James Marsters

James Marsters — latest news, discussion & facts — IJR

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Marsters attracted the general public's attention for his appearance as villain, and later anti-hero, Spike on season 2 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For the role, Marsters spoke with a north London accent, for which he received informal coaching from British co-star Anthony Head.

Spike had been intended as a short role by creator Joss Whedon, who originally resisted Spike's popularity. "He made it very clear he did not want the show to be taken over by another romantic vampire," Marsters told 411Mania, adding "to Joss, vampires were supposed to be ugly, evil, and quick to be killed ... when I was cast Joss did not imagine me to be popular; Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead." The massive fan response prevented his character from being killed off, allowing Spike a presence throughout the second season.

There were no plans to bring Spike back as a regular on Buffy, until the character Cordelia Chase was moved to the spin-off show, Angel, and, as Marsters told 411Mania, "they needed someone to tell Buffy she was stupid and about to die, and [so] they decided to bring me back." Marsters thought Spike would not last because, being a vampire, Spike was restricted to night-time scenes and could not feasibly interact with human characters as often as Cordelia. Surprisingly, Spike would become a romantic partner for Buffy, and Marsters remained a main cast member until the very end of the show.

After the conclusion of Buffy, Marsters carried Spike over to its spinoff, Angel, as a series regular in its fifth and final season. Marsters was asked to keep quiet about this, as his return was intended to be a surprise, but the network promoted Spike's return as soon as it could, in order to create media buzz and attract advertisers.

In April 2004, following the end of Angel, Marsters had Spike's trademark bleached hair shaved off for charity live on television during an episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

When Angel was cancelled, there were plans for several television films based on the characters from the Buffy/Angel universe. Talk of a Spike film began in 2004, and Whedon still had plans into 2006 before they were formally abandoned. Marsters said he would only return to play Spike if the project took place within five years, feeling he would become too old to play the character (an immortal) after that:

As long as I could do it within, say, the next four or five years; past that, I'm too old. Spike's a vampire, man, and I've got high standards.

Aside from playing Spike, Marsters co-wrote a comic book one-shot for Dark Horse Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru. After Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel ended, Marsters became active with the canonical comic book series of both shows, particularly with stories centering around his character. A canonical graphic novel set during the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike: Into the Light, written by Marsters himself, was released by Dark Horse Comics on July 16, 2014.

Other work

Marsters has narrated the audiobooks for The Dresden Files, a series of detective novels with a supernatural bent and the side short story collection in the same universe, Side Jobs, were also recorded by Marsters. He did not originally record the Dresden book Ghost Story due to a scheduling conflict, leaving fellow Smallville alumnus and actor John Glover to record it; this caused a fairly noteworthy public outcry by audiobook listeners. He returned for the following book Cold Days. On March 24, 2015, Jim Butcher announced that a new version of the Ghost Story audiobook was to be released on April 21, 2015, with Marsters returning as the narrator in response to fan demands.

In 2005, Marsters filmed a thriller, Shadow Puppets, with Jolene Blalock. Late that year, Marsters appeared on the television series Smallville playing Dr. Milton Fine—the popular Superman villain Brainiac—in eight episodes throughout the show's fifth season. He reprised his role as Brainiac in a four-episode arc in the seventh season, and did a cameo voice-over in season eight. He returned for one episode in the show's final season. On October 29, 2005, Marsters presented two performances of his own abridged adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth with American actress Cheryl Puente as Lady Macbeth, followed by question and answer sessions with the audience and acoustic concerts in London.

In September 2006, Marsters' interpretation of Godber's Teechers was performed on the Queen Mary with two other actors in Los Angeles. This is a play he had received critical acclaim for as a stage actor prior to his television work. Marsters co-starred in the 2007 cinematic release of P.S. I Love You alongside Kathy Bates, Hilary Swank, and Gerard Butler. Released in September 2007, Marsters starred in the direct-to-DVD animated film, Superman: Doomsday, providing the voice of iconic villain Lex Luthor. The film received mostly positive reviews.

In 2008, he guest-starred in Torchwood, a spin-off of the popular British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first appearing in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", as the nefarious omnisexual time traveller Captain John Hart. He reprised the role in the last two episodes of the second season.

He portrayed "Piccolo Daimao" in the live-action film adaptation of the popular Dragon Ball manga and anime, directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow, which was released worldwide on April 10, 2009 and performed poorly both critically and financially.

On July 20, 2009, the film Moonshot aired on the History Channel in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing. In this film, Marsters portrays Buzz Aldrin. On August 19, 2009, it was announced that he signed on for a role in Caprica as the terrorist leader Barnabas Greeley.

Also in August 2009, Marsters' science fiction western, High Plains Invaders aired on the Syfy Channel. In this alien invasion flick, Marsters portrays Sam Danville. It was announced in August 2010 that Marsters would be joining the cast of Syfy Channel series Three Inches as a series regular portraying Troy Hamilton, a former government agent who now leads a team of superheroes.

