That was a fabulous transcript of the Saturday Q&A. It was almost like being there. I really appreciate the time and effort that has gone into producing this.

Shade of Pale | April 19, 15:21 CET

Indeed, fantastic transcript, they covered almost every aspect of James. I'm amazed that there are still fans out there that didn't know that James isn't British unless he/she was joking.
Nice to see that James believes that Spike and Buffy could have seriously hooked up. The James/Sarah bit was hilerous, and Joss's comment about it being so "high school",haha.

You can clearly see that actors,writers,directors,ect have a very different image of the characters,show. These people did spend alot of time with each other. I also liked how James enjoyed souled Spike, who seems very under appreciated in the fandom.

Vergil | April 19, 15:43 CET

Totally agreed, wonderful transcript, made you feel like you were there.
I was recently listening to him commenting on a Smallville commentary and he goes into a whole schpiel about Chloe and how the actress played unrequited love so well. I kept thinking, “coming from an expert there...” I would have liked to hear some comments from him about the S8 comics.

AthenaMuze | April 19, 15:52 CET

Thanks so much to all concerned, that was a great read. I loved that James said about BtS "It was the best experience of my life. But it was not easy, and I'm proud of it."
Damned straight he should be proud of it :)

Shey | April 19, 16:51 CET

"I'm amazed that there are still fans out there that didn't know that James isn't British unless he/she was joking."

There are always new fans, who recently started watching reruns, and since this was a young teen, I assume she was one of those.

It really was a great transcript, I was there and I still loved reading it. I like how they included gestures and voices.

Just my opinion but I doubt if James even knows about the Season 8 comic. He didn't seem to know about the Spike comics. At least Shadow Puppets.

Xane | April 19, 17:52 CET

Good read! A long read but a good one.

It's a strange thing but it always seems a little sad to me that the Buffy and Angel cast aren't closer as a group of friends. To be honest I have absolutely no idea why it is that I feel like they should be.

For the most part you accept that actors see these roles in the series they do as work and that the people they work with are just that. You don't really expect an actor to keep in touch with each and every single person they have ever worked with in their career. Occasionally you do get close friendships developing out of working together (David Boreanaz and Christian Kane, for example) or even serious relationships (Alyson and Alexis, obviously) but normally it's simply a working relationship for as long as the job lasts.

For some reason though it feels to me like it should be different for the Buffy and Angel casts. Maybe because the fanbase has remained so devoted to the cast and the characters they played. Maybe because the Firefly/Serenity cast still seem to be quite close as friends. I really don't know why it feels that way to me. As I said, I certainly never expect a group of actors to stay in touch after their show ends so it really shouldn't seem so strange to me that James doesn't really have much contact with the other ex-Buffyverse actors. Having said that, I can certainly appreciate the reasons he gave as to why that may be. Still, a shame.

Ah well, it certainly seems to me like he still has a great deal of time and fond memories for those he worked with and that at least is a good thing.

WhedonTrivia | April 19, 18:12 CET

Y'know, i've no idea if that's any good as acting advice but as general wisdom goes, i've heard much, much worse. Bravo.

By the wording it seems like it's always coming up but I can't remember reading about JM's difficulty with 'Seeing Red' before. Very interesting because it's easy (for me anyway) to forget that for an actor to find any truth in their performance they'd have to be pretty deep in the head of whomever they were portraying. Which could be a bit nasty.

(and there's also probably still a tendency to think blokes should 'just get on with it' and not make a fuss where feelings are concerned, probably why SMG was treated more considerately than JM in that instance)

Great, great transcript that, very detailed. Thank-you to 'Maria G' for all her hard work.

Saje | April 19, 18:49 CET

Fascinating reading. What a lot of hard work on the part of the transcriber.

Saje, I've definitely read about James' difficulties with that scene somewhere before, but I'd never realised no-one thought to ask how he felt about it. Maybe it was just a time thing. He says himself filming Buffy was like fighting a war with time. (Hmm. Time war. James on Dr. Who. Did I say that outloud?)

ArielWillow | April 19, 19:13 CET

I find it interesting that he says he didn't like how his character in Smallville didn't have a clear goal or focus, and he was always asking about it. It kind of contradicts what he said previously about how he really loved having a focus and a goal with Fine, because sometimes on Buffy he didn't know what Spike should be doing.
Maybe it's just a case of not crapping where you live, so to speak, but does he realize he says this stuff in public?!

And oh how I would love to have SMG asked about James' little 'crush'...

I would actually be interested to know how she approached 'Seeing Red' and if she realized how hard it was on James. I mean...therapy?! That's pretty hardcore. I have a feeling SMG takes very much a business approach to acting, so she can probably keep it separated in her head and not be as affected by the material. I mean, if she wasn't traumatized by Scooby Doo, she can make it through anything!

Rogue Slayer | April 19, 19:59 CET

It's a great transcript. I'm tickled by the most embarrassing moments question. Heh!

deborahmm | April 19, 20:26 CET

Thank you for this great transcript. It is always a pure pleasure for me to read these convention reports, since I doubt I will ever get to see James in person.
I'm just grateful that so many great JM fans get to attend and then grace us with their memories of the event. It almost makes me feel that I was actually there.

kathylovesspike | April 19, 20:44 CET

I realize that they are looking for work in an extremely competitive business, but knowing that James and Alexis (two actors at the very top of the talent in the ‘verse, in my opinion) have to audition instead of having someone say “get me Marsters!” or “get me Denisof!” drives me nuts.

