James Wesley Marsters was born on August the 20th 1971, in Greenville,Californa. He studied drama as a young man. He is a very skilled young man even now as he has many careers lined up for him, leading to reasons why he is leaving Buffy the vampier slayer.
James was kicked out of Juilliard in the '80s -- he was told that he "couldn't act his way out of a paper bag" -- Marsters ultimately found success. The turning point came when the left , where he lived in an apartment without glass in the windows(" In the winters I ...
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James Wesley Marsters was born on August the 20th 1971, in Greenville,Californa. He studied drama as a young man. He is a very skilled young man even now as he has many careers lined up for him, leading to reasons why he is leaving Buffy the vampier slayer.
James was kicked out of Juilliard in the '80s -- he was told that he "couldn't act his way out of a paper bag" -- Marsters ultimately found success. The turning point came when the left , where he lived in an apartment without glass in the windows(" In the winters I would cover them with newspaper," he said) and couldn't land off-Broadway roles( "I found more work bartending thann acting"). He headed to Chicago, renowned for its theater, and fared better. He credits the Windy City with catapulting his career with roles in Goodman Theatre's production of Shakespeare's The Tempist and Bailiwick Repertory's six-hour Incorruptible. A few years later; he moved to Los Angeles and landed the role of Spike, Buffy's main Squeeze now. But don't be fooled by that English accent or attitude. Marsters is as American as apple pie, hailing from the logging town of Greenville, Calif.
Biography
James Wesley Marsters was born on August 20th in Greenville, California, and he grew up in Modesto. His father used to be a minister, and his mother almost became a nun. James has one brother and one sister.
James graduated from Davis High School and attended the prestigious Julliard, the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and the American Conservatory Theatre. He spent about 10 years doing stage work and performed in various plays in New York, Chicago, and Seattle before finally moving to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in film and television acting.
After landing a few guest spots on shows like "Northern Exposure" and "Moloney", his big breakthrough came in 1997 with his appearance as bleached blond British vampire Spike on the WB's hit show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Originally only hired for a few episodes, Marsters quickly captured the hearts of a legion of fans, and he has been a regular on the show since its fourth season and now has a long-term contract.
Besides working on "Buffy", James Marsters has guest-starred on a number of other tv shows like "Millennium", "Strange Frequency" and Gene Roddenberry's "Andromeda" (the last one to be broadcasted in the US some time in November), and he's also worked on a few movies. Marsters had a small role in the 1999 remake of "The House On Haunted Hill" and a major role in an independent movie called "Winding Roads". Moreover, he has done some stage work in Los Angeles.
His other talents include playing guitar and singing, which he occasionally does in public - at fan conventions, or, more recently, at a club in Santa Monica, California. And it looks like he's planning on pursuing a musical career, because he recently formed a band called (the current line-up consists of two people: James himself and Charlie DeMars). As for an album, there isn't one yet, but the band are currently recording one, and it's set to release in June 2002.
James Marsters currently lives in Los Angeles.
Theatre and the PCPA. He also helped to launch theatre company, The Genisis Theatre Company, and would continue to perform in various plays through out his career.
Some of the other plays James has participated in include but are not limited to The Tempest, A Marriage of Figaro, and most recently The Why. His favorite theatrical role is Macbeth and he'd one day like to have his own production of the play.
James soon realized that a passion for theatrical acting alone doesn't pay the bills and he headed back to California to try and strike gold in the moving pictures. He started out as many do, quite the struggling actor with small bits on various television shows, Norhern Exposure for one. He did however get a break that fateful day when he called to audition for a vampire named Spike on a television show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Spike was to be the male side of a vampire duo that series creator Joss Whedon described as the Sid and Nancy of the vampire set. His character was to be killed off after only a few episodes. This, of course luckily did not happen. Spike proved immensely popular amongst the shows fans. The role was only reoccuring during the second season, and the character managed only a one episode appearance in season three so James continued working on other projects. Among them appearances in television shows like Millennium. He also managed a small spot in the film House On Haunted Hill and in an indie flick called. James gained a permanent contract on BtVS but has continued to make other television appearences. Recently James has been spotted on Politically Incorrect, The List, Hollywood Squares, Say What Kareoke, and VH1's Strange Frequency. James also has a role in BtVS co-star Amber Benson's indie flick Chance, release schedule unknown at this time.
James also has a passion for music having recently joined up with a few other musicians to form a band called . The band plays pretty regular gigs at a Santa Monica nightclub called 14 Below. The band is in the process of putting together an album titled Mad Brilliant.
James on Spike and BtVS
"I love playing Spike because I get into fights and no one has to go to the police station, and no one has to go to the hospital." ***
"I have to say that the people who do the hiring around here really understand how important it is that people work well together. A lot of people would sacrifice that for other things, but I think it makes a nice place to work." ***
"The mask makes me scary and Joss' words make me funny. And that's all there really has to be." ***
"Spike is still evil, he's just forced into helping Buffy. I don't think he would ever help, unless it was for his own selfish benefit." ****
Comparisions to himself and Spike*
"We both have tempers, although I'm not really funny when I get really mad. We're both romantics. We both fall hard for our girls. We both like to cause trouble for the fun of it. We both have blond hair..."
Fave Buffy Episode**
"Something Blue when Spike and Buffy almost get married. I've always known that to be in the center of things in the show you have to be either kissing Buffy or Hitting Buffy. Now that I've done both, believe me, kissing her is much better."
On dating any BtVS cast member**
"How can I choose? Can I have them all?"
*Alloy Chat
**Alloy magazine interview
***The Watcher's Guide
****E! Online transcripts
