James forced to get naked on the show

Chosen Enemy

Chosen Enemy

Losing my soul
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You all know how many times Spike was shirtless or nude in seasons 5-6. They always find a reason to undress him (I have no problem with that!). But as much as I love Naked Spike, I feel that they forced the character (and the actor) taking off his clothes, for ratings, for the fans.
And I remember reading that he stopped working out after season 6 so that in season 7 they wouldn't undress him as much. And that's why he's gained some weight during the last season. I feel sorry for him that he's like a piece of meat. I think it wouldn't have damaged the series if they hadn't gotten him losing his clothes all the time. I mean, was it THAT important to make him walk around naked all the time, for the plot?

It's the same with girls on TV where they make them show off their skin and other body parts, as if they're a piece of meat. I never like that when they undress girls for the eye of the watcher and use excuses for that. So I KNOW James feels the same about himself, about being a piece of meat.

I wanted to know what you thought on this subject?
 
I
InsaneMystic
I couldn't help but lol at "their skin and other body parts". :p
Professor Walsh
Professor Walsh
I think it felt a bit forced after a while.
James has never made a secret of the fact that he didn't mind getting his kit off for a role. In his first acting role he had to get naked in a play, and since then, he's lost all his inhibitions regarding nudity, so I know it didn't bother James all that much,

As for it being done only to get ratings, I can see how some people would feel that way.
 
Z
zobothehobo
Yes it did. He said his first role involved nudity and now he's uncomfortable with it in front of tons of people
While I love James not wearing much, it really makes the show seem cheap and shallow. They could've hired not so good looking actors for Buffy and I know I'd still be interested. I've probably lost a lot of respect for Joss Whedon if he thinks having sexy people naked will keep us interested. I love Spike and it's not because James a good looking fella. I love Faith and it's not because Eliza Dushku is gorgeous.

For example, I hate Fred, but I think Amy Acker is one of the most beautiful women alive. Having a good looking actor won't make me like the character and I'm sure the same could be said for the majority of Buffy's viewers.

Must be horribly uncomfortable as an actor too.

But, hey. That's TV.
 
O
Ollehh
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M
Ms.Trick
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M
mayfever
go Fred hate.
He also said that it was pretty horrible for him to walk around the set naked. I'm guessing he feels comfortable with his body, but as I understood from him, it's not very fun for him, being naked in front of eveybody. After all, he did stop working out of a while during season 7 for that reason.
 
I like seeing naked women on shows. Piece of meat yeah. But it works for the ratings. And it's good vitamins for the eyes. >8D
 
I think this is more of a Marti Noxon thing. As in, Marti Noxon likes herself some nekkid Spike. Though it's a little hard to tell because of the switch from the family friendlier WB to UPN coinciding with Marti being appointed executive producer.
 
There was one quote from Marsters in an interview that's pretty much stuck with me; the interviewer asked about the sex scenes with Gellar, and he said, "Well, on set, it's pretty much Sarah fully clothed, and me in a sock, and Sarah laughing at me in my sock." I don't remember if he sounded particularly annoyed or embarrassed about it, though.

ETA: Also, I've seen a few dailies online, and he's actually in a flesh-colored thong, not completely naked. If that makes anything better.
 
Blondie Bear said:
There was one quote from Marsters in an interview that's pretty much stuck with me; the interviewer asked about the sex scenes with Gellar, and he said, "Well, on set, it's pretty much Sarah fully clothed, and me in a sock, and Sarah laughing at me in my sock." I don't remember if he sounded particularly annoyed or embarrassed about it, though.

ETA: Also, I've seen a few dailies online, and he's actually in a flesh-colored thong, not completely naked. If that makes anything better.
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He said that again at the reunion, I remember both times.
 
I think maybe they did it for ratings or maybe because he was the male in the best shape on the show. Plus well skin sells personally I will take Spike any which way.
 
I do not think his scenes were that gratuitous, if I remember correctly most were plausible. I suppose that must be the times being a vampire (wait for it) bites. I mean, go out in the sun and have an excuse to be topless.. otherwise it was just during a pummeling or BBC.
 
I loved seeing naked Spike... but I know James hated it. He said it was really awful to get to his trailer in the morning and find his costume for the day was a sock. I see why they did it... and yeah, I think part of it was for the fans and to draw people in. Tuning into Buffy season 6, it's not uncommon to see a REALLY freaking hot naked guy on screen. Moving to a new network, that's got to draw people in... but I think it also had a place in the story. Also... I've heard that season 6 they didn't really have a lot of boundaries of what they could and could not show because UPN was a rather new network and hadn't set that up really yet... so they went and did stuff they wanted to do but couldn't on the WB... and I have my suspicions the nudity was one of those things...
 
I did notice Spike being half naked almost the whole time. 😛 Which is funny, since he's always strolling around in the buff (excuse the pun) while Buffy rarely shows any skin. Bit sexist in that way.

He's not even attractive to me in season 6; way too skinny.
 
I feel guilty watching Season 6 sometimes for this reason, lol. At the same time, I wouldn't say he was necessarily forced into it. Aren't these kinds of things usually included in contracts and stuff beforehand? If that's true, then he did consent to it, I guess. Still. Poor James. :/
 
I've always assumed that actors who have to strip for a role don't really mind it or they would find some way not to do it. I've also always assumed that actors are a breed apart in how unselfconscious they are. In fact, it must be a virtual necessity, for a good actor, to be quite unselfconscious.

Anthony Head has a nude scene in Manchild, and is half-naked for most of the show (a lot of scenes take place in a steam room). He also strips down to a leather thong in a famous scene from Little Britain. He doesn't have James's build though. 🙂
 
patriot1123 said:
I've always assumed that actors who have to strip for a role don't really mind it or they would find some way not to do it. I've also always assumed that actors are a breed apart in how unselfconscious they are. In fact, it must be a virtual necessity, for a good actor, to be quite unselfconscious.

Anthony Head has a nude scene in Manchild, and is half-naked for most of the show (a lot of scenes take place in a steam room). He also strips down to a leather thong in a famous scene from Little Britain. He doesn't have James's build though. 🙂
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At the time James signed the contract for "Buffy", the show was still children friendly (well, except for the horror part of it, I'm talking about sexy stuff), in a teens network. I imagine James had no idea he would have to be naked in later seasons. He couldn't have known he would have those scenes.
 
Chosen Enemy said:
At the time James signed the contract for "Buffy", the show was still children friendly (well, except for the horror part of it, I'm talking about sexy stuff), in a teens network. I imagine James had no idea he would have to be naked in later seasons. He couldn't have known he would have those scenes.
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Maybe not to that extent, but he still probably had some idea of what he could be asked to do. I'm not sure it's legal to force anyone, even an actor, to do that without their initial consent.
 
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