James Marsters

SLIPPERY SLOPE:

Former "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" costar James Marsters injured his ankle on the set of "Smallville" in Vancouver last week, when he was busy "having a fight in the Fortress of Solitude" — as in Superman’s famous ice-bound getaway. It’s made of wood and paint and plastic for television purposes, but slippery nonetheless. "They gave me these beautiful $2,000 prop shoes to wear. They were probably designed for people who don’t run much," notes Marsters. He spent the next day with his ankle on ice for real, watching it "turn interesting shades of purple." However, "I was up 30 seconds after I fell, running on it. You always get the shot; you can’t compromise that," he says.

Outside of the pain, "I’m loving it," he says of his new series incarnation. "I had such a good meeting with the producers initially. They had passionate ideas about what they wanted to do, a laser clear objective. That’s unusual."

Marsters has come aboard to play arch villain Brainiac in the series, but for now, he’d rather just talk about Brainiac’s alter-ego, Professor Milton Fine. "I am trying to wake Clark Kent up," he says wryly. "Like many political science professors, I am trying to open my students’ minds."

Marsters will complete one set of "Smallville" episodes, then head to London to do a one-man show — which he describes as being about "why I love acting, I suppose" — before returning to shoot more episodes.