Note: I am not a transcriptionist. Nor do I play one on the Internet.
:) Here are the answers from James Marsters during the GenCon
Q&A on Aug. 5. This is by no means perfect. I paraphrased the
questions. There were some breaks in the tape and places where you
couldn't hear what he was saying. I tried to get as close to what
James said as humanly possible -- Alane.

Thanks to BAPSter Carol Comstok for generously sharing her video, and for 
BAPSter Brenda Corman for filling in some of the gaps.

WHILE WE'RE TAKING FLASHES (WITH CAMERAS), CAN YOU LIFT YOUR SHIRT UP?

No. I'm a whore, but I'm not that cheap.

WHAT ABOUT SPIKE'S RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER CHARACTERS, NOT BUFFY?

Spike and Xander get together like oil and water. He didn't
particularly like Xander. But Xander has been in his face so much. I
think developing respect for Willow who seems to be coming in to her
own as a witch and as a player in the Scooby Gang. I think great
protectiveness for Dawn because of a sense of great failure.
Basically he screwed up. At the end of last season, he made a solemn
promise to protect Dawn, and he got his ass kicked. Big time guilt
about that. Huge. So I mean basically yeah he's a pretty wet puppy at the 
beginning of next season. (A couple of women in the audience offer to dry 
him off.)

ANY UPCOMING CROSSOVERS?

The whole UPN thing. There's not going to be any crossovers of any
kind. So Angel and Buffy, ba-boom. Bye. (Someone yells they want to
see Spike kick Angel's ass) That's fine by me (note: he may be
talking about Spike's feelings here). Hopefully the WB will want to
cut Angel and we can start another New Tuesday on UPN.

WHAT IS UPN DOING TO GET INTO MARKETS WHERE IT'S NOT CURRENTLY
AVAILABLE?

That gets into the same question my mother asked for me. 'UP what?
You're in the Smackdown?' Basically, I think that the UPN is counting
on pressure from you people to phone in the affiliates and say, 'We
want Buffy.' Call your cable company. I think that the pressure will
take awhile. But I think what is going to happen is because of Buffy
a lot more households will be getting the UPN over the next six
months. That's what we're praying for. Otherwise it's going to be the
best show on TV that half of you don't see.

DO YOU SMOKE AS MUCH IN REAL LIFE THAT SPIKE DOES?

I don't smoke at all. I've got the patch on now. I forgot to put my
little patch on in the autograph line. I was getting a little bit
bitchy. 'Let's go. What?' I had quit and getting the role of Spike
got me back smoking. Then I quit when I went off the show. I came
back to the show and started smoking again. Then, finally I got to
where I don't smoke at all. I smoke these horrible herbal cigarettes.
My biggest problem with this is they really don't show up on film as
well as tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke is so thick and heavy and
beautiful. Seriously, man, back in the '30s, all those scenes of
people smoking. The smoke curls into the eyes and all. That stuff is
so cool.

WHEN DID YOU START GETTING INTERESTED IN THEATER AND START THINKING
OF IT AS AN OCCUPATION?

Like Fourth Grade. I got bitten real early. I'm one of those. Theater
nerds forever (he makes a fist and a face). There's a beautiful film
called "Illumanata." (he tries to think of the name of the person who
wrote, produced and starred in it. The audience calls out 'Turturro.')
John Turturro. Thank you. One of first nights I went over to Joss's
house, like I closed down the party. He decided to show me that
movie. It really gives you insight into his kind of whole mindframe
about his little company of Buffy and our fake little Sunnydale.
Which is a bunch of theater nerds who are weird and kinky and strange
and outcasts. And we're all freaks. And none of us were popular in
high school (when people in the audience clap and cheer, he flashes a
fist of solidarity). And together, we make something quite beautiful.
And so, if anybody wants to understand the mindset of the guy who
creates the show is for the people he knows and the day-to-day
relationships with the people he works with, go rent that movie.
That's what his dream is. Very much.

GIVE A DAILY RUNDOWN OF YOUR DAY ON THE SET

We begin at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. (People in the audience groan) It
is. It is. TV is a grind. Everyone says it, and it's true. Basically
we need to get a new movie out. What is it, a 48-minute movie every
two weeks. So we start at 4:30 in the morning and we work 12 to 20
hours a day. And we finish up with the sun coming up on Saturday
morning. So, yeah, the only thing that stops the cameras from
crankin' was the sun. Sun comes up. They're filming a vampire.
Goodnight guys. I go on set. I go in to my HUGE UPN trailer. I didn't
even ask for a new trailer. I was in a little tiny cubet, and that was
fine by me. I walked in and there were parquet floors and stuff. I
feel a little ill at ease, frankly. 'Whose house is this?' Then, I go
on to makeup. And Todd Macintosh, who's an Emmy-award winning makeup
artist on Buffy. The first and only winner of an Emmy so far. Rock on
Todd. You have no idea what that guy does. He slams through 25 vampires at
a time. And basically, it moves really fast. As soon as we get
through a take where the lines aren't screwed up, we move on. So,
it's usually one or two takes per seven Close up, long shot or
whatever, and that's real quick. Let's slam it out, and let's go. My
sense of the show is that as soon as I can get the lines correct, we
move on. That messes with Juliet's head. That makes her crazy. She's
like, 'Oh, something I could have gotten there. And it's gone.' 'Let
it go Juliet.'

WHO SIRED SPIKE, ANGELUS OR DRU?

Dru. There's a big confusion about this because the writers changed
their minds guys. Listen man, they are tap-dancing as fast as they
can. And sometimes they have to switch up and they have to fluff
stuff because they are creating narrative as they go. And originally
they decided it would be strongest if Angel sired me. So, I actually
say, 'You're my Yoda, you're my sire.' I say it right there in
'School Hard.' And then they switched it. So, the reality is they are
going with Dru right now. But if it's more dramatic, they'll switch
back. Continuity is for wusses. (Big laugh from James and the
audience). But yeah, the whole thing, it was Dru. There was an
episode, 'Fool for Love' last year (Big audience cheer covers what he
says). In fact in that scene, oh man, we got in the dirtiest thing.
She's always trying to get in dirtier things than the censors will
allow. And we always pray we're getting in a lot of trouble because
they'll have to reshoot the scene. We might have done something
they'll only notice in dailies. When she says, 'Do you want the
power?' She slips her hand down here (he slides his hand down his
chest) and right when she gets to that place, I say, 'Yes, oh yes.'
(audience whoops it up, confirming what many had already suspected)
It's off camera. (He looks down at a baby in the audience and
points). I just warped your mind.

QUESTION ABOUT HOW MUCH IS IMPROVISED

The script is delivered word perfect. And if it's not, we do it until
it is. The writers are some of the finest in television. Certainly
Joss is best writer I've worked with. And all of the best shows on
television, from 'Gunsmoke' down, is the writers are in control. It's
not the actors saying, 'I want chest armor now. I want to be taller. I
want to kiss more.' What the actors want is not really what is paid
attention to as far as the story we do. And the actors are quite
comfortable doing that. Some actors wouldn't be. Some actors would
really want that kind of input. I come from theater, and I used to
write. And I used to do a lot of that actually. I'm good enough to
know that the people I'm working with are twice as good as I am so
these guys spend time half an hour deciding on one word, 'but' or
'and' or a conjunction on a half an hour. So, I have no input
whatsoever, but that's the way I like it. They're better at it than I
am.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE EPISODE AND WHY?

