VasquezE(03/31/04 13:12:13)
После вчерашней истории с перепечаткой кусков пресс-джанкета из закрытых источников на BAPS расчухались и выдали на-гора полный транскрипт.
Честно говоря, меня очень заинтриговал момент, когда ведущий пресс-джанкета попросил не задавать ДМ вопросов насчет политики телеканала. Очень любопытно. Хотя, конечно, скорее всего, это продиктовано обычными перестраховочными мотивами.
И еще один момент: ДМ ответил насчет спиноффа только со второго раза, когда понял, что от вопроса не отделаться. И как только он начал объяснять, почему (c его точки зрения) не будет спиноффа, как его вежливенько попросили закрыть эту тему.
click here Message 219924 of 220000 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] Message Index Msg #
From: "xionin820" <perra_de_amor@y...>
Date: Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:09 am
Subject: the interview - part one
Acting careers are all about ups and downs. Can you tell us what
positives you can take from the cancellation of Angel?
James Marsters: Welcome to Angelville! Oh, my God. Well, first of
all, the chaos is really potential if you're willing to look at it
that way. Change is good if you're willing to be proactive about it.
And this is a big change for me. I plan to take full advantage of
it. I've been telling people for a long time that I'm an actor who
can do different roles, and now I have a chance to prove it.
So, what's your immediate plan then?
James: Find an agent.
(laugh) You didn't have one?
James: No, man.
How can you survive in LA without an agent?
James: I was already employed, you know. (laughs) Why give ten
percent to an agent if you don't have time to audition? We got to a
point of renegotiating a contract without an agent. And the thing
was is that I had fired the two different agencies during contract
negotiations, because I didn't think they were fighting correctly.
It became apparent to me that I was manhandling my representation,
telling them exactly what to tell the other side, day to day.
Finally, it hit me, "You don't need an agent." Or at least, if I
need an agent, he needs to be better at this than I am. There is an
agency who will believe in me. And I will find them. But I haven't
found them yet.
Are you trying to stay clear of the big ones to avoid like getting
swamped, `cause they represent all the twenty million?
James: That is a definite trade off. But it really depends on who you meet. If you're in a big
agency, and you really do have a connection with your specific agent
in that agency, that doesn't matter.
Is typecasting one of your concerns?
James: No.
Never? Never was? Never will be?
James: No. The, the, the big—see, I stammer, I'll never write about
these things. [примечание: может быть, здесь неправильно расшифровано,
и на самом деле говорится I'm never right about these things?]
(laughs) The big thing that I'd be coming into is it may be a few
years of people finding out who I really am. Because I'm going to have to go out there with brown hair,
looking the way I do now. And it's really like coming to LA fresh. So, the positive
side of it is, that I can be fresh again. I can probably even go in all stealthy. I could probably take
Spike off my radar and not get spotted. But then I'd have to pass
myself off as someone who's not done much television. So, I imagine
it'll be a couple a years, where I do a couple of guest spots. Do a
couple of smaller roles. People will say, "Hey. He's that guy. Wow,
he's very different, now." I sound a little cocky, but I've only
failed a couple of times with acting. I've only really sucked a couple of times in plays. And so, I
feel pretty confident that I'll get out there and do it. Usually
when I get on a show, everyone starts talking about putting me in
the cast anyway. That's what happened with Buffy. It's almost
happened with every show I've been on. They wanted to do it in
Northern Exposure.
Congratulations.
James: Yeah.
Is there another show on television that you'd love to be a regular in?
James: The West Wing. Take that Rob Lowe part, thank you very much. (general laughter)
What is he thinking? (laughing) Nothing against Rob. He's survived longer than I have.
Was there a point where you knew that Buffy was ending? That you
just thought, that's it. That's the point where I should just let
that role go?
James: Well, Joss came up to me in the very beginning of the last
season of Buffy, right after we shot the big church scene, where
Spike goes on the cross, and I had just poured my heart out. And he
said, "James, first of all, your episode sucks. Second of all, we
have no idea what to do with you for this year. The only thing we
know we want to do with is we want to kill you." (laughter)
Then he said, "But (laughs) I don't want you to remain dead.
I want to bring you back." So, the whole year on Buffy was all about
experimenting with different ways to continue the storytelling with
this universe. There was going to be a spinoff, which didn't work
out. I went through the year knowing that something was going to be
continuing. When it didn't work with the spinoff, taking me over to
Angel was talked about, and it seemed like a good idea. I wasn't
really thinking of it as ending, so much as progress.
