Dreamwatch Interview - Part 1
Dreamwatch: How does working on Angel compare with working on Buffy?
James Marsters: I'm having more fun than I ever had in this universe. I had a lot of fun with Buffy, but I'm having even more fun on Angel.
DW: After brooding his way through much of Buffy's seventh season, Spike seems to have really rediscovered his zest for life on Angel. Are you enjoying playing the character more this year?
JM: Totally, because I tend to internalise the character. I really feel like you have to have that inside and not worry whats showing, and then the camera's going to document you really feeling it. During the scenes over on Buffy where Spike was depressed, I really was depressed. I had gotten myself into a state of mind that was that bad. Probably no therapist would tell you that acting's healthy. I got all my crying out in season six and seven of Buffy. I'm serious. I had to dredge up every painful thing I could find and wring it dry. I don't think I've had a cry since then. Not that I couldn't use one - it just hasn't come out. I was coming up and wipping myself with everything I felt guilty about during my life, because I was trying to approximate what it would feel like to wake up with a soul and have to face 120 years of mass murder. On Angel, I'm basically functioning a lot like I did originally on Buffy, which means I'm grit in the ointment, and I get to just have fun making Angel's life really dark. This is the interesting thing thing. You would think that after having gotten a soul that the character would take off in a whole new direction that we've never seen before. But this is the surprise - that he goes back to the beginning. This is more like the Spike that we originally saw - he's having fun and making it hard for other people.
DW: Has Spike made a conscious decision to be a good guy in Angel?
JM: Yeah. The interesting thing about it is, once he makes a decision, he becomes a sucker. We'll see that coming up. That's one of the problems with caring and investing yourself in the world, because people can take advantage of that. And I thought that was a really deft thing to come out of the gate with. Right when Spike chooses the good side and thinks "I'm gonna try to be a hero", he gets used.
DW: Although Spike has a soul and must come to terms with the horrific events of his past, he seems far less depressed than Angel was when he had to deal with his dark past...
JM: It was even alluded to in one of the episodes that Angel spent 120 years contemplating infinite remorse, whereas Spike took two weeks of being depressed in a basement and everything was fine! Structurally, we got to explore Angel's long period of depression in back-story; we didn't have to take time out of the series to actually talk about that. If we put Spike through the same kind of journey, he'd be out of action for 120 seasons! And so he's got to get over it pretty quickly. But what's interesting is, I'm starting to come to the idea that Spike just might not be as deep as Angel. There's something beautiful about shallowness in that way. It helps you survive. If you can just slough that guilt off, better power to you! But it really may just mean that Spike is probably not that smart and he's probably not that deep. We love him anyway.
Part 2 Coming Soon
Dreamwatch: How does working on Angel compare with working on Buffy?
James Marsters: I'm having more fun than I ever had in this universe. I had a lot of fun with Buffy, but I'm having even more fun on Angel.
DW: After brooding his way through much of Buffy's seventh season, Spike seems to have really rediscovered his zest for life on Angel. Are you enjoying playing the character more this year?
JM: Totally, because I tend to internalise the character. I really feel like you have to have that inside and not worry whats showing, and then the camera's going to document you really feeling it. During the scenes over on Buffy where Spike was depressed, I really was depressed. I had gotten myself into a state of mind that was that bad. Probably no therapist would tell you that acting's healthy. I got all my crying out in season six and seven of Buffy. I'm serious. I had to dredge up every painful thing I could find and wring it dry. I don't think I've had a cry since then. Not that I couldn't use one - it just hasn't come out. I was coming up and wipping myself with everything I felt guilty about during my life, because I was trying to approximate what it would feel like to wake up with a soul and have to face 120 years of mass murder. On Angel, I'm basically functioning a lot like I did originally on Buffy, which means I'm grit in the ointment, and I get to just have fun making Angel's life really dark. This is the interesting thing thing. You would think that after having gotten a soul that the character would take off in a whole new direction that we've never seen before. But this is the surprise - that he goes back to the beginning. This is more like the Spike that we originally saw - he's having fun and making it hard for other people.
DW: Has Spike made a conscious decision to be a good guy in Angel?
JM: Yeah. The interesting thing about it is, once he makes a decision, he becomes a sucker. We'll see that coming up. That's one of the problems with caring and investing yourself in the world, because people can take advantage of that. And I thought that was a really deft thing to come out of the gate with. Right when Spike chooses the good side and thinks "I'm gonna try to be a hero", he gets used.
DW: Although Spike has a soul and must come to terms with the horrific events of his past, he seems far less depressed than Angel was when he had to deal with his dark past...
JM: It was even alluded to in one of the episodes that Angel spent 120 years contemplating infinite remorse, whereas Spike took two weeks of being depressed in a basement and everything was fine! Structurally, we got to explore Angel's long period of depression in back-story; we didn't have to take time out of the series to actually talk about that. If we put Spike through the same kind of journey, he'd be out of action for 120 seasons! And so he's got to get over it pretty quickly. But what's interesting is, I'm starting to come to the idea that Spike just might not be as deep as Angel. There's something beautiful about shallowness in that way. It helps you survive. If you can just slough that guilt off, better power to you! But it really may just mean that Spike is probably not that smart and he's probably not that deep. We love him anyway.
Part 2 Coming Soon