I used to answer that question, 'Whenever I was either kissing Buffy
or kicking her.' Because you know you are like in the middle of
things when one of those two things are happening. But I have to say
after 'Fool for Love' last year after we went back in time and kinda
met William. That is my favorite one now. (This is met by audience
approval) It scared the absolute crap out of me. I got the script. I
thought my career was over. I slammed things around in my the
trailer. 'That's it, right. Flush the character down the toilet.
Fine.' I want to say to Joss, 'OK, Wonder Boy. You write in this
amazing world where all the great writers are. And you have
sophisticated kind of plot lines. And your character development is
three dimensional. And it's very sophisticated. But out there in the
real world of Hollywood, how sexy you are is how rich you are. And
you just cut down on my cool.' (Audience starts yelling "NO!") No,
and I was wrong, and he was right. Surprise, surprise. I wish I could
be right just one time. It will never happen. The whole Hawaiian
shirt. I was all offended by that. It undercut my cool. What I didn't
realize what they were trying to do is make Spike an underdog. They
are trying to make him into someone you can root for and get behind.
(Applause) That's a far piece from where we started. In 'School
Hard,' it wasn't like 'Oh, I hope he gets the girl.' So, to take that
character that is functionally a disposable villain and turn him into
an underdog is just an incredible feat. And I'm amazed (from
audience: "Yeah, but you play it) But I just say the lines until they
come out right, and then I go home! It's so weird. There are two sides
of every shot, guys. There's like 300 people standing manipulating the
magic trick and we're all in on the magic trick. But like Spike is
cool. I love myself, and I'm a nice guy. But I'm not Spike. I'm not
cool like that. I'm a dork. (Lot's of "yays." James spreads him arms
above his head and nods)

SOMEONE ASKS FOR A KISS

I would start a huge orgy, which really would be fun. But we're
supposed to be answering questions. I'm sorry. I'd really like to,
though.

COULD THE ROLE ON 'ANDROMEDA' BE RECURRING?

There's talk about making him recurring. I know they are interested.
But frankly I don't think the people at 'Buffy' are predisposed to
want to let me out. Because they are paying for me and why? (Audience
member asks about doing in on the 'Buffy' hiatus) There's a chance of
that because they are on a different schedule. Basically he's a
genetically perfected human being who's kinda egotistical sometimes.
He was a little more feminine than in the script than I made him.
Let's put it this way. They were looking for a fop. They kept talking
about Tim Roth. And I kept saying, 'Well Tim Roth was kick ass in the
film. He wasn't a fop.' He was no wimp. He had spine. You have to
make a difference between someone who was brought up in a refined way
and someone who's just (he acts a big foppish). They are two equally
legitimate characters. I didn't see any reason for setting a
character up like that. So, I grounded him a little more. Hopefully.
We'll find out. Of course, I was wearing purple.

WHEN DID HE REALIZE WHEN HE HIT THE JACKPOT WITH THE ROLE OF SPIKE?

When I got the audition, I refused it. I was like 'Buffy the...
Spot?' My agent said, 'James ... James you would be surprised. Just
watch the show. Everyone is buzzing about it. It's on an upstart
network. Just check it out.' And I watched the show. It was so
amazing. I got nervous. This was like the most incredible thing I had
seen on television. Because I was sick of realism. (audience member
asks him to clarify that he'd never watched it before) No, but I
watched it that night. I became an instant fan like everyone else.
(audience asks which episode. James shakes his microphone and looks
down because he obviously can't remember) The Master was drooling.
That's all I know.

QUESTION ABOUT WORKING WITH JOEL GREY

Joel was amazing. Joel was just like one of those lights. Just
graceful. I know the film 'Cabaret' really well. So I was kinda like
(he puts his hands together like he is bowing repeatedly to him) I
don't know, did you ever see 'Buckeroo Bonzai'? He rocks in that.
Cool kind of fight stuff and everything. We kind of bonded, he and I
actually. Because we're both from theater. And we'd be talking
theater all the time. He gave me his phone number in New York, and I
call him. And we can kind of stay in touch. He has grace. That's all
I can say. That about sums him up. He's so cool. Very talented people
are like that.

HE'S ASKED HOW HE FEELS ABOUT THE EMMY SNUB.

We all have our own reaction to the Emmy snub. It is a snub. I kinda
like it, frankly. I like being the underdog. I like being the
underappreciated. That's where we're used to being. The combination
of the snub of the Emmys and switching networks makes us all feel
like we have something to prove. In the fifth year of a television
series we're hungrier than we were in the fourth year. We're like out
for blood now. (Applause) Keep snubbing us. It gives us fire. It makes
us mad. And really, the only person who really has to get an Emmy is
Joss. That just has to happen. Todd getting an Emmy, is fine. That's
makeup. But if any acting awards go out before writing awards. That's
going to be too weird for words. I don't know what I'd would ever,
ever do. (someone asks about SMG) Sarah ABSOLUTELY deserves an Emmy.
Ohmigod. No one realizes what a good actress she is. I don't why
people miss it. You guys don't miss it. But a lot of people in
Hollywood miss it. There's an episode last year where Sarah switched
up acting styles in the middle of an episode. That's something we
often do, actually. We go from farce to naturalism. Function of
different acting styles -- combined and morphed in an episode. She
had to in one scene have a hypernaturalistic scene with a lot of
emotion talking to Dawn about breaking up with Riley. Trying to keep
it together for her little sister and explain in simple term what
went on when all she wants to do is break down and cry. But that's
all capped, and she's just talking simply. And then she turns around
talking to Xander, 20 minutes later, and suddenly she's Mary Tyler
Moore. (He switches to an emotional voice) 'You guys have a
miraculous love.' We're switching up acting styles seamlessly. I'm
sorry, but I've worked with a lot of other actresses, and a lot of
people can't do that. Plus, she's the quickest study I ever met. I
used to be the quickest study I ever met. She buries me. She'll just
be walking with her script (he pulls out an imaginary script) 'What
is it? OK.' 'F---k.' I'm up all night, getting my work right.

James sings a Tom Waits song that grabbed him last summer after his
girlfriend broke up with him. "Who Are You?"

He's asked to hug two separate audience members who have birthdays.

He apologizes to another audience member who he says he was rude to
in front of the elevators earlier that day. She assures him he wasn't.

IS HE EXCITED ABOUT THE UPCOMING BUFFY MUSICAL EPISODE?

Ohmigod. So much so. Joss is so excited about my songs. We were on
the dance floor of London this last summer and he like stops
everything. (He imitates Joss yelling on the dance floor) 'I'm
writing your song. I'm so excited about it!' 'I'm excited about it
because Joss is directing and I'm going to be in it quite a lot. I
don't know if you guys have noticed, but whenever Joss directs I'm
hardly in it. I'm WAAAY to the side. Three lines. Spike (motions to
the side) 'Joss, what's up man? Don't you like to work with me? I do
what you tell me. I mean, I try. And he's like, 'James, man, that's
not it. It just happens that it doesn't work out. Yes, I love to work
with you. That's why you aren't dead.' He's very specific with his
direction. He, more than anyone else, knows what he wants moment to
moment. That makes you a little bit more nervous that you aren't
going to get it right. At the same time, when you see it on screen,
the specificity of the moments, the beats are so clean in his
episodes. I would have loved to have been in 'The Body' last season.
He showed me the script and he's like, 'I know we talk about how I
never direct you. Here's my next directing script.' 'Joss I read the
script, and it's beautiful. Spike doesn't belong anywhere within 50
miles of that story.' He's like, 'I knew you would get that.' There's
no hard feelings, but I am so looking forward to working with him.
Totally.

