Marsters of the universe

Published on Saturday 26 October 2002 01:00

Refreshingly down-to- earth, with a witty but slightly twisted sense of humour, James Marsters is on a five-year high.

Once the "disposable villain" destined for a quick death on the producer’s chopping block, his character Spike is now a regular blood-sucking villainous vampire on cult show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which goes into its sixth season on BBC Two on Thursday.

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. Marsters, who grew up in Modesto, California (that’s right, he’s not English) was going to play the plain old fang-bearing vampire who kills a few do-gooders along the way and most likely ends up dead from a stake through the heart or a good douse of holy water.

But, contrary to everyone’s expectations, including his own, Marsters is now a vexed vampire with a poetic past and a crush on the super slayer herself.

He readily admits that no-one expected his character Spike to return after his first appearance in season two. "They never would have built me up that far if they knew I was going to last. In Joss’ [Whedon, Buffy creator] world, vampires are not to be thought of as cool. They are a metaphor for terror, so I was not supposed to be quite so sexy," he says with a wry chuckle.

But it’s not just Spike’s sexiness that Marsters enjoys but playing a character who is essentially flawed and, therefore, almost human.

"I enjoy playing a character that is both evil and also does good things, because we all do. A lot of characters are built around what we want to be and what we fantasise about being. But then there are characters who reflect us as we truly are, and I think Spike, although he’s a vampire, kind of admits to his faults."

And one of the faults explored in season six is his unrequited love for Buffy and turning into the sensitive vampire, though Marsters claims that Spike hasn’t actually changed at all, but is the same vampire he always was, despite being rendered unable to kill anything but demons because of a chip implanted in his head.

"He is the same," he says forcefully. "He is not any different than he was in the beginning - and what I really enjoy about playing the role is that they’re [the writers] just digging a bit deeper rather than just changing course.

"Spike was always a very dangerous character, but one who was a complete gentleman to his girlfriend, completely faithful. So much so that he probably fell in love with Buffy when he first saw her, but didn’t admit it to himself because he was already in love with Dru [Drusilla] and would never act on anything that would pollute that relationship.

"And so you see, his great devotion and his great love for Buffy is mirrored very much when he was with Drusilla. Believe me, if that chip came out, he would start to kill immediately. That day! When you watch next season, you will actually see some of that."

Viewers will also be treated to some action of the bedroom variety, when Spike and Buffy explore their blossoming love-hate relationship more deeply.

"Spike is not Angel. The reasons that she [Buffy] goes to Spike are very different and not necessarily that healthy, actually, and you see that very clearly in season six," Marsters explains.

"It’s about facing a lot of the temptations and problems of being a young adult as opposed to still being a teenager. And some of those are having to admit that you’re attracted to people who are bad for you. That’s the thing - Spike is not good, Spike is evil! Ultimately Buffy will not benefit from him. As much as he loves her, as much as he would want to be of service to her, he’s evil."

Despite a serious central metaphor, Buffy would not be Buffy without some serious fun, and season six will feature the much-vaunted musical episode in which the main characters get to indulge their musical talents, or lack of, and pay homage to Broadway. But Marsters did not flinch at his role as a vaudeville vampire.

"I didn’t have the same nerves that a lot of people did because I wasn’t meant to dance and I’m very used to singing, so I wasn’t really being asked to do anything that I wasn’t used to doing.

"But for most of the other actors, they were being asked to stretch in ways that they never would have conceived of when they first auditioned for the role. They did not sign up to sing in front of six million people, and when you get world-wide it’s even more than that.

"So we entered it with much trepidation. We were all scared to death but threw ourselves into it. It was brilliant and we realised at that moment that we had a shot at doing something really memorable. It was a joyride from that moment on, and we really were pining to do it again."

Marsters, however, doesn’t need to pine for another opportunity to sing, since he actually moonlights as the lead singer of a rock band called Ghost Of The Robot with young, talented musicians, including two American competitive jazz musicians.

The band recently finished their first album, Mad Brilliant, and Marsters can hardly contain the excitement in his voice when he says: "I’m proud of it - so proud, in fact, that if people don’t respond to it, I still feel proud of it". He also happens to be very proud of Spike, but claims that he has very little input into his character development.

"Like every really good show, the writers are in control. If you go back through the television history of all the shows that really made an impact, you’ll find - if you look at the power structure - that the writers were in charge, not the actors.

"When an actor tells you what he wants, he’ll come up with some brilliant idea, very complex, but what it really comes down to is kissing more chicks and beating up more guys. They want to be the tough, sexy guy, and they’ll guise it that way. But if we left it to the actors, it would be that every day. I’m an actor, so I can say that." And this actor can only come up with one downside of playing Spike when pressed for an answer.

"I don’t enjoy drinking the fake blood because it’s Nestle strawberry syrup and they literally have a paramedic standing by because people have taken headers into the concrete drinking it . . . give me real blood, please!" he begs.

He may not like the fake blood but Marsters claims to have a lot in common with relatively young 200-year-old Spike, including violence, passion, a big heart and being childish.

"Spike’s a very young vampire; he’s like a kid. He doesn’t have that worldly wisdom you often find with vampires. You almost find that he acts like he’s 15 sometimes, which makes him human".

In fact, the gushing actor can’t say enough about Buffy and its success, even turning down some film roles because, he claims, "there weren’t any that would step up above Buffy."

And a lot of the interest seems to be on Spike, but, again, Marsters credits the writers and refuses to take the kudos for his enduring popularity.

"When it really comes down to it, it’s because they [the writers] have wrenched the character in so many opposing ways over the years and reconciled him at the same time, that the character simply has more layers than a supporting character is normally given.

"So people always feel there’s something new and fresh and surprising that they’re going to find out about this guy. He serves different purposes. He’s gone from hellish villain to wacky neighbour to love interest and God knows where he’s going to go from here."

I, for one, can’t wait to find out.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, BBC2, Thursday 6.45pm. The Uncut version of Buffy’s season premiere will be shown at 12.40am on Friday November 1.