Houston Vulkon 2005

[marilyn]

Mary Shelley? Hmmm, that alias sounds so familiar....lol...is that you, friend Julie from Houston? I hope I'm right, would love to have you posting here with the rest of the Dirty Girls....

(I didn't know who any one was talking about, so didn't realize the mistake....but I've been known to get flustered like that myself!)

[deborahw37]

A friend of mine has done a full transcript of the Houston Q And A .
If you want to repost it please could you PM me frst so I can check that it's ok to do so ;D

JM Saturday Q&A Houston 2005


How can I follow Andy Hallet? I give up. I’m too sincere in these things so I’m probably not going to be nearly as funny. But – you all can ask me anything you want. I’m serious, there’s no question that’s off the bounds, there’s no question that I’m gonna be like [offended] You asked me that? I don’t care. I’m pretty much shameless, so – do we have a microphone for people or do you guys have to shout? [audience answers shout] Alright.

Q How long does it take to do Andy Halletts make-up process?

A [laughs] I felt for Andy because it took I think about two hours. It’s such heavy, uh [audience laughs again] I know, it’s totally normal, I don’t even mind. But we would work fifteen hour days but Andy would have an extra three hours, hour and a half in, hour and a half out. There’s another- there’s Andy on the set [slouches] and then there’s Andy in life [hyper] Hi! He’s a totally different guy when he gets the make-up off, ‘cause the contacts really actually hurt him, really badly because the contacts they use are very very large. And a sound set is a very dusty place? It’s very dirty, there’s always construction going on so there’s always bits of stuff getting in your contact lenses. But they pay us, so it’s cool.

Q Serious question. Someday when they make a movie of your life and they probably will, who do you want to see play you and who do you want to direct it?

A [thinks, audience shout Jamie Foxx] Jamie Foxx. Just to see if he could do it, man. Yeah, and get Spike Lee on there too. Uh, my life. Would I really want you guys to know about my life? [laughs] I don’t know [audience shout we’d find out anyway] I don’t know, no, there’s a lot of stuff I have very successfully kept secret, thank you [laughs, audience shout tell us that, laughs again] No. I said you could ask anything, I didn’t say I would answer.

Q Something about her daughter and his son

A My son, he’s not into girls yet. And the other problem is that he’s like really cute? And so all the girls have a crush on him- like twenty girls at school. And at that age girls are really mean to boys that they have a crush on, so his day to day experience is just diss diss diss diss and he’s just [does a slouchy thing] yeah. But I tell him it’ll become enjoyable later. Hang on son it’ll be better.

Okay, you gotta shout like a maniac dude, but in the back.

Q How long did it take to do all the vampire make up?

A This is a secret, that we never told the producers – twenty minutes. But they never knew that. It was absolutely forty five minutes and not a second less. But Todd, if I we were absolutely jammed or I was late to work he could get it on in twenty no problem. Yeah. Todd was a master, he was the best artist I’ve probably ever worked with in my life. Todd Mackintosh, the only Emmy award winner from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Q Something about moving to the next level in his acting or was he always that good?

A No, I was not always very good as an actor at all. I was very good as a young kid, before I thought about it, and then I went and got trained and I started sucking. I got way up in my head and I was told I was way too intelligent to be an actor. [confused] Thank you… I think. But then, uh, then I got back and got out of the training. Because I guess I got some bad training. And I got back to doing it. And I think that what I have learned – and I think this applies for stage too – is that you just have to be yourself. That every human being is interesting enough and beautiful enough to be stared at. Everyone. It’s just, the human reaction when most people get in front of an audience is to hide. Because in the natural world – I love to say this, some of you have heard it a thousand times, but – the only time in the natural world we stare at each other is when we want to eat each other. So instinctually, I don’t feel it any more because I’ve grown up in front of an audience, but there’s a heavy thing, to hide. And so to just, in that circumstance to be yourself and not try to convince people that you’re cooler than you are or whatever and just be you, it’s an act of extraordinary bravery, but it is the secret of good acting. And I’m positive this holds true on stage. Barbara Gains [sp] was a great director and she was on the same thing doing Shakespeare. And yeah, be yourself. It is good enough.

Q Something about he has said he has family commitments to stay in the California area for an extended period of time [JM agrees] Is he concerned that it might be detrimental to his career?

A [shakes head] The question was because of family commitments I need to stay on the West Coast, being children, basically. And am I afraid that it might hurt my career. Uh, no. I, I’m very confident [laughs]. I’ve been acting since the fourth grade and it’s always gone well. And I’ve always found that if one project is not something like I turned down a series that wanted me to move to New York. And I haven’t given it a second thought, it wasn’t right and something else will come along, it always does. Not necessarily tomorrow, but, uh, I mean the thing is people think of Hollywood careers or any career as going up and then down, and it’s a lie. It’s not that at all it’s always a circle. And I always say to get forward momentum the circle’s gotta go down before it comes up and that way it moves. And I already had some small circles in theatre where I was the hot kid in town and suddenly nobody knew my name, and it’s already happened three times in my life. So now I don’t really know where I am on the circle but it keeps rolling [shrugs]. Yeah.