A QUESTION ON WHETHER THE BLOOPERS FROM BUFFY ARE EVER GOING TO BE
RELEASED

It's not so much bloopers as it is a celebratory kind of reel that Brian
in postproduction makes up and yes there's a rocking one for the
hundredth episode, for the last season. But a lot of it is not so much
mistakes made by actors as meeting people behind the scenes and just
kind of celebrating that we made it through another year.
But a lot of times, practical jokes on our show we don't have time for.
There are so many set ups. We try so hard to match the quality of
feature film and we have therefore time constraints of TV. One of the
reasons that it's one of the best shows is that we don't screw around.
You know we have a lead in Sarah who does not screw around.  She's a
gracious wonderful person but at the same time she doesn't want to hold
the role to fix her hair... or to get her Evian water. She wants to sit in her
chair. Get her lines done, and get it done well. She sets the tone.
We joke around a lot. We give each other an enormous amount of shit
when we're not being called on to work. We love each other to death.
We're climbing a little bit of a steeper mountain every week than a
lot of other shows that might have a lot funnier reels. We love each
other, but we don't play a lot of jokes. And we never make mistakes
so ... (laughs)

WOULD HE LIKE TO SEE MORE SPIKE STORIES SET IN THE PAST OR 20 YEAR
INTO THE FUTURE?

He'll be old. Alyson that was kidding me, 'You know who the only
person who's not going to be in the feature films? That's you because
vampires can't age. And you'll be old.' That's right. Uh-huh. I would
love to do whatever they write. I hate to keep coming back to it.
They're taking me on a roller coaster ride. It's always kinda scary
and ultimately really exciting. We learn something new about him
every time we go back in time. So, that's always nice. Plus wigs are
so much fun. By the way, that's the one wig in Hollywood that fit me.
That's why we used that one. I had such an enormous head. There was
not time to make one for me. They pulled all the wigs in Hollywood
that was the only one that would fit. Can you imagine if it had been
an Afro? 'We have no choice, James.'


HE'S ASKED ABOUT THE SEX SCENES WITH THE BUFFYBOT

You would not believe what they cut out. There is a scene where
Xander interrupts Buffy and I. And they turn as I am buckling my
belt. (Audience says that scene was shown) Well, there are some shots
they didn't include. (Someone asks if we can have it) That was fun. I
don't want to lightly joke about something that actually opens up an
interesting question in Hollywood which is love scenes. Which is that
love scenes are really kinda problematic in Hollywood. We've got
girlfriends, and so do they. So does your partner. So, I can joke,
'Hey Sarah, is really cool.' She's got a fiance that will kick my
ass. I would if someone talked about my fiance that way. With in all
respect to Fred, 'It was just another day.'

WHAT ABOUT DOING THEATER AGAIN IN CHICAGO?

Yes, I would love to get back to Chicago. (Applause) The thing I love
most about Chicago is that it has no Second City mentality. They have
Second City comedy. I went from Chicago to Seattle. And
unfortunately, I kept hearing in the theatrical community, 'Our show
is as good as the Tapers (?). Our shows are as good as the ones in
New York.' In Chicago, man, we didn't CARE what they were doing in
New York. Our shows were going to New York. We were teaching THEM how
to act. That kind of pride creates a theater scene that feeds on
itself. That can keep going strong for almost ever. It was
heartbreaking to go to Seattle and think that was going to happen and
watching it not happen. So if I ever go back to do theater other than
New York or because it's easy, LA, it will be Chicago in a heartbeat.
Chicago rocks. I was in Seattle, they'd be like, 'James, not in our
theater.' Because I'd always do Chicago acting choice. Really like
bold acting choices. When I did Macbeth. I was one of the murderers.
I just wanted to take a knife. We went in to kill McDuff's wife. And
she had a baby. It was just a little basket. And I said, 'What about
this.' (He makes the sound of a crying baby that is then immediately
quiet as he leans over the crib) I thought that was a really cool
little bit. And that was way over the top. It was 'horrifying.'

HE'S ASKED IF HE'S INTERESTED IN GETTING INTO PRODUCTION ON THE SHOW

Yeah, I used to produce. So I'm very much interested in producing.
But I'm not a producer on 'Buffy,' and that's never going to happen.
I'm trying to learn about camera direction and camera language in
order to start directing and then jump to producing. But right now,
I'm hired to act. The people on 'Buffy' are like, 'We'll teach you.
We won't necessarily let you do it. But we'll teach you how.' And
that's something. Very much interested. That's a lot of work, and you
don't get a trailer.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH AMBER BENSON ON HER MOVIE?

Absolutely marvelous. The script that she showed me started out like
it was going to be hip and cynical and safe. It turned out to be
something much more courageous and much more warm and vulnerable and
sweet and truthful. It's a love story. She did what I'm talking about
doing. She made a movie. She taught me a lesson, which is 'Stop
talking about Macbeth, James.' Do a movie that takes place in the
real world of today so that you can actually film it, because it's so
much cheaper to do that, shooting video. She bought her own video
camera. She put together a really professional crew. The crew she had
on that show, that movie was as good as any crew I've worked with. As
a director she was wonderful. Her notes were concise. But very much
the center of things. She made me look good. Seriously, we're talking
about her like the new John Cassavetes. She's spurring some of the
writers to do their own thing. Mere Smith has got a movie up. Doug
Petrie is writing a movie he's been thinking about doing. We've got
our own little Dream Factory that's like feeding on one another.
That's really cool.

QUESTION IS INAUDIBLE, BUT APPARENTLY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH VIAGRA

I have not experimented with Viagra, but God help the world when I
do. I'm not going to need it for a while. I'd be a maniac.

WAS THERE EVER A TIME IN YOUR CAREER WHEN YOU WANTED TO QUIT?

No, I wanted to kill myself a couple of times. (Some in audience
giggle) No seriously, at Julliard they told me I was no actor. I was
too intelligent to be an actor, and I would never make it, and I
should quit before I got bitter. At which point I really almost threw
myself off Julliard's roof. But ultimately I told them I had been
quite successful before I came to college. I had done professional
work before I came to college. I seemed to remember the audience
responded very well to me. And I wanted to go back out in the world
of theater and find out if they were right or not. What I found out
immediately was that they were completely wrong. No, acting has been
my lifeboat, all my life, through a lot of crap.

A QUESTION ABOUT HOW HE IS ABLE TO AFFECT THE SPIKE ACCENT SO WELL

I have a functioning accent for anything I'd be cast in. It's not
perfect but it's enough to audition with. So anything English, Irish,
Scottish, French, Italian, German, Slavic accents. And all the
Americas. I can pull those out of a hat. They aren't perfect yet, but
they're enough to show a director I could do it. So, I had a decent
one going in. But I was also really lucky. The breakdown for the
character was he supposed to be Sid Vicious. The Sex Pistols came
from North London with a very specific accent. And I happened to be
doing a production of The Tempest where The Caliban was from North
England. I was like, 'Could you read this for me?' And he read it and
said, 'What is it?' And I said, 'Shut up. It's tomorrow, and it's none
of your business.' He could have gotten that role. He was really,
really good. You'd be talking with him right now. That and actually
Tony Head is not from North London, but it's close enough that I
pretty much sound a lot like what Tony sound like in real life. Tony
is putting on an accent that is as fake as mine on the show. (He
gives a sample of what ASH really sounds like and then switches to
the Giles voice) 'That upper crusty he does for the show is not real
a' toll' We're all a bunch of fakers. We're just liars.