For you.
James: You know, I miss doing the romantic stuff, but the thing is
that you really can't do romantic stuff if you're a secondary
character, or of course if you're the same sex. `Cause you just… (laughing)
Well, if you think about it, I mean, the secondary characters
just don't really get romantic, because you have to go in there and
develop that as a plot. And it takes away from your ensemble cast.
If you hook up with the main character, then you can have the
love story. If not, it just flattens everything out. What I enjoy
about being over on Angel frankly, is that I'm no longer a danger to
the theme.
They've really uncorked me. And I'm really kind of a
doppelganger for Angel in a way, which is to say that he's a bit of
a mirror image, not exactly, but enough, so that you gain insight
into Angel by watching Spike. That hooks me in directly in line with
the theme, as opposed to always kind of bumping into it, and
negating it, and "Oh, let's keep Spike away from this episode."
Being uncorked is fun, but it is more hours, I have to say.
TBC
~xio
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From: "xionin820" <perra_de_amor@y...>
Date: Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:11 am
Subject: the interview - part two
ADVERTISEMENT
I have this silly question. Do you believe in the supernatural and
ghosts?
James: I believe that we don't know. I believe that we must be careful of the things that we want
to be true. Because we'll tend to find that. And we all want there
to be something after death. So, we tend to see that. But it doesn't
mean that it doesn't exist. It just means that we have to be careful in the search for
it. I read a great book called "Eighteenth Century and the Madness
of Crowds." It was actually written in the nineteenth century but it
said that there are four things that human beings will never be able
to over come. Three or four. Ignorance of the future. Toil. Death.
Three. Those three things. And people have been selling snake oil to
people throughout the centuries based on the idea that somehow, you
can get past those three things. A lot of our beliefs are just based
on needing to believe. The things that physicists are finding out
about the universe are so mind-boggling. That you have to admit that we're wrapped up in something
much more complicated than we understand. To say that there's not a
metaphysical part of life is pretty arrogant. It's just as arrogant
as saying, I know everything about God. It's just that I believe in the saying, you know what? We
really don't know much. We really don't.
The more we know, the less we know.
James: Yeah. It's like going to college. (laughing) From the fans letters and the mail you've got, I guess
you must get quite a lot of them as Spike, do you grasp what the
fans were getting from the show, most of them teenagers or young
adults. All the struggles that all the demons and vampires and all these
people are going through, would that help them with their growing
up? Not just young people, older people too. I'd get just as many
heartfelt letters about connections from older people too.
Definitely, from younger people. That really speaks mostly about the
writing. The writing is about trying to be a good person in this
world, and how do you do that? Because it's not really that easy, if
you really talk about it honestly, that easy. And these writers do.
There's a real honest attempt to talk about heroism. And the
pitfalls of heroism. And how you can become a total jerk if you try
to screw it up. I'm proud of being part of stories that are told with passion
and with sincerity. We really believe this stuff. This is not just
crap to us. This really means something.
Plus it meant to you then.
James: Yeah.
But when have you--
James: Well, with Buffy, it was really like "Hamlet." Which is Joss'
favorite play. "Hamlet" is about being a young man who comes in to
contact with all the @#%$ up parts of the world. He came into his
own as a man, with the world totally screwed up. How do you continue
walking? How do you move forward when you know that the whole world
is messed up? Do you give up? Do you kill yourself? Do you fight
against that? How do you fight against that? Shakespeare is, really
in the mature way, examining how do you do that. "Catcher in the
Rye" is talking about the same thing. It's a period of adolescence.
How do you get over disillusionment? How do you remain active and
proactive, and not give up? That's what he was talking about with
Buffy. She's coming into being a woman, and with her, it's vampires
that she's fighting. That's just the metaphor. It's just a sideshow.
Little demons.
James: Puppet show. It's really about becoming an adult. With Angel,
it's really about remaining a good person, and dealing with regret.
Dealing with the inevitable part of human life when you've grown
into adulthood, and you've made big mistakes in your past . How do
you come to grips with that? How do you move forward from that? And,
so, that's what we've been talking about. In my mind, that's what
I've been talking about.
