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James Marsters interview (January 2008) |
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Best known as rock 'n' roll vampire Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Marsters is the latest addition to the cast of Torchwood. He plays Time Agent Captain John Hart, the dark reflection of John Barrowman's heroic Captain Jack.
Is Captain John American or English?
He's English. I come from the stage so you develop an accent for anything that you might be cast for, so I have a workable German, French, Russian. I have a fair Italian in my pocket too.
There's a joke in there somewhere… So, tell us about Captain John.
He's a doppelgänger for Captain Jack, which is to say that he's enough like the lead to shed new light on him. I am a Time Agent just like Captain Jack but unlike him I haven't reformed - I am not trying to dump my past and become a good person.
So I come to Earth fully thinking that Jack has got some scam going, that he's conning somebody, and I'm really impressed by the con because he's got so many toys. But he won't let me in on it and that p****s me off, frankly. I ultimately find out that it's not a con, that it's actually real, and I don't understand that. My basic job is to seduce Jack back to the dark side.
So you're the bad guy?
I'm very bad - I love it. I mean, they only let Spike [who Marsters played in Buffy the Vampire Slayer] be bad for three episodes, then they put him in a wheelchair and they took his teeth out and beat him on the head and made him wear a dress. John is just unrepentant evil which is so fun to play. Sociopaths are the best.
The jacket John wears looks slightly Adam Ant.
Hell, yeah! Basically, he's got a jacket from fighting in the Napoleonic wars. He's got a snakeskin sword from Korea that I think he had to kill someone for, his boots are from Italy circa 1640 and he's got gun holsters from the American West.
If you have a cool costume it all goes well. It affects you as an actor - you walk around, you feel cool.
Torchwood's a sexy show - everyone fancies everyone. Anyone John has his eye on?
John's a Time Agent and I understand Time Agents go for anything with a postal code, which is wonderful. So John's got his eye on everyone, including a poodle that he sees. Seriously, it's in the script - "Look at him/her; oh my god that's beautiful." "That's a poodle."
John's from the 51st century. What's futuristic about him?
Well, he has a different perspective with regards to sexuality. And a different perspective with regards to power and money.
When he talks about sexuality, it amazes him that people can only love one person. It just seems like a real waste. When he says he can make a lot of money, he's talking about enough money to buy a planet. And power - he's used to a level of power that Earthlings don't understand, and that leads… Well, if you have ruled or destroyed entire planets or tried to conquer a whole galaxy, then the workings of one planet seem a bit tame.
The role must be quite a laugh…?
Oh my God, dude, I'm having the time of my life! I don't think I've had this much fun on a set in my life, to tell you the truth.
Were you a fan of Doctor Who or Torchwood before you joined the show?
I knew Who from the '70s. I knew the fuzzy headed Who [Tom Baker] and loved him well. But I've moved around America all my life - California, New York, Chicago, Seattle - and [the show] does not get into all of those markets, so it was kind of hard.
In America only the really smart, cool people had the Doctor Who t-shirts, so if you see that - "Oh, I wanna talk to you". Also, artists, writers, they know Doctor Who. I was on a music tour about eight months ago and one of my tour managers, Lisa Power, said that she wouldn't go out to the bar with me after the show because Doctor Who was on, so if I wanted to hang out with her I had to bring my bottle up to the room, so I did.
About 15 minutes into the episode, I was convinced that I wanted to be on that show, so I called my manager, who was in the next room, and he called Russell [T Davies] and asked if there was any room for me on the show - and he said "No" [laughs]. But they said they would be willing to put me on Torchwood. And Lisa said, "Oh my God, I love Torchwood more than Doctor Who! Go on that!" My only real question was, is Russell T Davies producing this as well? They said "Yes". That was all I needed.
What was it like coming into an existing ensemble cast?
That's the point - they are a true ensemble cast, they support each other, they understand that their performance is dependent on everyone else's. So I was welcomed with open arms. I love the cast. There's no egos, man. There's nobody saying, "Look at me" or "I need more attention".
