Angel

Not much time right now, but three key things from the BEST James Marsters Q&A that Alane and I have ever attended (and me without my recorder, so everything was hastily transcribed as best we could do it).

1. James just got the financing for his Macbeth project three days ago! Fifty million dollars! He’s likely to be involved with this for about three years, from what he said. He’s writing the script for it now.

2. James indicated that a Spike tv movie is going to happen. Someone asked him if he would ever bleach his hair blond again, and he said no. He then corrected himself to say probably one more time — for a Spike tv movie. He reiterated this later, in response to a question about what happened to Spike at the end of Angel. He replied. "He died. They all died. That’s beautiful thing. That they were all willing to die. Except there’s going to be a Spike tv movie, so he didn’t die."

3. Harry Dresden still looks possible. They haven’t even started casting yet, but he’s in their minds, among other people.

Lots of interesting stuff that we’d never heard from him before, even different answers to old questions. And he did Caliban, and a very British voice from Dresden, and "you’re a wee puppet man!" which brought down the house. Great fun.

More to come.

This was posted later on:

More on James from Moonlight Rising - 1

More details on the James Q&A. Btw, this may be reposted elsewhere without further permission (just say that it comes from Alane and Laurie of BAPS, and include the caveats). Same with our prior short report.

As we said before, we both agreed this was the best JM Q&A we remember. His answers to practically everything were fresh. You could tell he was very happy and energized by the news about Macbeth, and he was very playful with the audience. He was wearing a denim jacket that he took off before it even began, with a short sleeved simple black shirt and jeans. His hair had grown out a bit, and it’s starting to acquire a little curl or wave.

One caveat before we begin. Since we did not have the assistance of a tape recorder, this is our best recollection, combined with notes. Some things we tried to transcribe exactly (and we’ll note those in quotes). But even then we may not have it exact. Other times, we will give you the gist if we weren’t able to remember it more precisely from our notes.

Further note that these are not necessarily exactly in the order they were asked (we didn’t number our notes while we were frantically scribbling, and since almost everything turned out to be interesting and different, we never really got a chance to try to put anything into a coherent order).

1. Someone asked about Harsh Light of Day and whether he really loved doing that scene because it was so funny. James replied that he enjoyed working with Aly, and that was practically the only time the two of them ever worked together on the whole show. But he went on to add that he was not comfortable with that kind of scene.

2. Someone asked admiringly about what it was like to do the sock scenes in Buffy. This is pretty close to verbatim (because it was important to Alane and I to get it right):

James: "I didn’t used to have a problem with nudity. I’d drop my pants in a second. But after that season, I am a changed man. It was NOT fun by any stretch of the imagination." He went on to say "you’re naked in front of everyone, while Sarah was fully dressed, with gloves, and they laugh at you. F*ck that. It was humiliating on a very deep level. I used to go home in tears." At which point he sort of hugged himself protectively.

[Me: Damn ME and damn Marti Noxon]

3. Someone asked what the last day of Angel was like. James said that the last day of Angel was like every other day at work. He said that during the middle of the season, when they first got the news of cancellation, they were shocked and stunned (because they had doubled the ratings from the prior year). But by the end, they had come to a point of acceptance. He said that David (Boreanz) set the tone. He said the lead on every show sets the tone for that set, and this was David’s show. He was very complimentary of David on several occasions during the Q&A.

4. Someone asked if it was scary to shave his head. James replied that he liked to terrify himself. But also, he had shaved his head 8 years earlier for Macbeth, and he knew he "had a good skull", so he knew it would be okay.

5. Someone asked what was the greatest lesson he learned while doing theater. He replied that "the greatest lesson learned is to just be yourself. It’s about admitting that I’m beautiful and just letting that out." He said that people are paying for the right to stare at you, and you have to give it to them. (or something like that; neither Alane nor I were sure of how that ended — too busy staring )

6. Someone asked him what he was passionate about, apart from his acting and music.

James: "Little kids in trouble."

7. Someone asked him if it was different being on Angel, noting that the characterization of Spike on Angel seemed quite different from the Spike we last saw on Buffy. James observed that "every season on Buffy, I was a different character. Who am I this season, Joss?" He mentioned going from villain to snarky neighbor, redeemed man, lover... "Angel was no different." On Angel, he was the comedic foil. And he made it clear he was happy that it was different. "I am so tired of barfing my heart out. I heard that somepeople were offended that I wasn’t used in a deeper way on Angel, but I didn’t want it."

8. Someone asked about influences on his music.

James: punk rock, folk, Joni Mitchell.

9. What would you like to hear after you’re dead, and you’re standing at the Pearly Gates?

James: "I know you’re a f*ckup, but you tried. I forgive you."