Talking about moving forward, I'm interested in knowing why you
decided to go back to the brown hair as you sort of audition for new
parts? Wouldn't your new agents sort of tell you, hey, you have much
more chance if you stick with the--
James: Hey, I'm not coming from any agent…(laughing) There is quick money to be made with blond hair.
Seriously though.
James: English accents and vampire shows. (laughing)
You have to play the long game, and just wait--
James: Definitely. I have to. If I have a long career in this town it's going to be playing human beings. (laughs) I went out on auditions for a long time with this bleach blonde hair, and people were like, what's your hair really like? I'm brown, like everybody else in the world. Without a bottle, you know. They can't get over the blonde so
I just get called for rock stars. A lot of rock stars. A lot of drug addicts.
Bikers.
James: Yeah. Stuff like that. You recognize it as limiting. You don't want to get too bulked up with muscle. You want to look like you could move in a lot a different directions. And you want to look like you're a real person. You want to wear a suit.
You want to play a role where you wear a suit for a change?
James: Sure. Of course.
What would be your dream job if you had one? What dream part? Not
Hamlet but--
James: Macbeth. Macbeth is serious stuff.
How in the world did you fight a Muppet?
James: Oh, they wired it to my body. I rolled around, and moved it as if I was trying to get it
off my body, but in fact, made me look like it was attacking me.
Stunts in general, there's so many tricks and stuff. Especially
stage. Stage stunts are really so fun, because at all times, the two
actors are actually protecting each other. There's actually
thousands of little things going on that they're protecting each
other with. Like, if an actor falls, hitting another actor on the
ground, he's actually spotting the other actor as they fall. So that
no one gets hurt, but it looks like they're getting killed, and I
love that.
All right. Your stunt work is just great.
James: Thank you.
It gets better all the time.
James: Thank you. Yeah, well, they're letting me do more and more.
Which is nice. It also makes you good at playing with kids. I'm so good
at wrestling with kids. (laughing) They never get hurt. But they have a great time.
This is where you found out they were canceling the show.
James: Oh, you know what, that's right. And right after that I had
to jump on this chain, do a roundabout into a demon chest right over
there. Yeah. Stunning. That was just stunning. I was sitting over
there, Joss comes in and he collects everybody, and I was thinking
he's going to tell us we're renewed. Of course. (laughs) Because I'm
spoiled, I'm used to that. And I was just sitting there, (laughs)
did I hear that? "What? All right. Yeah."
And then you burst into tears?
James: No. I come from theater. I'm used to things being really
wonderful and then being over. In fact, one of my favorite things to
do when something's over is go back to the space it was performed
in, when it's finally empty and, no, it's cool, it reminds you that
it's over. It reminds you that it's transitory, when I was in New
York the Buddhists used to come and make these beautiful paintings
that were meant to fade away. The Buddhists used to come from Tibet
and sculpt in ice and sand and it would be over.
What would you like to do next?
James: Direct the next episode, pleeeease. He won't do it. I'm
begging him. The point being, and it's so true in theater, that it's
not lasting, you're creating a moment, not a work. I did it over on
Buffy and it's true, we have DVD's and stuff, but in a sense, it's
haunting and kind of nice. I'm aware that this may be the project
that connects with an audience most strongly in my whole career. I
think that it would be kind of foolhardy to assume that I would get
in something else. I think I'll probably work a lot. But these two
shows have touched a nerve. I'll be happy, I will be fine if I only
ever just do kind of good work from now on. You know, I hope to do
great work.
Was it a total shock?
James: It was a total surprise, but the thing is, this is Hollywood.
And after a few years here, there's no real surprises. If you keep
allowing your heart to get broken by surprises, and the winds of
fortune, blowing you both up and down, then you get crushed. You
really have to take things in stride.
You don't seem overly concerned?
James: Well see, the thing is, (laughs) we're all very tired. I
mean, we work. We work 12 to 15 hours a day, five days a week. That
is a marathon. There's a degree of tiredness where you forget what
it's like not to be tired. We get paid well, but we work for it.
Specifically in one hour TV. In sitcoms, you work maybe two or three
hours a day. Except for the shoot day where you work maybe ten. But
that's your schedule. On movies, the daily schedule is just as
hectic as TV, but it's only three months to six months. In
television, you've got a seven year span. In the back of every
actor's mind, by the time you get late in any season, there is a
little voice hoping for cancellation. (laughs) It's the one that you
don't listen to. You know, it's the one that'll ruin your career,
it's the one that says, I just want to rest now. But in this
circumstance, you go ahead and let that one talk all it wants.
