and this person says that the production has assured him that all three films are set to film in Durango, and that they secured his job for the coming years as a supplier of production … He also commented that if things go well, “Dragonball 2″ could begin filming at the end of the first quarter of 2009, that is, within a year.
This is something that certainly is good news for fans and of course for the people of Durango, as this indicates that the trilogy will be shot in Durango, which makes sense, since it was revealed that some sets of Dragonball would stay in Durango even when filming was complete.
It also depends on how much is made at the box office and the acceptance of fans … But we hope that all goes well. |
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Where's Your Head At ?
James Marsters
"From The Hellmouth to The Hub , Via Clark Kent's sleepy home town in
Smallville , James Marsters has travelled the world of cult TV ,
taking a guitar called Malcolm everywhere he goes.
1. What is the full name on your birth certificate?
James Wesley Marsters. I thought about changing my name to just James
Wesley at one point because I like the name , but I got a job and got
known as James Marsters , and it was too late to change it.
2. What is your nickname?
I don't really have any these days but when I was growing up ,my
nickname was Monkey , because of an unfortunate coat my mother bought
me and wouldn't replace it! It had a hood on it and when I put the
hood up in the rain I looked like Curious George. No one calls me
Monkey any more.
3. What is your earliest memory?
Swinging on a swing set outside my house when I was two years old. My
mother was building a set of dresser drawers for my toys and I had to
wait outside. I can remember enjoying the day but also very much
wanting to see what she'd made
4. When was your first kiss?
Wow! It must have been in forth grade with a girl called Kelly Wood.
I had a crush on her for two years so it was quite a triumph for me!.
5. What was the last dream you had?
I haven't remembered too many dreams recently, which concerns me. I
guess the last dream I can remember was falling off a bridge, facing
up towards the sky. I was falling towards a river and the sky was
beautiful with white clouds and my friends were on the bridge. Then
the bridge blows up and the flames are coming down toward me, but I
still feel safe. I've no idea what it means!
6. When was the last time you cried?
It was last night . I hurt my girlfriend's feelings and I made her
feel less special than I should have . I've got a long way to go to
make up for that.
7. When were you most embarrassed?
Oh boy, there are so many times! Which one do I want to tell you
about? Probably in the second grade when my best friend told Kelly
Wood that I had a crush on her! I just wanted to die.
8. What makes you happy?
Music, my children , and a good night's sleep.
9. What drives you mad?
Cruelty, waste, missed oportunities and malice
10. What are you scared of?
Becoming cruel, becoming angry and losing my perspective and then
hurting somebody who doesn't deserve it.
11. Do you believe in the supernatural?
I believe that it is possible, but it's one of those things we so
badly want to be true that we might see things that are not really
there. I read a book called Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the
Madnnessof Crowds, which was written in 1841, and it says there are
three things we will never get over : ignorance of the future, death
and toil. And if anyone tells you they have a magical key that can
get you over any of those three, then they're probably selling you a
bag of air.
12. Is there life on other planets?
I think there must be. Current thinking in science is that life is
inevitable. They found that as soon as the Earth's crust cooled, life
sprang up on Earth. It really only took about 500,000 years between
the time that it was covered in lava to the time when there was life.
You can't kill some bacteria , even in space, so transpermia ( the
exchange of microbial life between planets ) is really not such a
weird notion actually.
13. What is your most treasured possession?
After my children, my guitar. I have many guitars but I only have one
good one left. It's a Gibson and it's been all over the world with
me. His name is Malcolm and I never play a bad gig when I have
Malcolm in my hands.
14. What are you drinking?
Red Bull. I've got a busy day so I'm taking the sugar and the
caffeine wherever I can
15. What are you reading?
I'm reading a book called The End Of America by Naomi Wolf, which
postulates that there are ten steps for turning a free and open
society into a fascist state, and argues that the George Bush
administration is apparantly following it to the letter. It's a very
scary book- areal eye opener. I'm an Obama man myself , though I
think Hilary Clinton is a wonderful senator. Barack Obama is just
composed of inspiration! If the Democrats don't win the next
election , I will probably apply for citizenship in the UK.
16. What is on your MP3 player?
Oh My! I have it right here! It's choc-full actually. Let's see...
we've got Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Beck, Big Boy Henry, David
Bowie, Bob Dylan, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Dave Matthews, Dexter Gordon, The
Doors, Eric Clapton, Evercleer, Fred Astaire, Gorillaz,Herbie
Hancock.. That's just going as far as H! Shall I stop there? I'll
stop there.
17. What single item would you want with you on a desert island?
It would have to be a guitar. I could play it and I could make a very
small boat out of it. I would have to lose a lot of weight but it
might just work!
18. What single question do you wish you got asked in interviews?
I don't really have any agenda when I do an interview . I like to
shoot from the hip. But I guess I wish someone would ask me about
particle physics or astrophysics once in a while
19. Tell us something about particle physics or astrophysics
I think we're at a very exciting time for both of these branches of
science. The scientists are saying that not only do we not understand
anything about it , but also we might not be intelligent enough as a
species to ever really understand it. And I think that's the
beginning of wisdom, to admit our own shortcomings. I think that now
we might even crack time travel, because for the first time we are
finally humble.
20. What's the strangest place you've ever seen a picture of
yourself?
Tattooed on someone's shoulder! That's a really dedicated fan." |
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| JAMES INTERVIEW ON DRESDEN FILES AUDIOBOOK |
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Publishers Weekly is an American trade magazine for publishers,
librarians, booksellers and literary agents; and it is the industry
standard for critical objectivity.
About the audiobook of 'Storm Front,' Jim Butcher's first Harry
Dresden novel as narrated by James Marsters, PW says:
"Marsters's self-deprecating tone fits the character perfectly; he
reads with a dry, ironic humor that doesn't mask Harry's genuine
concern for the lives of innocents. Marsters also displays a
remarkable skill for lending even the strangest characters and
creatures voices-including gentleman gangster Johnny Marconi, his
henchmen, a sexy female werewolf and Bob, the British-accented talking
skull." |
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| created by: james4ever-morgana-jo |
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