One Buffy the Vampire Slayer sex scene sent one of its main actors to therapy after leaving him struggling with his mental health.
James Marsters played vampire Spike in the hit sci-fi series alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy. The pair had a tumultuous relationship from the beginning, with Spike eventually sexually assaulting the slayer in a bathroom during the season six episode Seeing Red.
The move left hardened fans of the show disgusted, and left Marsters himself “shaking” during filming. But he stands by the controversial scene, explaining that it hammered home that his character truly was “evil”.
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For a 20th anniversary interview with RadioTimes, he explained that the writers were “very frustrated” because “they couldn’t convince the audience to stop rooting for Spike”. He added: “They did not want the audience to say, ‘Spike and Buffy forever,’ that’s just not what they were going for. They kept having me do worse and worse things trying to get people to realise.
(Image: Getty Images for ReedPop)
“When you know those things, maybe it will inform how you react to that scene. I don’t know if it means it was the right thing to do. I know it doesn’t seem to age well but what I want people to know is it wasn’t a cavalier decision. It wasn’t just like, ‘Oh well, these things are OK and it might be sexy and spicy if we do this.’ That wasn’t what the writers were thinking at all.”
The actor went on: “It was very well considered and it was coming from a good place. It was the hardest day of my professional career, it sent me into therapy. I collapsed on set, I couldn’t even speak, I was shaking.
“That was a horrible day… when that script came, I was contracted to do anything that they said to anybody that they said to do it. I was legally compelled to do that scene. It wasn’t fun to watch probably, but it wasn’t fun to film either.”
(Image: 20th Century Fox Television/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Things all changed in season seven, when Spike finally gets a soul and has to live with his guilt – and he and Buffy are able to have some sort of relationship, though Marsters isn’t sure the slayer could ever truly forgive him.
Marsters has also spoken about the difficult atmosphere on set that came with working with Joss Whedon, who his co-star Charisma Carpenter claiming the director “abused his power” and undermined her. Marsters issued a statement in 2021 which read: “While I will always be honoured to have played the character of Spike, the Buffy set was not without challenges.
(Image: 20thC.Fox/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
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“I do not support abuse of any kind, and am heartbroken to learn of the experiences of some of the cast. I send my love and support to all involved,” he wrote on X. He admitted to being “backed up against a wall” by Whedon, revealing on the Inside of You podcast: “I came along, and I wasn’t designed to be a romantic character. But then the audience reacted that way to it.
“And I remember [Whedon] backed me up against a wall one day, and he was just like, ‘I don’t care how popular you are, kid, you’re dead. You hear me? Dead. Dead!’ And I was just like, ‘Uh, you know, it’s your football, man. OK.’”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
