James Marsters

James Marsters Trivia and Quotes

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Trivia

  • James's first role in theater was when he was four. He played Eeyore in Winnie The Pooh.

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  • James's favorite Star Trek character is Spock.

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  • Among James's favorite films: The Maltese Falcon, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Casablanca,and Citizen Kane.

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  • James's worse injury occurred when he was around ten years old. While playing baseball he slid to avoid getting out but ran his knee across a sprinkler head. The cut her received took over a year to heal properly and needed a skin graft.

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  • James's favorite musical is Jesus Christ Superstar.

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  • James did the narration for the book: The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1. It was released in the fall of 2010.

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  • James has a fear of not being able to breath if something is put over his face/head.

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  • James, with his band Ghost of the Robots, released their album Murphy's Law on Nov. 15th, 2011.

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  • James attended the Big Apple Comic Con in February 2011. While there he conducted a seminar on William Shakespeare.

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  • James married Patricia Rahman on January 14, 2011.

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  • James was voted as Sexiest Male Vampire by the Nocturnal 2000 Convention.

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  • While doing regional theatre in Chicago, James co-founded the New Mercury Theatre company. In 1990, New Mercury's founders packed the operation up and relocated to Seattle in the hopes of finding more opportunity. The company playedin the areafor a number of years, using as much space as possible, including the basements of restaurants and churches but eventually found themselves a more permanent space near Pioneer Square.

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  • James is one of only three people to be a cast member on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Strangely, he was added to the cast of both shows after Charisma Carpenter's (Cordelia) departure from them. Alexis Denisof, who played Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, was also on both shows.

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  • James was in a total of 120 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel combined. This is the seventh highest number of appearances in the Whedonverse.

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  • James has a solo music album called Civilized Man. []

  • James was considered for the lead role of Harry Dresden in the Sci-Fi series The Dresden Files, but he turned down the role because it would require him to move to Toronto and to commit to a five year contract. Many fans believed that he was the obvious choice for the role because he had already performed the narration for the audio versions of the novels upon which that the series is based.

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  • In the premiere issue of the US version of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine, James' name was misspelled. On the cover of the issue, his name was spelled "James Masters". []

  • James has 3 Palisades Palz toys based on his Buffy the Vampire Slayer character, Spike. There are "Harsh Light of Day Spike," "Series 2 Spike," and "Wizard World Spike."

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  • A number of 12" figures of his James' character Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer have been produced by Sideshow Toys. James owns four of them.

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  • James has 2 action figures based on his Angel character, Spike. There are "Season 5 Spike" and "Just Rewards Spike."

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  • James has 7 action figures out based on his Buffy the Vampire Slayer character, Spike. There are "Grave Spike," "Fool For Love Spike," "Beneath You Spike," "Series 2 Spike," "IKON Blue Shirt Spike," "IKON Green Shirt Spike," and "Vampire Spike."

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  • James ranked third in an article published in the British newspaper The Guardian that listed the best accents in film and on TV. []
  • James' favorite playwright is Anton Chekhov. []
  • James shares his birthday with Fred Durst from the band Limp Bizkit, Isaac Hayes, and Robert Plant. []

  • James won the Sexiest Male Vampire Award at the Nocturnal 2K Convention in London, England in 2002 for his character Spike of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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  • James is the voice of the character Spike in the video games, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. []

  • James starred in the 2002 film, Chance, as Simon. The film was made by and stared fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Amber Benson. The film also stared fellow Angel actor Andy Hallett.

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  • James appeared in the 1999 film, Winding Roads, as Billy Johnson. []

  • James won a Spacey award on April 18, 2004 for his role as Spike on Angel. Spike was voted the most popular male character. Spaceys are awarded annually by the Canadian Sci-Fi channel; Space.

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  • James had a band called Ghost of the Robot. They released their first album entitled Mad Brilliant on February 2, 2003. The band released a five-track EP in 2004 in preparation for a second album, but the band broke up in 2006 so that James could pursue other opportunities. However in 2010, the band reformed with a few new members including James's son Sullivan.