On June 24, 2011, Marsters appeared in an L.A. Theatre Works radio production of The Importance of Being Earnest, in the part of Sir John Worthing, which aired on June 25, 2011.

He has appeared on Supernatural in the episode "Shut Up, Dr. Phil", which aired October 21, 2011, alongside fellow Buffyverse co-star Charisma Carpenter. He also appeared in Warehouse 13 in 2013 as Bennett Sutton alongside fellow Buffyverse alumnus Anthony Stewart Head.

In 2018, some sources speculated that Marsters is the voice actor of Dragon Ball Super character Zamasu. In October 2021, at Fan Expo Canada, both Marsters and Dragon Ball Super voice director Christopher Sabat publicly confirmed that he voiced Zamasu under the pseudonym of David Gray. As a fan of the Dragon Ball franchise, Marsters agreed to play the role of Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super at the suggestion of Sabat himself and Sean Schemmel when they met during a convention. Marsters did so entirely for free in order to "redeem himself with the Dragon Ball Z community" after his appearance in the poorly received film Dragon Ball: Evolution.

Musical career

Marsters had played in bands and solo in bars and clubs for many years and enjoyed several successful sell-out solo gigs at Los Angeles clubs before forming a band. For these solo gigs he mainly performed covers of classic folk and rock musicians such as Tom Waits, Neil Young, James Taylor, and Bruce Springsteen. He sang in "Once More, with Feeling", a musical episode of Buffy: solo parts in "Walk Through the Fire" and "Something To Sing About", and "Rest in Peace" completely on his own.

In 2003–04, Marsters was the lead singer for the rock band Ghost of the Robot. Their debut album Mad Brilliant was released on February 2, 2003. The band played its first gigs in Los Angeles and Paris. They went on to play successful dates in and around Los Angeles and two sold-out tours of Europe in 2003 and 2004. In addition to Mad Brilliant, they released three singles ("Valerie", "David Letterman" and "New Man") and one mid-length EP, It's Nothing. All these releases carried tracks written and co-written by Marsters. Several of Ghost of the Robot's earlier songs were loosely based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters Buffy, Dawn, and Faith.

Marsters' solo musical career was launched in October 2004, in London. His solo acoustic tour of the United Kingdom in April 2005 sold out. A new solo album "Civilized Man" produced by Chris Rhyne and Andrew Rosenthal was released on April 15, 2005. It includes several new songs as well as the popular "Katie" and "Smile". He has played songs from the album live in Detroit, Houston, and Sacramento. Ten of the eleven songs are written by Marsters.

New solo songs not included on the album but sung at live solo concerts include "Birth of the Blues", "Finer than Gold", "Louise", and "London City". "Finer than Gold", "London City", and "Louise" were composed while on tour in the UK in April 2005. "Birth of the Blues" was composed by Marsters in Amsterdam in 2004 while touring with his now-defunct band. During his October 2005 mini-tour of the UK, Marsters introduced other new songs to his sets: "Button Down Vandals", "Up On Me", and "All That She Wanted". These songs were available only as part of his recently released Words and Music DVD, which has his abridged version of Macbeth as well as a full-length solo music performance.

During his September 2006 convention, James Marsters & Friends, he debuted several new songs including "The Truth Is Heavy", "Fall of Night", "Jealous Man", and "Not A Millionaire". All these songs reflect his new blues music and folk sound. He also performed a cover version of Keb Mo's classic "Baby Blue". In 2007, he performed live several times in the UK and debuted two new songs written in Cardiff. "Layabout" and "Looking at You" reflect a more upbeat light folk move in Marsters' music. These songs as well as some of his previously unrecorded work were released on Marsters' second solo album, formally launched in Los Angeles and Cardiff in October and November 2007 respectively. This album, Like a Waterfall, includes twelve songs, all written by Marsters. Most had been performed and recorded live but not in the studio. An exception is "When I Was a Baby", a song never previously performed in public.

Like a Waterfall was produced by Ryan Shore and features several other musicians including Blair Sinta, who has drummed for Alanis Morissette, and Five for Fighting bass player Curt Schneider. In 2008, Marsters' Waterfall Tour came to the UK. He played the first three dates across London and performed for three consecutive days in Milton Keynes. The concert at the packed Union Chapel in Islington was an acoustic set featuring material from his album—Like A Waterfall.

On May 1, 2009, he returned to the Union Chapel, followed by a "Marstersclass" event at The Drill Hall, in London on May 2. The sell-out event included a concert, Q&A session plus opportunities to get autographs and photos. On May 3, 2009, he performed at London's 100 Club.

In 2010, Ghost of the Robot re-formed and released the album B-Sider. In 2011, their album Murphy's Law was released. They have also released multiple EPs. In 2023, Ghost of the Robot released the album Tin Man. It includes the song "Don't Worry Son," which Marsters wrote while he was working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

James Marsters

James Marsters

Article

Notable quotes

Live room · 1 here

Notable quotes

Article

Early life

Acting career

Early roles

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Other work

Musical career

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

🎬 Filmography