It must be difficult that your first season is the last.
James: Mm-hmm. But you know, I feel like we have had such a good
season here. I feel like this last season was better than some of
the ones over on Buffy. Really. The scripts that were coming out of
the scriptwriters' office were just fabulous. We keep being able to
film them. This seems like a blessing that this show was still on
the air after Buffy got off the air and I continued to do Spike for
another year. I've been involved in at least 100 plays in some way.
And I know that Spike is really the best role that you can hope for.
I mean, I've said this to Joss and he was just like
(gasps) "Blasphemer!" I think Spike is even a better role than
Macbeth, which is my favorite role in Shakespeare, ever. Shakespeare
only had three hours. He's the best writer ever. But he only had a
certain amount of time to explore a character and you could only say
a certain amount of things in that amount of time. And I've had
really good writers exploring Spike for seven years now. And he's
fleshed out. I think that I would probably want to come back to
Spike again if anything was to come up. No matter what I was doing,
it's just a great role.
You're pleased with the evolution of the character?
James: Oh my God, yeah. Yes, yes. He's so much more complicated and
more human than I ever imagined. It all really flowered when we went
back in time and we found out that Spike was a total wuss before he
was a vampire, which really makes him the most successful faker in
history. He's not a tough guy. He's a guy who's pretending to be
tough. Except that he's a vampire so he can get away with it.
TBC
~xio
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Message 219926 of 220000 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] Message Index Msg #
From: "xionin820" <perra_de_amor@y...>
Date: Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:16 am
Subject: the interview - part three
Are you going to be doing music in the future?
James: Music has always been like a big part of my life. But it's
always been more private. I've always written songs and played,
I've played in clubs solo all my life, off and on. I was doing
that, I don't know, for the last three years in L.A. Music will
always be a main thing in my life. I don't know, the future is hard
to tell. My fear is that now that I'm not on a TV show, I may have
to work in other places and my schedule may get more hectic and it
may be harder to play with the band, and that would be
heartbreaking. Because creatively our songwriting is really getting
better. I'm getting more complex and Charlie's getting sweeter and
we're kind of meeting minds.
What about working full time on music?
James: I don't want to give up acting, I never have. I've been
acting since fourth grade, I'm addicted to it. I really, I really
love it. I'm one of the few guys who could work 12 to 15 hours a
day and still be like, that was good, that was fun. I've also spent
all my life getting pretty good at it and it's like anything, if I
was laying bricks this long, I'd be really good at it, and if you
wanted to tell me, let's start doing swimming pools, I'd probably
say, well let's add swimming pools. Before we cut out bricks, you
know what I mean? Did that make any sense at all (laughs)?
Construction metaphors, basically. Until the band can produce the
kinds of money that acting can, I will probably remain an actor,
it's because I love it. I've lived my life by having my cake and
eating it too. All my friends have always told me, you can't do
that, dude. And I've always done it.
Who does Buffy love?
James: I think that Buffy really does love Angel. I think that
that was her true love. And I think that she used Spike like a wet
rag. I think that she was feeling dead inside at the time. And I
think that Spike was an exciting lover. And I think that he made her
feel alive. But she didn't love him at all. And she used him. And
that was not right. And Spike was very smitten and too weak to break
it off. And he basically, he was the boyfriend that girls do not
want to go choose if they're having a boring time of things. You
all know what I mean. There's a kind of guy who's very exciting but
that will burn you at the end. So that was what we were playing out
on Buffy with Spike and Buffy. I don't think in the writer's minds
that Spike was worthy of loving Buffy. Until he had a soul. And of
course, by the time he had a soul, it was too late, the last shot.
They had no chance.
What kind of people are hooked on shows like this?
James: People who appreciate quality. That seems to be the only
common denominator. I mean, it goes across age, it goes across
social status, it goes across really educational backgrounds,
everything. When I go and meet fans, it's everybody. When I meet
them, they tend to be fairly intelligent and fairly funny people. I
just tend to think that they appreciate quality and are willing to
really give it to themselves.
What was the difference between Angel and Buffy?
