Buffy The Vampire Slayer

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, what was it like being a convention guest for the first time?

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.