WHAT ABOUT TONY HEAD AND THE MUSICAL SIDE OF HIS TALENT?

He actually is cutting his own CD. I sang background on it for one
song. (Audience applauds) I came in to the recording studio and went,
'What do you want?' And he said, 'I want to have a chain gang thing.'
I went, 'Tony, we're white.' (He looks over to an African-American
GenCon security guard who is cracking up) It's true. Have some
respect. (He imitates the sound ASH was looking for) And it's this
whole tradition. (He makes his voice squeaky) 'And we're just going
to be in a chain gang!' We tried. We'll see how it works. But I was
kinda feeling like I was trodding on ground that was not mine. He's
working with I forgot the guy's name. The guy producing the CD is
really very good. A lot of artists around LA are quite all about him.
He has the most amazing voice. He's going to be all around the
musical. He does sing a lot like David Bowie. I wonder if he sings
like, 'Come on. Give me something.'

A QUESTION ABOUT HIS APPEARANCE ON THE VH1 ANTHOLOGY SERIES, 'STRANGE
FREQUENCY'

It's like a rock 'n' roll 'Twilight Zone.' Basically, I sell my soul
to be a rock god. I go start as a roadie and go to rock god in 24
minutes. I got to act with Roger Daltry. And he was totally cool. It
was a high point. I had a great time. I had to do a lot of guitar
work that was a lot beyond what I can do. I was faking the
soundtrack. Just to do a believable fake I was studying three or four
hours. I'm a rhythm guitarist and this was all lead that they wanted
me to be doing. And the director called me up and said the producers
are using my episode as the premier episode for the series and that
my guitar work was best. He said nothing about my acting (Laughs)

IS HE GOING TO DO ANYTHING WITH HIS MUSIC?

I would like to. But at the same time I want to do it right. Right
now I have about six original songs that about half of them may be
ready to be thinking about recording. As far as putting out a whole
album. I don't think I'm ready yet. And I don't want to put out a bad
one as my first one.

(He's asked to sing one of his original songs. He says he has an
acoustic guitar and a Yamaha that Roger Daltry gave to him and
autographed.) Roger, I'm going to use this guitar. Don't expect me to
hang it on the wall like a relic. You gave me a guitar, so I'm going
to be playing music on it. That may get scratched out. Don't get
offended if you see me and like your name's gone.

He sings an original song, "Good-bye." He says he wrote it instead of
smashing up his apartment.

HE'S ASKED ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE WRITING THE SPIKE & DRU COMIC BOOK

They approached me ... uh-oh ... I'm going to go ahead and be honest
here, OK? They approached me, Chris Golden came to me. Great guy.
Christopher Golden. Taught me a lot. When Dru and Spike were leaving
after that episode, Season 2. I thought, and everyone else thought,
that that was the end of the two characters. Things had changed. They
had wanted to kill me off and make Dru much more powerful and link up
with Angel and be the villains. They decided to keep me alive, and
that switched things around. So, that didn't allow Dru to become as
powerful as she was told. And I was also sick to death of the
wheelchair. So, I wanted one last hurrah for the characters. I wanted
my dream for the characters. I wanted them to rock. I wanted her to be
beautiful and powerful. I wanted him out of the wheelchair and kicking
ass. I wrote to Christopher what I thought and what I was very clear
to the editors was a twisted romance. I wanted to explain however
they could get back together. What happens when Dru wakes up in that
car? What's her first move? She jumps out of the damned car. He goes,
knocks her over the head again and puts her back into the car. How
long could this go on? How could they ever become together again? And
my answer was that story. You screw up so bad that she has to save
you, and they get back together. I found out later. The art came out.
And then it was drawn hideously ugly on both characters. What the head
of Dark Horse told me was they wanted to do -- what's that called? --
it's a certain style. It's not Goth. It's horror comic book. They
wanted to do a horror comic book for 'Buffy' in that kind of style.
But they couldn't because all the other actors had legal protection
in their contracts, but I didn't. That's why they came to me. And I
was uhhh. 'OK, well, I'll talk to you later then.' They do so really
well, and they'd like for me to come back, but I don't trust them. I
hate to be sour grapes about it. What I did find out is that I found
out an important lesson. I thought that I had control. I thought that
someone had finally given me control over the characters. The
narrative. I was like, 'Ha, ha!' Guess what? I was just the writer. I
was treated like writers always get treated in LA. Which is not very
well. 'Yep. We used you, and we're going to tell you right over the
phone. Have a nice day.' Fine. A little vim and vigor there.


WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BECOME A SEASON 4 CAST MEMBER?

I was told I would be the new Cordelia. Joss said, 'Functionally,
you're the one who's going to be an aside going, 'We're all stupid.
We're all going to die.' That's what keeps Buffy from being too much
like 'Scooby Doo' actually. Or, one of the many things. Quality being
the first and foremost.... Of course, the movie's going to be great.
In my head, I wanted to say, 'Joss, I don't see how you are going to
do this.' But, I didn't. I was like, 'Fine. Put me in the show.' But
in my mind, 'I can't, for the life of me, see how he's going to fit
in.' And we got into it, and in the first season, it was a little
weird. I had the sense the writers didn't quite know ... how do you
bring Spike out into the daylight without making him a little
namby-pamby, without taking away from being Spike. What's really nice
is, I think Spike is exactly the same. We're learning more about him.
Now, we know why he was so gentlemanly to Dru whereas he was a
sociopathic murderer to everyone else in the world. He's love's
bitch. (He gives a thumb's up) Guys, try it. It's fun.

IS THERE A TRAINER ON SET FOR THE FIGHT SCENES?

There's a fight choreographer, but there's no trainer. Sarah is
trained in martial arts. So am I. But in all honesty, we have stunt
doubles, too. I should just talk about myself. Coming from stage, I
can do a lot of my own stunts. That's really helpful for the
directors because they can intercut my stuff easier. But basically,
if Spike's feet ever leave the ground, that ain't me. So, if I'm just
waving my arms around and ducking guys and spinning around and doing
moves. Which is tough. And people get tagged and hurt doing that
stuff all the time. That's me, and I'm proud of that kind of work.
But if Spike goes flying against a wall 20 feet up and falls down ...
in a church, that's not me. If Spike's thrown out a window onto a
bush, that's not me. And if Spike jumps up and does amazing cool
karate kicks, that ain't me either. That's Steve Tartalia (sp?). He's
an amazing guy and also an amazingly psychotic stunt performer. He'll
do anything. Last year, right after I cattle prodded and chained
Buffy up and asked her to love me. (He shakes his head) People were
actually mad she didn't take me up on it. Girls, what would you do
(He makes a buzzing sound like he has a cattle prod -- 'Love me')
Anyway, he chains her at the end of the episode, and she hauls off
and smacks him and he goes flying into a chest of drawers. Steve took
a header straight into the cave wall and opened up a side of his face.
Bloody. Just horrible. So they took Superglue, which was invented by
people in Vietnam by medics. It's designed as an instant bandage.
Stuntman still use it as that. They glued him together, and he went
back and did the same stunt three more times. Taking that face with
an open wound into a cave wall. And he acted like 'What? Man that was
cool.' Crazy. Crazy.

