Whedonesque : Comments on 18687 : James Marsters' January Q+A.

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January 15 2009

James Marsters' January Q+A. This month's topics include: Recording audio books, audition techniques, Hollywood barriers, choosing a guitar and why cows are better than magic beans.

debw | Cast&Crew | 20:06 CET | 7 comments total | tags: james marsters

What style of acting does he embrace? I'm guessing from what he said about auditions that he's not a method actor.

Simon | January 15, 22:51 CET

I read several interviews where he says he's a method actor... Now I wonder how this answer about auditions fits in it.. Well, this could be a question for next month's Q&A..

JotheCat | January 15, 23:05 CET

Maybe he goes "Become the Character" after he's hired....

DaddyCatALSO | January 15, 23:08 CET

He's method but finds that the method doesn't work too well for stage and can really burn you on TV so is best for films.

http://www.jamesdb.com/

I went too far into the Method playing Spike. It really burned me frankly... The Method is really applicable to mostly film and film alone. The Method really it… in simple terms, the Method is just developing a fantasy life that you can release into and improvise within… and it's not so good for stage because for stage you have to tell a story and there's a large part of your brain that has to be aware of what plot points you have to get in, what pace is, if you hear rustling outside… and when I've worked with actors who try to do the Method on stage, it's been really frustrating. I'm like, (funny voice) "Hellooo, I'm glad you're FEELING so much but there are people out there who want to hear a story." But it works wonderfully for film because film wants to document something actually happening for the first time. It doesn't want a recreation of the actual event, it wants the ACTUAL event and it will catch you lying. So in my mind, the Method is the ONLY good acting technique for film. And for television, it's just problematic. On television because you're in it for six years, and it will eat you alive. So I was playing a character who was a metaphor for hunger and it ate me alive quite frankly… but I'm back. I'm okay. {on stage}You lose the audience, you lose your responsibility to the other actors, you lose your responsibility to the playwright and you just become engulfed in your own sensation. And that’s great for film but it just doesn’t work for stage. … I think.

[ edited by debw on 2009-01-15 23:18 ]

debw | January 15, 23:17 CET

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

Simon | January 15, 23:27 CET

Thanks for that Debw. Fascinating. And I love that you have access to an exact quote at the drop of a hat. Very cool.

Xane | January 16, 16:31 CET

Xane, I have http://www.jamesdb.com/ bookmarked it's a great, searchable database of JM interviews, Q and A's and other *stuff* and comes in very handy from time to time.

debw | January 16, 17:33 CET

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