James: Oh man, they're just so different. To tell you the truth,
it's much the same experience working on Angel and Buffy. The
writers are the same, the producers are the same, Joss is there,
many of the directors are the same. I worked with David over on
Angel, and I pretty much worked with everybody else over at Joss's
house doing Shakespeare for fun. So, coming on Angel, it's not much
different. The only biggest difference for me is my trailer is much
further away here than there, so (laughs) it has a profound effect
on whether I can get some rest. But other than that, it's about
exactly the same. Yeah. It's the same toys, it's the same fun
factory. It's the Joss Fun Factory.
You have loads of female fans who've written, I suppose you know.
James: Yes.
Do you think it's because Spike's bad, that's why, that women like
that? I mean, is it good appearing on those fanciable men lists?
James: I don't think that just being bad is enough. I don't
think...in this universe that Joss is writing, and all the people
working for him are writing, bad is not cool. Evil is not fun.
It's stupid, it's banal, it's not supposed to be sexy. And that's
why vampires, when they become vampires, are hideously ugly. That's
why he doesn't allow us to have the fangs with normal faces, because
that's so sexy. And so Spike was kind of an ill fit over on Buffy
actually. He kind of endangered the theme.
What, because he was so fanciable?
James: Yes, because he was both purely evil and people were
responding to him a way that I don't think they expected. I think
that had to do with just the fact that I was having a lot of fun.
In my personal life I really felt sexy (laughs). So that came out.
And, so...
You've never taken advantage of your image with fans?
James: Very rarely, actually.
But you've had your moments?
James: Yeah. But in general, with fans, if you hook up or if you
get intimate with them at all, they have an agenda and a fantasy,
and there's no way you're going to get out of not smashing that at
the end. So at the very end of the experience, no matter how hard
you try, there's going to be tears. You don't want to break someone
to have a couple hours of fun.
Have there ever been--
James: It's not like I've never done it, but--
You speak so wisely about it, that's why (laughter)...
James: Well, you know. Hollywood is not a place where people
usually keep their souls very long. And I've tried very hard to
keep mine.
You enjoyed your time in Germany?
James: Totally. Played some rocking clubs. Played some hot
clubs. Damn, you guys need some AC in some of those clubs. Where
the hell was I, was that Bonn? And it was 115 degrees on the
stage. Our drummer, who never gives up, signaled that "I have to
quit. That's it. Don't go with the encore." Signaled to the
bassist, and the bassist was so tired he kept going. And he got off
stage, he thought he killed Erin, our drummer. Thought he was
dead. "I killed him, man! I killed him!" At one point, our lead
guitarist, who also never quits, just went over and dumped water on
his head. But the Germans rock heavy. They really rock. People in
Wales, they rock too. We had a good time in Wales. We didn't get
to see enough of Germany; it was more like a rock tour, where you
play, get on a bus, drive, roll into the hotel, sleep, go to the
soundcheck, have about an hour and a half to eat and check stuff
out, and then you play again. It was a lot of like looking out of a
window, like that.
Are you planning to come back?
James: Oh, hell yeah.
Do you know when?
James: We're going back to Europe in the summer. I was trying to
keep it a shorter tour, but I'm starting to change my mind and think
that I want to expand it. So we were going to just the British
Isles because there's a lot of markets right there, but we would
love to go back to Germany. We'd like to check out Italy too.
Are you going to miss your character?
James: Definitely.
What are you going to miss most about him? He must be such a part
of you, as well.
James: The character seems to inspire the writers. For whatever
reason, they like to sit down at the computer and pretend they're
Spike, as much as I like to stand on tape and pretend I'm Spike. I
feel like I get their best stuff. I think that has to do with the
fact that over the years, the writers watched dailies, and over the
years I tried hard. Really hard. That's apparent in dailies, so
they got excited too, "Oh, he really did that," you know. I guess
that's what I'll miss the most, is that sense of building a
character with other people, the collaboration.
And what do you say to the fans? 'Cause they're going to be
devastated that there's no Spike any longer.
James: Yeah, I know. I don't know what to say about that except
that all good things must come to an end. And this will, eventually
at some point, come to an end. But it's not ending yet.
Your accent is really convincing. People in England think, lots of
people think you're English. Gwyneth Paltrow can do a fantastic
accent--
James: Well... (laughter) Her rhythm needs improvement.
Oh, I see. You could give her some coaching.
James: Yeah. That's the final stage of an accent; getting the
rhythm. And that's really what sells it.
Used to be Meryl Streep could just do accents.