WHO WILL BE THE SEASON'S VILLAINS THIS YEAR?

Buffy -- the anything but vampires -- Slayer. Who is the season
villain basically this year? There always is. We haven't met them
yet. I like to keep myself in the dark at this point. I don't want to
know what's coming up because Spike doesn't know. I don't know if
Buffy and Spike are going to get together. That's something I haven't
even asked anybody because I'm afraid they'll tell me. Spike doesn't
know. He doesn't think he has a chance in hell, actually. But he's
still going to try. I think that the only other choice other than
having a season villain or at least a recurring one is to have a lot
of little villains. Joss came up to me, after he didn't kill me and
said, 'Don't mistake the fact I didn't kill you off as thinking it's
going to be all about you now. It's not all about you. The show's
called 'Buffy.' I know you are getting fan mail. But don't let that
get to your head. The only reason you're here is so we don't have to
kill off a new guy every week. We are going to kill you, but not
now.' So, yeah, I think we will definitely see a long arc. That's the
nice thing about Buffy is the season arcs. There are arcs that go
throughout the season and throughout the entire show. That was the
whole thing with 'Angel.' They discovered they wanted to do the same
thing. They had imagined 'Angel' as an episodic. Which is the stories
would begin, middle and end in one episode. Which is a lot easier to
write than the long arcs of Buffy. They just discovered very quickly
that the episodic was not good enough for them. They got bored. They
are really trying to get those long arcs back in Angel as well. So,
yeah, I'm in the dark, too. I'm just hoping that Buffy comes back.
'Sarah, have you had enough time off yet? I think the audience would
like to see your pretty self.'

HOW LONG DOES MAKEUP TAKE FOR VAMP FACE AND FOR BRUISED BODY THAT
GLORY INFLICTED?

The melange makeup, which is what we say when we get beat up. (He
smiles) No, nobody says that. That was just the title of my makeup
book in high school. Melange. He could beat a guy up faster with
paint than a guy does with a pipe. I'm serious. Spike sorta got that
messed up and it took longer. Todd did that to me in like 5 minutes.
I'm serious. The vampire make-up used to take an hour and 20. Now,
it's down to about 20. He's quick. He's also started using an
airbrush, which makes things a lot quicker too. And like all
geniuses, he's never better than when his back is up against the
wall. He's constantly saying, 'I can't do that. I can't give you 20
demons in an hour and a half.' He does it. So, they know he can do
it, so we're going to give you 25 or 30 next year. That department is
just amazing. Efficient.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE CHIP IN THE HEAD?

I would rather see Spike decide whether or not to be evil. I'd rather
that be an internal conflict rather than something that's decided
externally by a machine. I think that now that Spike is in love with
Buffy, he wants to get in Buffy. He's not going to do anything to
piss her off. Everyone she loves immediately becomes very important
to him. So, I don't think we need the chip anymore. What happens if
he falls out of love with Buffy. What happens if Buffy spurns him?
(Someone yells out, "Kill her!) That's what I love about the whole
love interest. It can catapult him into great acts of heroism or
evil. Depending ... you can write it any way you want. Love is a
tempest. It can blow you whichever way. I'm just hoping to God that
chip comes out. God. It's like the wheelchair. (he pantomimes getting
rid of the wheelchair.) It's better than what I would do. Ask any
actor what he wants to do next season, he'll say, 'Kick more ass. Bag
more babes.' Every actor in every TV show in all of Hollywood. They'll
give you a whole paragraph. But what it really boils down to is those
two things. So, it's really up to writers to think of something
better than that.

HE'S ASKED ABOUT HIS PAINTING AND ASKED TO PUT SOME ON HIS WEBSITE

I do some painting. I don't think I'm very good (he looks down to the
floor shyly). I like to paint because it forces a person to sit down
and notice the world. How light plays on things. You end up noticing
the beautiful things in life. You end up noticing the reflection of
light on water more. The quality of light of the day. Whether it's a
sharp, harsh, crisp light or a diffuse light. And all of that. That's
the reason I paint. I don't really show my paintings. I'm not really,
really all that good. I'll sing a song for you all. But paintings.
Ahhh ....We'll wait on that. I do that more for myself than think
it's worth anyone's time to look at it.

HE'S ASKED IF HE'S EVER TRIED TO WATCH AN EPISODE OF 'PASSIONS'

No, what's it like? Sarah liked it for the irony. She loves really
bad TV. And she turned Joss on to it. He loves the same kind of
stuff. He just had to. Now 'Passions' is referencing 'Buffy.' 'We
love you guys!' 'We're making fun of you.' I haven't watched it, but
it sounds like it's very brave. (someone in the audience says the
show throws her off lunch, and it can be used for torture) Worse than
Klingons?! I don't want to diss another person's show because I know
how hard they are to make. So in basic terms I have to give them
props because they don't stand around the kitchen sink and talk about
their feelings. Again. They are trying to leap out of realism, which I
think has been confining cinema since it first began. For some reason
filmmakers think that film can't take a heightened acting style or a
heightened style. And I think they're being proven wrong so
consistency now. The Cohen Brothers are a great example of
nonrealistic filmmaking. The hotel just explodes into flames. It just
does. It's just right for the moment. It's so right for the moment no
one cared to ask how it got into flames. Obviously Joss is not
realistic. So I have to give them props for that. Let's get off
'Passions.' I don't want to offend anyone. 'Now on 'Passions.' We
hate you now.'

MIGHT SPIKE APPEAR ON THE PROPOSED 'RIPPER' BBC SPINOFF SERIES?

I'd do it in a heartbeat. Joss has asked me if I'd be willing. He
hasn't said that there's a place for me. But I get that sense that
that since both characters are from England, it's a good fit. I don't
think I'll be called on to be a permanent fixture in that series. But
I think there's be a place for me. Whether it ends up happening is a
different thing. Again, they are tap-dancing as fast as they can. The
story they cook up for it may or may not have a place for Spike. But,
they're interested in having the character in on it, and I'm
interested in doing it. So, there's a pretty good chance I'm going to
be popping over to London. It's a great idea. 'Ripper.' Ohmigod! You
should have seen Tony. He was picking out weapons. 'This is a sharp
one. I want to pick out weapons!'