James seems to talk about acting with such an enthusiasm so it’s interesting how he mentions trying to hold on to that creative energy and keep an active imagination as time goes by. I think it says a lot that with all his years of experience, he doesn’t appear to be an arrogant know-it-all about what he does or the talent he has. And he’s pretty generous with the compliments to other actors and stunt Spike (even if he’s learning to take compliments himself), so no wonder he freaked out when Holly Hunter told him he was a great actor she’d been following for years. I don’t think that would help with the nerves!



I would be,too. She doesn't seem to discuss her process much, but I think James has said how SMG could sort of 'turn on' for a scene and turn back off when it was through. It does seem rather business-like or that she has a 'get the job done' efficiency, especially when you compare it to someone who's staying in a frame of mind he doesn't want to be in. I guess they just both have different disciplines.

bloodflowers | April 19, 20:49 CET

If anyone is interested I have put up some more photos from the Grand Slam, mostly James at this time but I will be adding photos of the others by this weekend, some verse related and some not.

As for thr 'Seeing Red' issue, over the years, I think James has mentioned quite a few times that SMG also had issues with the scene, to the point that people would ask her if she was 'ok' and such, but no one asked him if he was 'ok'. Which at the time was upsetting cause he himself has mentioned that he was spiraling out of control because he had gotten to connected to Spike's plight. He was not eating or sleeping much during most of Season 6.

RavenU | April 19, 21:00 CET

"I find it interesting that he says he didn't like how his character in Smallville didn't have a clear goal or focus, and he was always asking about it. It kind of contradicts what he said previously about how he really loved having a focus and a goal with Fine, because sometimes on Buffy he didn't know what Spike should be doing.
Maybe it's just a case of not crapping where you live, so to speak, but does he realize he says this stuff in public?!"

I might be totally wrong, but my recollection is that the interviews/Q & A's in which he was saying how thrilled he was that he knew the focus and goal of the character were at the beginning of the season. These examples of when he was confused and felt out of the loop were taken from the later part of the season. I assumed when I read this that communication was great at the beginning to get him on board and then probably fell by the wayside as they got further into the story and took a left turn of two that they forgot to tell him about...or that they were making up as they went along and did not want to admit to him.

newcj | April 19, 21:31 CET

Yep newcj, he liked knowing what Fine was up to at the beginning but that only covered the first series of episodes. The rest of the arc was where he had a problem in not really getting what was going on.

SV is an interesting contrast to something like BtVS as the set was up in Canada but the writers were still based in LA so probably not as available for conversations with the actors as on BtVS for instance.

helcat | April 19, 21:59 CET

By the way, I am SO loving the hair. That is a sexy head of hair. Goes well with the rest of him!

Rogue Slayer | April 19, 23:35 CET

I'm right with you Rogue Slayer, I love the hair--first time in a long time. Thanks so much for all the effort taken to put this report together. I find JM's comments very endearing, and he looks great!

annieb | April 20, 00:38 CET

Reading this transcript and the Behind the Music explanations only cemented my severe love for James Marsters.

The questions were interesting and they were transcribed in a way that made you feel like you were there, like others have already mentioned.

I love how gracious and into the whole process James seems to be, not to mention how flirtatious he seems at times. This was great and I learned some new stuff about him.

And, I second the amazement that James Marsters and Alexis Denisof have to audition rather than having people beating down their doors for that kind of talent. I would watch James Marsters or Alexis Denisof talk to a wooden plank for 3 hours.

I wouldn't watch Tom Cruise in a movie that won him the Academy Award for best acting in a movie ever, of all time. Crazy world.

[ edited by Entropy on 2007-04-20 08:27 ]

Entropy | April 20, 01:18 CET

Whedonopolis did a great job with their coverage of JM at Grand Slam so I'm glad to see that they're going to be at the NJ Fangoria con at the end of June as well.


Some of which, I've heard him say at previous cons, was also caused by his having to be the only cast member practically naked alot of the time while everyone else found it very humorous. He said he had never had a problem with nudity in his work before until then, but after season 6 he wasn't sure he'd ever want to do it again.

But I guess his therapy has helped with that because he's going to be doing a nude scene 6 nights a week in the play The Little Dog Laughed in San Francisco this summer. *yes!*

anindoorkitty | April 20, 08:15 CET

"while everyone else found it very humorous"

Apart from NB. Apparently he'd give JM a hug every time Xander was harsh with Spike. Guess he got a lot of hugs that year.

Great write-ups, thanks for the links.

And agreed, he looks great.

JuliaL | April 20, 17:08 CET

Oops. I am an ungrateful wretch who forgot to say how great it was that these folks and others have taken the time and made the effort to give us reports like this one. They did a great job.

"while everyone else found it very humorous"

Apart from NB. Apparently he'd give JM a hug every time Xander was harsh with Spike. Guess he got a lot of hugs that year.

I had not heard that specifically, but I remember reading some comment by JM that he would be upset about something and then NB would walk on the set and make him laugh and feel better. That is a great quality/talent to have. Why isn't that boy on another sit-com? (sigh)...Never mind.

newcj | April 20, 17:53 CET

Couple of quick things. One, thanks to the person that supplied this, it was great and I can't imagine the work involved in transcribing it. Second, a correction, on the Dresden Files books, Storm Front is the first book and the book that was just released on CD is the fourth book, White Knight. It has been the best book so far in that James has done so many wonderful voices on it, women, fairies, ogres, it's great. All I can say about James is what I have always said, what a hunk.

luvspike | April 21, 00:08 CET

Whoops, now I have to correct my own corrections, it is Summer Knight, not White Knight. I got it mixed up with the new book, White Night. My mind is mush.....

luvspike | April 21, 00:11 CET