10. Someone asked if he would be the next actor/governor of California. He said why not President? He joked that he’s a very good speaker; told the DMC to call him up He did say, more seriously, that he might run for office some day, way down the road.

11. Someone asked if he had met Curt Cobain and his circle while he was working in Seattle. James mentioned they used to come into this club he frequented quite often, and that Cobain was "amazing". (We don’t have great notes on that question.)

12. Someone asked him if he might be participating in the Vulkon Cruise next summer. James said no. And then, he dropped the bombshell about Macbeth: "I found someone who is going to give me the money to do Macbeth. $50,000,000! It happened three days ago." (Me: to say that he was excited in sharing this is an understatement.)

13. Someone asked him when he first started singing. James replied he started when he was 8, and it was because of Al Green. Al Green and the Partridge family. Regarding Al Green: "That man could sing. He has a voice from God."

14. Someone asked about the Poetry Slam scene in the Angel finale, and if he was as delighted by that scene as she had been seeing it. James: Once again, they gave me the gold. It was the best scene in the whole script." It was clear he loved doing it.

15. Someone asked if he and David noticed the homo-erotic subtext between Spike and Angel on Angel this past season.

James: "Joss, man, he f*cking loves to do it. Yes, we noticed it. Yes, we were uncomfortable. But it was Joss. He’s our boss. Actually, it didn’t bother me. But it bothered David. And that’s why Joss kept doing it."

16. Someone asked him why he went into theater initially rather than film. James replied that "film was too easy. There’s no take two in theater." He liked the challenge. But then he got hungry and wanted to be able to eat.

17. Someone asked him about the band and its future plans. James replied that "the next three years of my life are going to be tied up with Macbeth, and I don’t know if I’ll have time for the band. The whole golden door opened up, and I would be an idiot not to take advantage."

Same questioner then asked what music he was listening to now. James: "Jimmy Eat World, Five For Five, Norah Jones, Tom Waits. All music is good."

18. Someone asked about the Angel cancellation, and what was up with the WB, considering how good the Angel ratings were.

James replied that he was reluctant to criticise them: "It’s hard. It’s their ball. They kept passing it to us, and we started to think it was our ball. But it’s not our football. They took it back." He went on to say that they were replacing Angel with Dark Shadows, and was shocked when we the audience shouted that the WB had ultimately passed on DS. James: "It’s reality tv."

19. Someone asked if James was ever going to go back to blond hair.

James: "No." Then he continued, "I will probably go back to the blond hair one more time to do a Spike TV movie."

20. Someone asked him what was his best class in school. James replied that his best class was English and his worst class was chemistry. The funny thing was that his chemistry teacher was an actor, and he took James under his wing and tried to mentor him but he was still terrible at it.

21. Someone asked if after all the conventions James has been to, was there anything he regretted. James replied that "I said a lot of things with this mike that I wish I hadn’t said."

22. Someone asked what his favorite song was. James replied that "This Town" was his favorite. He was pleased that he finally wrote a song that wasn’t about "she’s hot" or "she hurt me." He finally wrote a song that wasn’t about himself but that told a story, and he was very proud of it, and didn’t know if he’d ever write a better one.

23. Someone asked if he got nervous or shy before his concerts when he went on stage.

James (paraphrasing): When I come out on stage (acting), I feel like there has been no better actor since Edmund Keane. My ego is like this (he gestured with his arms up and wide). "And when I come out on stage as a singer, I don’t feel it. And it’s digging into my soul. I’ve taken two f*cking years of voice lessons, and I don’t cut it." People went *awww*. James: "No, no, don’t feel sorry for me. The only dishonor is in not admitting that."

24. Someone asked a very politically charged question, and got a very politically charged answer. But since we don’t talk about politics on BAPS, we’re not going to get into that particular question. Suffice it to say, his imagery was fairly graphic.

25. Someone congratulated him on Macbeth and asked if he would favor us with a reading from Macbeth. He asked if he could do something else, and the audience cheered. He then treated the audience to a lovely rendition of Caliban from The Tempest.

26. Someone asked if he had any upcoming concert plans for the East Coast. He said "not currently." The questioner then asked if he’d play the Stone Pony in NJ. He basically said *in an instant, but I don’t think they’re going to ask us.*

27. The next question was easily voted "best question today and one of the best questions ever" by Alane and myself.

Question: You’ve said that in retrospect, you think you played Spike *too soulful* before he had the soul, because once he was resouled, you didn’t really have that much more you could do with him to show the difference. But you’ve also said that as an actor, you have no control over the show or the character; that you’re just one cog in the machine, so to speak. Which is it? Do you have the control, so you could have played it differently, or do you have no control? Wouldn’t the director(s) have told you to play it differently, if they didn’t like how you were playing it?