 HE'S ASKED ABOUT FOOL FOR LOVE

When I got the script, after getting over being really afraid of it.
After I was able to embrace William and understand how William
actually was Spike. And once I was comfortable admitting to the world
that William really was James Marsters when he was younger. I was like
'How dare you. How dare you expose me in that way. I tell you my
secrets and you just broadcast them.' After I knew I could do that
and that piece of the story was not going to fall flat. I knew that
it was going to be memorable. And we filmed the William stuff first.
Joss was there, he was a little nervous there in the back. I could
tell he was covering up the fact he didn't know if I could do it or
not. (starts laughing) It went really, really, really well. Kali Rocha, who
played the girl in the scene was a wonderful actress from New York.
We got along very well. I was pretty confident. Except for that part.
The rest of it was pretty ... lot of fighting with Buffy. And I loved
the scenes with Buffy. Such a complex relationship between those two
characters. There's also an incredible shattering of time. Jump
cutting between stories, which I thought was really inventive of Doug
Petrie who wrote it. Doug came up to me. 'All righty, Episode 7, you
know your episode.' And he looked nervous. And I'm like, 'Do you need
anything ... like wash your dog? Keep you in the office writing.' He's
like 'Well, you drink that Red Bull, right. Does that work?' I'm like
'l'll be right back.' I brought him a case of Red Bull. The next day
his eyes are all like (makes eyes big and wild) 'It's great. It's
great. I have all these ideas, man. He slammed the script out high on
Red Bull. And I think he's an addict now.

DOES HE WATCH MUCH TV OR MOVIES OR READ ANY BOOKS?

(He looks mock-ashamed at the question) I watch movies. I don't
really watch much TV. I had to admit this to myself. The cable
company came in with this big box. There's like 5 million HBO
channels. All this whacked out TV. Three months went by and I never
figured out how to use it. And I still haven't cracked the manual.
And I'm good at that stuff. Like VCRs and stuff. I finally had to
admit that I'm not watching TV anymore. I'm just hanging. Playing
guitar, playing video games and renting movies. I rent a lot of
movies. Like there are shows that I absolutely love. Like the
'Sopranos.' I can't be counted on. I'm like a bad boyfriend.
(realizes what he said) I'm a good boyfriend. But for TV shows. You
just can't count on me on whatever night the thing is going to be on.

COMMENT ABOUT THE APRIL-BOT

That was supposed to be Brittany Spears, by the way.

A COMMENT ABOUT THE END OF 'INTERVENTION' BUT HE APPARENTLY DOESN'T
UNDERSTAND HER AND REFERENCES AN EARLIER SCENE.

Trying not ... don't let her speak too much because they are going to
find out. 'Yeah, fine, honey.' The most expensive blow-up doll in the
history of the world. (laughs) Yeah, that was fine. I've had more
questions about the Buffybot. Buffy who wouldn't kick your ass if you
went over the line. Hmmmm ...

HOW LONG OF A CONTRACT -- HOW LONG WILL HE BE AROUND?

Forever and ever. It's all nailed down. It's all certified. I'm on
board. There never was any question. We had to work it out. Lawyers
had to go fistfighting and yen ... nen .. nen.. I told Joss, 'Can we
just pretend this never, ever happened?' In renegotiation there was
some question... (question about Internet rumors about 'Angel'). There
was some talk of putting me on 'Angel.' Possibly putting me evil on
'Buffy' and then switching me over to be evil on 'Angel.' That flew
out the window with the whole move to the UPN. I think it that was
out the window before then. I think that was early last year and they
kinda switched it up. I'd like to go back on 'Angel,' though, and kick
his ass. Angel's ass. Have to be very careful about that. David
himself is a good guy. But Spike HATES Angel.

HOW MANY EPISODES HAVE BEEN TAPED THUS FAR?

We are just wrapping the second one, which is actually a two-parter
that I think they are going to broadcast the same night. I think it's
going to be a special 2-hour Buffy. Oh, I wish I could tell you want
we were doing. It's really good and I think it starts out really
strong. And Buffy-less, which is really weird.

HE'S ASKED ABOUT HIS ACTING STYLE AT JULLIARD

Julliard dealt with all the old acting styles. The joke was, 'We're
never going to use this, you know.' We could do Velar (sp?). We could
do Restoration. We could do Shakespeare. They didn't really do so well
with naturalism and realism. I have to say. There's no preparation for
film at Julliard at all. A lot of what I had to do going into film and
TV was to 'stop acting.' Stop doing all the things I studied so hard
to learn in college. Like taking stage, for example. On stage if you
have a good entrance, if you are like a major character that has a
very powerful dramatic entrance in the script. You stand up stage.
You enter from up stage. It's called up staging people for a reason.
When you're up stage, you're in the power position. You stand in the
frame of the doorway for a second. You say a couple of words. You
pause. And then continue. That's the way you take the stage. I did
that in 'School Hard' and I looked like an idiot. (in Season 2 Spike
voice) 'You were there.' Beat. Beat. Beat. And I go in. I didn't know
you don't have to take stage. The stage will be given to you in
close-up. They just smash right to your face. And you have focus,
dude. You don't have to shout. 'Why is he talking so loud?' 'Stop
acting!' (he shakes his microphone)

A QUESTION ON HOW TO AUDITION FOR LADY MACBETH

What I tell you about Lady Macbeth may not get you the role. Because
most people think she's a bitch, and I don't think so. (agreement
from audience member) I don't see her like that at all. If 'out damn
spot' is going to work, you cannot lose the audience. You have to
have the audience's sympathy and empathy for that character. So by
the time she's gone insane, the audience's heart is broken. I think
the reason that she is driven insane is because her husband has to
keep secrets from her of the people he's killing. So, her dream of
becoming the golden couple shatters. So, whereas they get all the
goodies, they are no longer a couple and true love dies, and that
drives her insane. She loses her husband, even though they are
sleeping together in the same bed. I think Lady Macbeth has every
reason to take after her husband. He wimps out. 'I don't know if I
should do this.' 'What are you, a man or what?' (He does a short bit
of Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci acting out a modern rendition of the
roles in a car) So when Lady Macbeth is like, 'What's up with this?
He is in our house. It's going down tonight. And you are having
second thoughts?' And everyone thinks she's like this castrating
bitch. I think they are two criminals, and one of them is getting
shaky knees. She just takes after him like criminals do. 'We're going
to do this thing.' And I think if you play it that way and then you
play the heartbreak of losing him. There's not a lot of language in
the intermediate part of that play. ... (he pauses) God, I'm rambling
on about Macbeth. ... (audience laughs) I don't think she's a bitch. I
think she's strong. I think there's a difference. I think a lot of
directors don't know how to create a strong woman. They often shade
toward bitch. But I think she is just a good, strong woman. She
should be queen. She'd make a great queen. And in real life she did
for 40 years. Before they died bloody. But we can't have a play that
long.

IS HE A FAN OF THE HORROR GENRE?

I'm a fan of any genre that's not realistic. I mean I like realism.
But I'm also enjoying jumping out of that. And I think that
especially the horror genre the way Joss uses it. Joss is like the
jester. I say this all the time. A lot of you guys have probably
heard this before. I look at Joss as the jester. He calls himself a
fool. Because like in the Medieval court, it was the jester who could
tell the king, the only one in the court who could tell the king the
truth. 'Sir, you're a fat idiot. Sir, you don't know what you are
doing.' But it had to be funny. As long as it was funny, he could cut
right into the bone. 'Your jealousy is unmaking you, sir. I think you
are a toad.' Just kidding!' That's what Joss is doing. Joss is able
to write things that are much more honest and are much more painful.
And much more honest. And then just say, 'Hey, man, it's just
vampires.' And so, he has that cover. And so, that's why we're able
we're able to have that guy in the bell tower with the automatic
rifle right after Columbine. I was proud of that episode. When you
get to the center of the episode him talking to Buffy about why he's
up there, his feelings of alienation. I thought that was one of our
stronger episodes actually. I thought it was marvelous. I wish they
would have broadcast it closer to the event. It would have brought up
a lot more useful conversation of why. 