James: Meryl Streep is the best at accents. In fact, I believe
that Meryl Streep, her and Judi Densch are the two best actors in
the world.
Who do you think is the worst accent?
James: There's too many of them to name.
Shall I just say Harrison Ford (laughter)...
James: Yeah, but Harrison Ford inspired me to do stunts, so I have
to give him that. Harrison Ford gets his butt kicked better than
anybody in the world. Really. And they say that he's as good as
any stuntman. I remember when I was growing up, watching him
getting beat up, going "I want to do that." Because there's
something heroic in standing back up after you're so beaten and so
frightened and you admit that humanly. Like in BLADE RUNNER when,
who's that guy, gets him in the alleyway? Not Rutger Hauer, the
other dude. But anyway. Harrison Ford is the reason why I take my
hits so hard as Spike and let him get beat up and let him get
totally trashed. Because I think that's cool.
--------------------------
i'll try to get to some more of it tonight or tomorrow, guys.
gotta run, enjoy!
~xio
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From: "xionin820" <perra_de_amor@y...>
Date: Wed Mar 31, 2004 9:13 pm
Subject: the interview - part 4
What do fans do when they meet you?
James: They're very polite.
What, you mean those ladies?
James: Oh yeah. Well, no, in general they're a little scared of
me. Because I play a character who's bound to say, you know, "Eff
off. Leave me alone, I'm going to get a cookie." I don't play
Willow, and I didn't play Tara over on the other show—do you get
me? I don't play a character who has any sympathy for anybody
really. So they tend to apologize and make sure that I'm not going
to anything important. (laughs) Which is kind of funny.
I read that some 80-year-old woman was quite rude to you. Pinched
your bottom.
James: Yeah, that gets old. At first it was kind of like, "Wow,
now I'm a sexual object." But that's a boundary that's been
pushed so much at this point hat it really does rankle.
What, people treating you like that?
James: People just coming up and...
Do they really?
James: Yeah, some people don't have the same sense of boundaries
that most of us have.
So what do you do?
James: Leave.
Do you say anything to them?
James: Usually I say "That's it. I'm no piece of meat."
I'm a public figure now so I can't react the way I'd really like, so
I'm going to leave. (laughs)
But is it good to appear on things like--
James: But that's very rare. I have fan interactions everywhere I
go. I have to say, 95, 99 percent of them are really positive.
Is it good to appear on those kind of Most Fanciable Men lists?
James: Sure, I mean…
It's not going to be bad, is it?
James: Hollywood runs on sex. There's only seven stories ever
told. One of them is young love. That's the only one we'll tell
here. So, if girls want you, you get a good job. I'm never going
to run away from that. At all.
We have a regular feature where a celebrity recommends a favorite
book or DVD or album of the moment they really love. Have you got a
particular book at the moment?
James: "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." I forget the
author right now. It's about American politics and how corporations can
buy politics. And it starts with the last election, and exposes
some problems that we have in the country right now. It's very well
written and very compelling.
Have a favorite DVD at the moment?
James: The last great one I got is TWO TOWERS, I guess. You know,
everyone says that, but really Peter Jackson—I used to have a
theater in Chicago and Seattle, and a lot of what we used to do were
classics, and taking source material from short stories or other
material and putting them on stage. Frankly, there's no royalties
to be involved in either of those things. Or original pieces. I
think that those three movies are some of the most successful
adaptations I've ever seen. Those are incredibly complex books, and
he puts so much information non-verbally on the screen. I've gone
back and I've re-read the books, I'm in the middle of them right
now, and just kind of taking notes about "How did he do
that?"
Because I used to do it. I really want to know how the hell he did
that. He took liberties. He smashed that story. He ripped out
components like that, pfft! but he stayed so true to the meat of
what the author was talking about, which was really the author's
experiences in World War I, and knowing that, and being true to
that, and getting at what's universal in that experience. And I
know it's popular to say so, but I'll just stand up and say it:
artistically, that is just awe inspiring.
Who are you going to miss the most, coming to work every day?
James: Joss Whedon.
Why is that?
James: Because I don't feel like I can get to my potential as an
artist unless he's directing me. He's directed me, and I know how
good I can be, like you feel it when you're really plugged into the
words and it's working. I mean, all the other directors around here
are great. But I will miss that feeling. There's a part of myself
I can get to with Joss that I can't get with anyone else in
Hollywood that I've met. There's a couple directors out in theater
that I have, but really only a handful. And that's out of like a
hundred plays. So I'll miss that. It's tough to give that up.