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  • A few of the musicians whose work James has covered in his 14 Below shows are Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Neil Young, and Nirvana. His own musical tastes are varied, but he's a big fan of Miles Davis. []
  • James' favorite play is William Shakespeare's Macbeth in which he performed the lead role for a production in Seattle. []
  • For those pondering bleaching their hair, James recommends adding four to seven packets of Sweet 'n' Low to the bleaching solution in order to take the sting out of it. []
  • In his free time, James likes to play the guitar, watch football, and spend time with his friends at the beach. []
  • James has done many theater plays including The Tempest, Red Noses, and The Why which was produced by Noah Wyle. []

  • James is a natural brunette. He bleached his hair for the role ofSpike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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  • James was 30 minutes late taking the stage at his Live in Five concert at The Carling Academy in Islington on April 29, 2005 because one of his guitar strings broke and he had to mend it with a hairdryer. However, he played for an additional half an hour to make up for it. []
  • The hair on one of James' legs grows in the wrong direction because he had to have a skin graft after being injured while playing a childhood game. The injury also required stiches and kept him off his feet for almost a year. []

  • James is left-handed and has blue eyes.

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  • James made an estimated 4 million dollars on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel combined.

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  • James got his first kiss in his theatre class when he was 14. He kissed an 18 year old girl. []
  • James and his ex-wife, Liane Davidson, have a son named Sullivan who was born in 1996. []

  • James made $45,000 per episode on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and $50,000 per episode on Angel.

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  • James dated Alison MacInnis, who played Dana Mitchell, the Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger on Power Rangers.

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  • On April 27, 2004, James mentioned on On Air With Ryan Seacrest that the character of Spike is not dead but will continue on if Joss Whedon chooses to make another show.

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  • James' head was shaved for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS charity while on a show called On-Air With Ryan Seacrest on April 27, 2004.

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  • Originally, James' character, Spike, on Buffy The Vampire Slayer was supposed to be killed. However, due to fan popularity, he stayed on the show and eventually became part of the main cast.

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  • James graduated from Grace M. Davis High School in Modesto, California. []
  • James is 5' 11" tall. []
  • James had a cat named Zachary, who had been his pet since James lived in the New York area. Regrettably, Zachary passed away in 2000. []

  • James' British accent on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not real.

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  • James co-wrote the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru comic book. []
  • James gained the scar on his left eyebrow when he was mugged while he lived in Queens, New York. []
  • James has two siblings. He has an older sister named Susan who was born in 1960 and a younger brother named Paul who was born in 1964. []
  • James spent 10 years doing theatre work before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film and television career. []

Quotes

  • James: (on why her prefers playing villians) When you are a hero you are always running to save someone, sweating, worried and guilty. When you are a villain you are just lurking in the shadows waiting for the hero to pass by. Then you pop them in the head and go home...piece of cake.

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  • James: I think we are all villians. And like all villains we think we are heroes but to tell you the truth, we all do acts of little evil or big evil all the time. Heroes are very rare but most of us are frankly villians.
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  • James: I'm quite comfortable with being a geek. I've been a geek since high school. In Europe they call geeks "smart people", and frankly I think we live in a culture that doesn't value intelligence enough; so I am very proud in saying that I am a geek.
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  • James: (on which is more important to an actos, being able to empathize or fantasize) But I guess, to empathize really as long as you understand that everybody deserves love, that everyone has a story to tell and no matter who you're playing whether it's Jeffrey Dahmer or Jesus Christ, they have a point of view that you have to respect.
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  • James: (on what his band accomplishes with the fans) Sometimes I think we're the excuse so that they can get together and talk to each other. They've become each others friends, which I think is the best thing in the world. It's what artists are trying to do, remind people that they aren't alone. I think we do that.
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  • James Marsters: (on the difference between playing Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and playing Brainiac in Smallville) One important thing is that Brainiac is always smiling. He's so good at what he does, he's enjoying himself. He's a very intelligent character. Spike was not stupid, but I don't think his hallmark quality was vast reserves of intelligence - charm, good hair, maybe, but not intelligence. And this man is very good at lying, which Spike never was.

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  • James Marsters: I don't have a computer - I don't like to get into it that much 'cause it can screw with your head a little. []
  • James Marsters: It's all magic to me. Country to punk rock, all of it. Chopin to Kurt Cobain. But it always all comes back to punk for me, because that was the last time, punk rock or grunge rock, was the last time that passion ruled the airwaves. []
  • James Marsters: My personal philosophy would be don't whine, don't let opportunities pass you by, be willing to work hard, and remember that you don't know as much as you think you do, ever. []

  • James Marsters (about his character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer): Tough guy Spike was always the funnest, but I'm most proud of the more recent stuff, the last season, I think.

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  • James Marsters: I like all music. Well, I don't like music that was created to make money. I don't really like bands that don't write their own music. []

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