James: It’s both. In filmmaking, you have no control, and you have ultimate control, because everything goes so fast. They didn’t have time to tell me not to do that. As long as you get the lines right, they get their closeup and tell you to move on. Theater people come to tv and are shocked that you don’t get any direction in an entire day as to how to play a scene. The actor is in a vacuum. You can do whatever you want to do. I was just trying to mean it, and speak with conviction. Back then, nobody knew what the journey was. I’m not regretting it. But if I had known what the whole journey was going to be, I might have done it a little differently.

28. Someone asked about the "Dresden soul gaze" — Dresden’s ability to see into peoples’ souls — and asked James how he would play that if he got the Dresden party. James replied that he would do it by "confronting the horror that is in people". Because if you really look inside people, you see the complexity of the human being, and it’s unsettling."

29. Someone asked about the cross scene in Beneath You, and wondered if he would have done it any differently, if it was his words instead of the writer’s, to show how Spike was different and what it meant to have a soul.

James: "I wouldn’t change a thing. Self-knowledge is self-loathing." We filmed another version and it sucked. Joss came to me and said "James, we don’t know what to do with you this season, and your episode sucks. But I’m going to save you." And he rewrote it. I’m f*cking proud of that scene."

30. Someone asked him how he got the part of Spike, and did he know he had it right away. And we got a different answer than the usual!

James: I was dating a girl, and we were having the hottest sex!

Questioner: That’s not exactly the question I asked, but —

James: "I walked in there thinking I was the s*it, swaggering around, among all these other Spikes. And I was so going to f*ck with your your heads; I’m going to make you pee in your pants. And I got up in the middle of the room with all these Spikes, and started doing Shakespeare. They all pulled back (he gestured), and I told them, *can’t you do that? Good luck in there.* It was MY role. I f*cking took it by the throat." (very emphatic)

31. Someone mentioned that her favorite scene ever was the porch scene in FFL. James replied that that was Marck’s work, he directed it. And that the scene was so characteristic of Marck. "Breathe. Cut."

32. Someone asked for acting advice. She felt that Stanislawski (sp?) was too consuming, and asked for recs on other schools of acting where you can stay in the part without it consuming you. James referenced Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando. He also did an amazing Brando impression. He asked her if she was acting for film or for stage. He told her that "what the camera is asking for is not an intellectual recreation of a moment, which is what happens on stage. What the camera is asking for is a real moment. (and he went on to say some really cool stuff that alas, neither Alane nor I remember. Sorry.)

33. Someone asked what else he would have liked to have done with Spike. James replied that he had the full plate with Spike. "I got to light myself on fire. I did everything. I’m just glad I survived it."

34. Someone asked what do you think happened to Spike after the fade out at the end of Angel.

James: "I think he died. I think they all died. And that’s what’s beautiful — that they were willing to die. But there’s a tv movie so obviously Spike didn’t die.

35. How did you react when you saw the script for Smile Time and saw that you were going to be beaten up by a puppet?

James: "So cool. Now you read a script, and watch your castmates work, and you have a day off, and another day off, and another day off. And then you get to do your scene, and it’s the highlight of the episode. It was a low tech gag. They wired it to me with coat hangers, and I had total control of the gag. And it took five minutes to film."

36. Someone asked him about House on Haunted Hill, which she had seen years ago and just recently saw again, and was stunned to realize he was in it. James said he did that movie because he wanted to meet that actor. (He never mentioned the name, but it was Geoffrey Rush.)

37. Someone asked him about the accent of the character "Marconi" from The Dresden Files, wanting to know what accent James had used. He seemed confused by the question at first, but ultimately replied that he had used a very rich, proper accent (which he then switched into as he continued to answer the question to the delight of the audience). He noted that the character uses words as a weapon and repeated some of his lines.

38. Someone asked if he played any other instruments besides the guitar.

James: No. I barely play guitar.

39. Someone asked what’s up with Dresden. Any chance he might get the part. James replied that it was actually possible (and sounded surprised when he said that). He said that Nick Cage is producing it. It’s with Nick and Norm Golightly through Lion’s Gate. "If you were casting for physical type, I wouldn’t be called. But I can do that film noire, and play hung ove and grumpy." He did not have an audition scheduled — he said they were not to that point in the creative process yet. But he said that the production people were aware of him, and he was in their minds as a possibility. "We’ll see."

In the interests of taste, we will omit to describe the numerous requests during the Q&A for hugs, close-up photographs, and unwrapped, partially sucked lollipops, all of which were cheerfully dispensed by James.