So is it a case of whatever Joss does next?
James: Anything he wants, yeah. As an actor, you have to cull good
people. You have to remember the good writers that you work with,
and try to work with them again. You have to remember the good
directors, the good producers, and work with them again. Joss is
amazing. It's not like I'm the only one who thinks so. I'd be stupid
to say no to him. Don't tell him that, because he'll know I'll work
for free! (laughter) The truth is, if he's directing one of his
projects, I'll work for very little money. If he's not directing,
he'll have to pay me. And if he just wants to write it and have
someone else direct it, I'll have to get paid. (laughter)
How did you feel when you heard the series was being cancelled?
James: Very surprised, very surprised. It bespeaks the complicated
nature of Hollywood. It makes absolute sense for Warner Brothers to
do what they're doing from their perspective. From our
perspective it's weird to get on two TV Guide covers. We've had a very
successful season, the numbers are up and we're still getting
cancelled. I've examined it from their side, and it makes sense
on the business end. If you really want to go into all of the
business details we can. But let's not. So, no hard feelings
but, wow.
There must have been some bitterness?
James: No. I used to produce theater in Chicago and Seattle, and I
hated having actors come up to me asking "Why haven't you
cast me yet?" I'd have cast them twice already last year and
they'd tell me, I need more work. I'm not going to dis on the WB who gave me
gainful employment for years, just because they don't want to
keep employing me. That's not the way to go.
First Buffy ends and now this ends. Are you jinxed?
James: No, no. Buffy ended because Sarah wanted out. Buffy could
have gone until the year three thousand but, but Sarah and I
don't— look, I have no hard feelings for her either. If I were her agent I
would say the same thing: go on, move on. Seven years was enough
and we all knew that for a long time. Sarah was very clear about
that.
You guys found out that the show was ending when you
read "Entertainment Weekly". (очевидно, речь о "Баффи")
James: If you wanted to fool yourself. If you wanted to really not
pay attention to any of the clear things being said on a daily basis
on that show for years, yes that article would have surprised you.
But it did not surprise me at all. The official word had not been
given but the unofficial word had been given, hundreds of times and
it was not hard to miss.
Were you not concerned having that show come to an end it was just
time to move on anyway?
James: Hell no. Joss is still in the driver's seat. Joss and
David Fury and Steve DeKnight and Drew Goddard. All those guys were
responsible for the best Spike scenes over on Buffy and they're
all here now.
So you're fond of Spike.
James: Oh, believe me. Spike is the best role I've ever had.
Could there have been a spin-off?
James: Spike is a better role than Macbeth. He's a better role
than Hamlet. However good Shakespeare was, he only had three and a
half hours to talk about any given human being. Spike's had
years.
Is that a daunting thought knowing that it's the greatest
character you're going to have?
James: Sure.
Is it as good as it's ever going to get?
James: Yeah, basically. And you have to be at peace with that. I
was very happy acting before I met Joss. I was part of a lot of
projects that tickled people's fancy and that were really
fulfilling. That's most likely what I'll go back to now. I
was never a part of anything that touched the world but I was still
happy, still fulfilled. Now I'm a person who was once part of
something that has touched the world. That's something.
Will there be a Spike spinoff?
James: I doubt it.
Would you be up for it if there was?
James: Hell yeah! But I don't see it happening. I think the WB
is getting another vampire show on the air right now and pursuing more
reality based programming. In that environment, I don't really
see them greenlighting another vampire show. And I don't really see
the new people at UPN being excited. Well I might be wrong about that,
but the man that heads UPN is a great businessman who did not feel
that we should have come to the network at that price. He may have
been right. He may not have been so happy that we were there. I
don't blame him for that either. At the same time I think any
network would be very well advised to get Joss in their camp.
He's got a very good track record and I think that you can't miss with
him.
James isn't here to talk about the endeavors of the WB's
business affairs. We can talk about the show and what's going on with the
character and where you guys are.
James: I'll dig myself into the biggest hole.
No more questions about the WB's thoughts, please.
James: I am not a television executive. The one thing I will say
about the WB is that they have, since the very beginning, thought
like the big boys. They have advertised, they have done it all
correctly and they are on trajectory. They're going to be in the
Fox lot. They're doing everything right, and I failed at business.