HE'S ASKED IF HE HAS ANY SUPERSTITIONS AS AN ACTOR

I'm not superstitious at all. I think we are blind to what's really
going on around us. I think there is deep mystery in the world. I bow
to it. I think there are things that we will never truly understand
about our situation. I read a book a long time ago that said there
are three things human beings will never be able to get over. Death.
Toil. And ignorance of the future. And people have been selling
snake-oil and telling each other they get over one of those three
things, when in fact, it's impossible. So ... yeah, no, the thing
about put a nickel in your shoe, you'll get the part. None of that.
None of that. That's a long-winded answer to that question. I guess I
should have a little less coffee.

WHAT ABOUT PUSHING THE ARCH-TYPES OF THE SERIES IN GAMES?

I think role-playing is amazingly wonderful. It's the closest thing
to acting as you can get, really. I used to do Dungeons and Dragons
as a kid. (gives a thumb's up when the audience applauds) I had the
most intense experiences sitting around a table with Graph's paper.
Just amazing. I mean, I don't know. We got Buffy lollipops. (So, he's
not sure about a board game) Chewable popsicles, by the way (Audience
member: They paint your tongue black and green. They're
tongue-painters. Audience member says she has a tin with him on it)
Uh, huh. I have that tin, also. I love all that crap. (laughs) A
Spike doll -- look what he's doing to Buffy (audience points out a
Spike action figure sitting on the lectern and he reacts surprised
and looks over at it) I have Spike and I have Buffy in my trailer,
and they do things they've never done before. (Applause) Totally
kidding, Fred. ... I'm really lying about that.

WHAT KIND OF VIDEO GAMES DOES HE LIKE?

I like fight games. I like drive and shoot games. I like
shoot-people-in-the-head games. I CANNOT do any sports. The same
thing that was true in school is still true now. (Applause) Football,
baseball, basketball, soccer video games. I can't. This 13-year-old
was trying to show me how. He was like, 'Pass! Pass!' (Wiggles his
fingers) All these buttons, man. I don't have time to perfect the
pass. Those sports games are beyond me. It's not because of lack of.
I would love to be able to, but I just can't.


WILL HE AND DAWN HAVE MORE INTERACTION IN SEASON 6?

So far, yeah. I have a scene with her in the beginning. He's talking
about Michelle Trachtenberg, who plays Dawn, and how was it to have
her in the show especially when there was a controversy in the
beginning about putting her in. I think it's good to have Spike and
Dawn together. It shows Spike's mindset. Which is anyone who Buffy
loves is very important. He will protect anyone Buffy loves. Don't
hurt Buffy. Anybody that's important to her, keep them safe. As far
as there being a controversy when Dawn started, that was designed to
be that way. Joss wanted you guys to hate her. If you go back and you
watch those episodes of the beginning of last season, she's always in
the way, she's always messing stuff up, she's always saying the wrong
thing. And the other characters are like, 'Ahhh. Fine Dawn. OK.' She's
introduced with no explanation. She's like, 'What are you guys doing?'
Because he wanted you guys ... he's setting that character up to be
like Joss was, like we all were when we were young. Outsiders. We
were loners. We were on the outside of things. We were
underappreciated. We were shuffled off to the side. Now, it's like,
'Oh, Dawn. Is she's going to be ... Oh what's wrong?' We all feel
guilty for judging her so harshly in the beginning. That's not your
fault. That's Joss doing that to you. He loves that Joss told me the
first year I met him that he's more Capra than Kubrick. And I think
he's so wrong. He told me once, he said, 'Don't give the audience
what they want. Give them what they need.' He wants to piss you off.
He wants to irritate you (audience member: It works). It works,
doesn't it. Arrrrr! He's not necessarily a feel-good guy. In that
way, I think he's closer to Kubrick than he knows.

ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT THE MUSICAL EPISODE

I think it's brilliant. In every season we manage to do one episode
that scares the bejesus out of us. And this is it. It has him coming
back to direct. Which is really wonderful because he's stepping back
a bit. If you notice, once every season he throws up the cards.
Straight up in the air-like. They were telling him that he was the
funniest writer on TV, like his dialogue is the snappiest, so what
does he do? He does 'Hush.' No dialogue whatever. And it's just a
narrative. Completely dry. No jokes at all. Or, the jokes are visual.
They told him that his stories are what compel. His narratives. That's
what makes him amazing. His narratives. He's like, 'Oh, I'll do a
dream episode with no narrative whatsoever.' That was wonderful. That
was the season finale. Two years ago. What season was it (audience
answers, "Fourth!") fourth. They said he was the funniest writer in
Hollywood. So he did 'The Body' without one joke. So, where do you go
from there? How do you top yourself? He's stretching himself. He had
never directed before, and now he's one of the best directors I've
ever worked with. I can't wait. So, basically we're throwing
ourselves off a cliff, and we're either going to fly or splat. And,
so we're flapping with all of our might. I think we are going to end
up soaring actually. I've heard some of the songs he's been
experimenting with, and he's a wonderful songwriter. But still claims
that he can't play piano. I'm like, 'Joss, just get over it. You can
play piano.' But it's by ear. Damn genius. Wonderboy.

IS SPIKE SELFLESS IF HE'S WILLING TO HELP PEOPLE HE DOESN'T KNOW JUST
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT BUFFY WOULD DO?

Ummmm ... well, I mean, yeah. No, not selfless, just horny. (audience
member points out the contradiction) Did I contradict myself. Oh, was
I not supposed to do that? No ... uh ... yeah. (audience member: He's
selfless without knowing that he is?) Oh man, you know how it goes.
Your girlfriend says she doesn't like those shoes. What happens to
those shoes? They are eighty-sixed, man. My present girlfriend told
me once she didn't like my white tennis shoes. They were gone, you
know, without even thinking about it. You just try to get an in. He's
in love with a good person, and that's gotta rub off somehow. He was
in love with Dru, and she's not good. (audience laughs) 'We noticed
that James.' (audience member: Dru wanted a monster. Buffy wants a
man). But the question is will he ever get to a point where, where
... she's out of his league, man. Why would she mess with him? He's
some toady, evil guy. In the world of Sunnydale, he's, you know,
'ick.' He needs to be staked. (audience member: He tries harder?) He
tries harder. He becomes honorable. He has to find honor. Or, she
will never touch him with a 10-foot pole, if he doesn't have honor.
(audience member: He found it in 'The Gift'?) He's starting to. He's
started to. I mean he's ... hopefully that being in contact with that
much good will rub off on him and show him that it's better to be that
way. But it's not so fun to act. ... No, no problem. That's
interesting, actually.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO ACT IN THE VAMP MAKEUP?

It's very hard to act with the teeth. The teeth make you lisp.
(imitates the lisp) There's nothing scarier than a vampire with a
lisp. Every guest goes through the same thing, "These teeth make it
impossible for me." The makeup actually does a lot of the acting for
you. When I first got the makeup on I experimented with what kind of
expression was good with the makeup. I found the makeup is so soft,
the foam rubber they use is so soft and pliable that it moves with
your face. I realized very quickly I should stop worrying about what
expressions are good with the makeup and just play it normally and
let the makeup be like an old Greek theatrical mask and have its own
effect. Actually it makes thing very much easier. And it doesn't show
when you are tired. Which is getting to be my problem.