Eve [Myles, who plays Gwen Cooper] is God's gift. I have never worked with an actress who is that cool, that game for violence. We have quite a lot of physical stuff and, look, I'm used to Buffy Summers, man, so every time we did a stunt it was like, "Are you OK?" or "I actually touched you - oh my God!" And Eve was like, "Try to hurt me, pal. Bet you a pound you can't hurt me!" [laughs].
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John Barrowman's a larger than life character on set, I believe…
The first day on the set I was a little taken aback (I have issues. I had a weird childhood) [laughs]. And he noticed that I was a little uncomfortable with how forward everyone was with each other. The first day he saw me kinda going, "Oh my God". And the second day we do a big fight scene and he's a totally different person - 'cos he knows that I am weak, basically, and scared, and he totally changes. He's my acting partner and he wants to know what I'm comfortable with, what I'm not comfortable with, and how we can protect each other during the day.
He is a natural born leader and he sees everything on the set, he notices everybody's mood and he acts in a way that helps. I felt safe with him. I felt like I had a true acting partner, 'cos we both come from the stage and we understand what that means.
But the dude's playing a Time Agent who will stick it into any hole he can find, so he's in character and that's what he's thinking. One day he drives up to the set in a big red sports car, gets out, looks at me and goes, "I just did that car. I just had her." And I'm in character too, so I'm like, "Well, she's winkin' at you. I'd do her too." He's like, "The gas cap, man, that's a nice hole." I'm like, "She's winkin' at me now too, I might have to take your lady. Can I have her?" "Yeah." "Nah, I already had her." [laughs] They took the freaky Yank and they broke him in!
You and John are both musical as well. Any collaborations in the pipeline?
I'd love to. He has a fabulous voice. But I don't think he has the time. He's filming, like, three television shows right now. But I did get to play with Gareth [David Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones]. I played The Point [in Dublin] and he got up on stage and sang a Doors song with me, which was just fabulous. I think it was the highpoint of the evening.
Which song?
Roadhouse Blues. It's on YouTube, bro.
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Do you get recognised as Spike without the bleached hair?
Yeah.
Do you get tired of that?
I believe that celebrity is toxic to the human soul. I don't want to lose [my celebrity] but I have kept it at arm's length.
My fans are really great, they're very sensitive, they don't cross any boundaries, but at the same time I realise that I can't let their kind words affect me too much or I'll start to think I'm really cool - and as an artist you're going to lose your ability to be human if you start to think of yourself as a star. I mean, somebody flew in from another country yesterday just to stand on the street and watch the action. That is so good for the ego that you have to be careful…
What about Spike? It was left open whether the character was dead or not. Do you see yourself playing him again?
I'd love to. I told Joss [Whedon, Buffy creator] that he had seven years. He approached me about a movie at the end of Angel and I said, "Dude, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. But you have seven years because my character's immortal and I am not." I'm ageing and Spike shouldn't. One of the cool things about vampires is they're immortal…
You seem to be a bit of an anglophile…?
It sounds weird but all the smart kids in my public school growing up were anglophiles. There's something about the language, I think. I don't know. Just a fantasy of another culture that might be smarter, and smart people in America hunger for smarter culture. The Italians developed opera, the French developed ballet and the English developed the language. As an actor, I can dance, but not that well, I can sing, but I'm no opera singer - but I can talk real well. So, Eng-land!
What have you been up to on your days off from Torchwood?
I do not have them. This is my one day off. I'm spending it with my girlfriend, Patricia, who is my secret weapon: we were doing a fight scene and all the fight crew were busy and I didn't have the political power to get them to stop doing what they were doing and help me. So I showed the fight moves to my girlfriend and she picked them up in one pass, dude! So we were backstage doing the moves, and when I was in front of the camera we got it real quick.
The same with lines - I show up better prepared for this role than any other in my life. Just because anything that I do with Patricia is real fun. So if we're doing lines or if we're cooking dinner - whatever it is - it's heaven. I just got a kiss for that - right on.
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Now check out our full Torchwood guide
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