I ran an omelet shop into the ground once, so I'm not going to tell
them how to do their business. I can sit here on the sidelines and
kibitz but it's just like talking to any other guy in the street.
Are you going to take any of the props home or any kind of
memorabilia?
James: When I produced, I used to really not like it when people
did that. They told me I should take my coat from Buffy and I
didn't because I don't do that. I was told that it had been
bid on, for some outrageous amount of money and I thought, well that's
not my coat and if it's worth that much money I don't want to
steal that from the people that have just been signing my checks for five
years. Then they turned around and sold it for two hundred thousand
dollars or something like that.
What's been the best gig?
James: The best gig?
The ghost of the robot?
James: Uh, the best, the best band that's played or the most,
the coolest place to play?
The coolest place to play.
James: You could say The Cavern in Liverpool. You could say House
Of Blues in L.A. You know whatever that theater was in Chicago we
played, that was a hell of a theater. That was beautiful. I have
to say we've played a lot of really great places, a lot of larger
places. I'm trying to think. Is it The Garage in London?
Basement, the Garage, I think it's the Garage. That's the
sweet thing about being a television celebrity. You can guarantee a
certain about of tickets and, and if you can step up with the music
you can leave respecting yourself too.
...Coming back to London in the summer you know.
James: It's great. What we're used to as a band is going
into soundcheck and everyone saying "Oh yeah another celebrity band,
go ahead." And then you soundcheck and they think we're pretty
cool. Then we play the gig and everyone comes backstage, to tell us we
rock. "You guys are the greatest band, come on back
anytime."
Do you get groupies?
James: Yes.
Do you take advantage of the situation?
James: No, no. See, half the band is twenty or younger, so
there's a lot of peeking behind doors and laughing. But we're there to
do music. We have found a way to express ourselves very openly, saying
things about ourselves that we don't say to our mom or to our
lover or to anybody. You find a way to put chords to it and you can just
stand in front of hundreds and thousands of people just singing it.
Once you start being really courageous about your song writing, and
really talking about things that matter to you or scare you,
groupies become very much less important to you. That experience
is, I don't even have words for it. What it does is, it reminds
you that you're not alone. Which I think is what all art is really
trying to do. Remind you you're not alone.
-----------------------
more later...
~xio
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From: "xionin820" <perra_de_amor@y...>
Date: Wed Mar 31, 2004 9:22 pm
Subject: the interview - final part (5)
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What was your dark period about and how did you turn things around?
James: Therapy. Which dark period are you talking of? There's
been many of them. I have had many, many times in my life when I
was not happy, and I was hanging out with people who were interested
in creating chaos and violence and I was too. I never hurt anybody
that didn't willingly enter into those kinds of situations. We
didn't roll any old ladies or any innocent people. We protected our
turf. I did that out of choice, not out of necessity which makes me
very ashamed in hindsight. But I think I needed to do that, to try
to find myself I guess. I don't know. That's a long time ago now.
I'm better now.
How did you find a way out of it?
James: If you do that kind of thing then eventually, things will
happen that you have a hard time reconciling. The weight of that
can force you to stop caring about those kinds of things, about who
gets hurt. Macbeth talks about this, about having to cut yourself
off from your own feelings in order to continue to do this. You
either do that or you recoil from it. You just recoil from it. "I
don't want to do this anymore," that's kind of what happened to me.
Things started to happen that I really couldn't really live with.
That's as clear as I'm going to be about that right now.
What are you doing next work wise?
James: Oh, trying to find an agent. I've been without an agent for
a while…
Are you auditioning?
James: No, because I don't have an agent. I mean, frankly, I'm
still working. I also have this blond hair. Early in the whole
Spike thing I tried to go out and get other roles, but I kept
running up against this hair. I would only get looked at for drug
dealers and rock stars and vampires. That's just too limiting. I'm
really looking forward to meeting with agents, getting normal hair
again and going out and starting to meet people because I really
haven't done that in a long time.
How often have you had to dye your hair?
James: Every episode. Every eight days, yeah.
Does your hair fall out?
James: No. My hair doesn't fall out. My scalp doesn't like it but
they've gotten better and better about putting stuff in the
bleaching solution to save my poor hair. It's such a marathon.
Plus, I have very curly hair so this is kind of nice, it straightens
it out.
-------------------------------
well, th-th-that's all, folks!
;]
~xio
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