WILL THE CAST BE DOING THE VOICES FOR THE ANIMATED SERIES?

Joss has said that he would prefer it to be that way. I went in to do
my voices for a video game. It was interesting. Spike is all about
underplay. (imitates Spike speaking) Very simple. The character comes
out in body language. He comes out in the way ... the looks he gives
people. Stuff like that. Just doing voice-over for a video, they were
always saying, 'Give us some more of that Spike stuff.' I was like,
Oooooh, I don't know how to inject everything that I usually inject
into my body into my voice. So, what they might find for the animated
series is that whereas we know our characters so very well, we may not
be the best technicians for the job. Frankly. When it all comes down
to it. There may be people who do voice-over for a living who can
inject the emotion into the voice. I, for one, would like to, at
least try. I think we'll be given a chance, at least. He's hoping it
works out. I think basically what Joss is saying is 'If they don't
suck, they can do it.'

DOES HE GIVE THE WRITERS ANY INPUT INTO SPIKE'S CHARACTER?

(Shakes his head 'No!') Other people do. But I feel that's
disrespectful. I'm not there for my storytelling, I'm not there to
write. (tries to think of the best way to put this) When I used to
like do writing, and actors would be giving their input, I'd be, 'Why
are you? ... That's not your job. That's not your department. Let me
work and you work. And everything will be fine. The artistic director
didn't your read your input, didn't read your sample writing and hire
you. He hired me, you see. So let me do it. So I'm very much like,
'Know your place and shut the hell up.' Within that, within the close
up, the close up gives the actor enormous control. It doesn't matter
how much money has been spent on the set. They come into closeup, and
the whole world is your face. So, whereas I say we have no control
over the words, there's enormous control for an actor in film over
how those words are delivered. Yeah, all of my power is behind the
eyes.

DOES HE PREFER THE FASTER PACE OF TV WORK TO FILM?

(note: tape break. He said that he's had more experience in TV than
film but that the actual amount of time an actor himself spends
shooting the film is not as much as you think)

They sit around more. One of my favorite actors in the world is Meryl
Streep. I think she's absolutely phenomenal. She doesn't do more than
three takes. She will tell the director, 'If you want to work with
me, that's fine. Make sure your camera crew doesn't screw up any
takes because I won't give you more than three. Because after three,
it gets stale.' I think there's something to be said for flying
through it. (He snaps his fingers) Your best stuff is the stuff you
don't know you are doing. If you know your character and you know
your lines so well that you can't screw them up, as Stanley Kubrick
says, Then if you let go and trust, then interesting things happen.

DID HE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CHOICE OF 'I WANT TO BE SEDATED'
IN 'CRUSH'?

Yeah, actually, I did that. (laughs) They said that they wanted a
Ramones song. And that's the one I picked. It was the one that pushed
the boundaries of being too far. There's a lot of punk songs that you
can choose that they'd never allow on television. I tried to find one
that was classic enough for Spike. I thought he'd want to probably
sing something that was original to the '70s, early '80s. I love that
song. 'I Want To Be Sedated.' That's pretty ... I want to be drugged
up? For a kids' show, that's pretty crazy. Joe Ramone rocks. The
term, 'Pidge.' They stole from me I notice. That's what I call my
girlfriend, 'Pidge,' from 'Lady and the Tramp.' Now they've got Spike
calling Dawn, 'Pidge.' Thief.

HE'S ASKED ABOUT HIS POLITICAL AFFILIATION

I am a die-hard bleeding liberal. (applause) Passionately so. I don't
want to get quite into all of it. It sounds like I'm preaching to the
choir. In basic terms. Level the playing field. Inherited wealth does
nobody any good. Basically, that's what I think.

HE'S ASKED ABOUT HIS THEATER COMPANY

My theater company started in Chicago as the Genesis Theater Company
actually. And I never got more criticism, more bile then when I tried
to build something myself. It was interesting. All the critics who had
been on my side as an actor, all of the rest of the theatrical company
had a negative reaction to me starting to do theater. My first show
was absolutely panned, although it sold out and the audiences loved
it. It was absolutely trashed in the press and I learned a big
lesson. When you extend yourself, don't be surprised when people take
you down. That's just a human reaction. 'Just who the hell does he
think he is?' I had to overcome that. Duck down. Jesus. Eventually,
it was like 'Oh, screw the press. Just do it for yourself.' (applause)

WHAT ABOUT HIS MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING?

Green belt in judo. That's what I know most of. But it's tournamental
style, which it's little, not quite so much. One year of karate. One
year of jujitsu. A little kung fu picked up on the side like in
classes. Too much street fighting. And on the job, stunt fighting
throughout the years, on stage.

HOW DOES HE KEEP HIS EGO IN CHECK WITH GROUPS LIKE THIS?

That's a really good question. How do I keep my ego in check getting
stroked like this? I told myself after I got off the phone with Joss,
after he said he wanted to make me a regular. I was like 'Omigod. This
is a whole new world. A bunch of money's going to get dumped on me and
a bunch of praise. And if I can get through this. First of all, I'm
going to save my money. Most importantly, I want to get through it
without becoming an ass.' I don't think that celebrity is a
particularly healthy place, psychologically, for someone to be. You
really don't have people around you telling you when you are being an
ass. And we all need that. I just try to remember that Spike is a
magic trick that a lot of people have a hand in other than myself. So
that when I hear it's working, I take pride in that. But remembering
that I'm one person in a lot of people. And a lot of people deserve
credit for anytime you like what Spike's doing. There's a whole lot
of people lining in the credits at the end of the show who have a lot
to do with that. That's how I'm trying. Watch me in a year, though.
I'll be like (strikes a haughty pose) "Wot? Who are you?"

HOW DID HE FEEL WHEN HE HEARD THEY WERE GOING TO KILL BUFFY?

I went up to Joss and said, 'You can't kill Buffy! She's the show.
Joss!' And he's like, 'I'm your boss. I can do whatever I want. I can
kill her. Calm down, boy.' Another very interesting choice. And he
also explained how she's.... Guys, she's not, she's going to come
back. Buffy's still ... we're going to have Buffy back. I don't think
I'm spilling too many beans by saying that She's brought back in the
most interesting, the most dynamic, and most surprising way. And
nothing like I would have imagined. God, I wish I could tell you
guys. I could lay down a story that I didn't write, that would
fascinate you. As a storyteller I'd love like ... 'Picture if you
will.' Ah, next question. I'm going to start spilling the beans if I
don't move right on.

DOES HE GET FEEDBACK FROM HIS FAMILY ON HIS WORK?

They just enjoy it very much. They've always been supportive of me as
an actor. They never once said, 'You can't do that' -- even though a
lot of other people did. And they're just very happy that I'm not
poor anymore.

HE'S ASKED IF HE'S GOING TO BE AT AN UPCOMING CHICAGO CON.

No, I'm not going to be in the con. Basically, I'm sorry, I don't do
a whole lot of cons during the filming season. But we thought there
was a strike. That's why I'm here because I didn't think I'd be
working. Twelve to 20 hours, five days a week, you really need that
one-and-a-half day's weekend that you get to sleep. To prepare for
the oncoming battle. So, I'm afraid that most of my con stuff is
going to be next summer.

Someone in the audience thanks him for coming out to GenCon. He says
they had great questions, waves and leaves.