Hollywood actor James Marsters wowed fans at Comic Con Liverpool last week (November 20), as he showcased his ageless appearance during a Q&A panel about hit show Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
The actor and musician played vampire Spike in six series of the horror-drama between 1997-2002, before reprising the role in spin-off series Angel.
More than 25 years since he made his Buffy debut, James met fans of the show at Comic Con Liverpool between November 19 – 20, 2022 – where he looked as ageless as his on-screen counterpart Spike.
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Wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, with his hair slicked back in a similar style to Spike, James was almost like a real life vampire, as he did not seem to have aged a day.
(Image: 20th Century Fox USE)
Fans could be forgiven for thinking it was actually James’ Buffy character onstage at the Q&A panel on November 20, with the the star delighting fans as he sang his song “Rest in Peace” from the Once More With Feeling musical episode, as well as speaking famous lines from the series in Spike’s British accent.
Speaking as part of the panel, James also paid tribute to Giles actor Anthony Stewart Head as he shared a huge backstage secret from the show that helped to perfect Spike’s British accent.
“I go back to School Hard and the first few episodes, and it’s not so great,” said James of his accent in early episodes of Buffy.
(Image: Aaron Robertson)
He explained that when he said one particular word was written differently in the script to how it was actually said, Anthony came up to James and jokingly said: “We don’t say it like that. You’re embarrassing me back home.”
The Spike star revealed that Anthony would subsequently tutor him on his accent whenever a new episode script would be given to the cast, saying: “A new script would come and sure enough, Tony would come through my door.
“He wouldn’t knock, he’d just go ‘It’s time!’ and we’d go through the script line by line until he was satisfied that I wasn’t going to embarrass him anymore.”
He added: “If he hadn’t of done that, I don’t think I would have fooled anybody in the long run.”
James also paid a sweet tribute to Giles actor Anthony, saying he was the “nicest person” on set and that he inspired him to be a better actor, saying: “The nicest person was Tony Head, by far.
“He was the oldest, so he was the most mature, but he’s also just an incredible person. He was also the best actor on set.”
Speaking about their first scene together, James recalled being mesmerised by Anthony’s performance, saying: “I saw the scene, and he killed it.
(Image: Aaron Robertson)
“Like the only person I wanted to watch was Giles. I didn’t care about Spike. Spike was lying, Giles was being real, and I realised I had to learn how to act all over again.
“I went back to the school of Tony Head. I studied what he did and what he didn’t do.
“He didn’t act, he just existed.”
Asked if would ever return to a potential reboot of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, after actress Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed in a recent interview that she would love to see Spiderman actress Zendaya take on the role of Buffy, James said he would be open to return as Spike – but in a new role.
“I think the best idea is to not re-cast Buffy, to not re-cast Spike, and to just let there be a new slayer for a new generation,” said James.
“Just do a new one. Zendaya would be great, she would be fabulous. I think that’s a great idea.”
He added: “If they did that, it would be funny to have Spike as the watcher.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