Q Something about Buffy and Angel feature films

A Um, I think that the character that Twentieth would be most interested in getting into a major picture would be Buffy herself. And I really can’t talk for Sarah as to whether or not she would want to go back and do that. What I will say is that if I were her manager I might not suggest that she do that. Yet. I would tell her to distinguish herself apart from Buffy first as an actress. Because a lot of people don’t really understand that she is a very good actor. So if I was her manager I might say I don’t know, I don’t know I think I’d want to get you a Golden Globe first, you know, something like that and then you can go back if you’ve proved yourself and then it doesn’t seem – you know what I mean? If she decided to do it I think Joss’ instinct would be include the original cast, for sure. And being that they can’t make her a freshman in high school it’d have to include me. Hah!

Q Along the same lines, rumours of a Spike movie, what are his feelings on that?

A I am interested in it, I love the character. [repeats the question] If it happens it would be on television, not on a major, not a major release. Joss talked to me about it a long time ago, I told him I was interested, there’s really been nothing else happen after that. So I don’t know, the other thing is is that I told him when he first approached me I told him he had five years to get me on film, otherwise I’m too old, after that time. You know, I play a vampire, and vampires are not supposed to age one second. And I happen to feel that that’s one of the coolest things about the character, it’s, that is why he becomes an icon, he just doesn’t change, nor does he change his clothes. [audience – we don’t care] I know, I was going, I was so upset about that after a while, I was like this is Gilligans Island, enough! Give me a new… pair of pants. And I finally realized that the only people not complaining about this were you guys. And I was finally you know what? I don’t have to go to costume fittings, everyone else was like ‘I don’t get lunch I have to go to a costume fitting’ and I’m like [smug, nods] [audience says we don’t care if he ages] I don’t know, I think you would, you would care- if you saw Spike and he looked a lot older than before [pulls face] I mean I like my face, I like what’s happening with my face, I like my face better than I did back then, but it’s not the same. [audience doesn’t care] I don’t know.. I just want to get him to do it now. Because it would be better now. That way, twenty five years from now when you watch all of Spike he looks like a vampire, and not this one thing at the end where he it’s all shattered to pieces. What’s up.

[deborahw37]

next section

Q What kind of preparation did you do for Bobby Comfort for Cool Money?

A [repeats question] Good question. Zero. I was cast twelve hours before I started filming. I got, actually I just got home from visiting y’all in London, you guys who were there, and I was tired, as we all were. And uh, got off the plane and got home and there was a script waiting for me on my doorstep and I called my manager and I was ‘I’m not gonna open this right now, I’m too tired’ and he says ‘open it, it’s really good and they’re offering some real money’ and I read it and it was really good and I said I can’t, I can’t, and he says ‘James just offer an insane amount of money that would get you on that plane what is it?’ and I gave him a number and I didn’t expect them to pay it. But I’m glad that they did because it ended up being a really good experience, uh [audience liked it] Thank you, I thought it was pretty good, thought it was pretty good. The director, the director kept saying you know, in the beginning he was like ‘well, that’s pretty television isn’t it?’ Oka- ‘cause he was a film director, he’s an independent film director from Montreal, and he’s like ‘can you do less please, like [gestures] way less, please’ and at first I was terrified but I think I, coming back to your question, ma’am, I was more myself, finally. Whatsup.

Q Something like were there lessons learned that you can take to other projects?

A Yeah uh lets see, to stand up for myself when I feel like there are things on the set that are making it harder for me to do my job. In times past I have been too proud of being able to deal with adversity and I haven’t said anything, and I’m learning that it actually benefits the whole company when I say things- because when something that bothers me - it’s not normally just about me, it’s about the way the whole thing is being run. And usually I’ve found, it’s just amazing, when I say something the company come to me and they say ‘thank you, I’ve been wanting to say that, man’, so I’m learning that one, uh. And this forever lesson of being myself, of calming down, not trying to be more interesting than I am. Because I think that I am more interesting when I’m just myself. Otherwise you get this intellectual perception, my own self perception of who I am, as opposed to who I really am. And that to be a lead in a movie really comes down to changing your clothes effectively [removes jacket]. This is not a joke, it’s for real – uh, I had like eight to ten costume changes a day, and if I took twenty minutes per costume fitting that could take three hours out of the schedule, If I took five minutes, then we were gold. So yeah, that was a new one. I’m the lead! Change clothes, quickly! [audience – we liked the suits] Thank you. I got all those suits, they’re mine now. Start looking classy, for once in my life. Yeah.

Q Do you have a favourite experience of shooting an episode of Angel?

A [audience – Italian episode] Yeah, Italian episode. It would be two experiences, one filming the fight with David, and the reason why was, this was before David had knee surgery, it was not a big deal knee surgery but it had to happen because he had old football injuries – he’s a hundred percent now – but he was really hurting, I mean he was not walking well, and they were on him to do extra stuff, they were pressuring him, and he was ‘it’s crunching, I can’t’ and just to watch that guy suck it up and get the shots in – I was just very happy to be on his show, I was just like this is a good place to be. And then the Italian episode because by the, by the time we got to the Italian episode man, we were very tired, we were… we had had a couple of directors that made life, it was harder to get some episodes in than it should have been, and David Greenwalt, who invented the character of Angel, came over to direct the Italian episode and he breathed in this joy and this love, and this sense of fun, and specificity, he didn’t let go of shots unless he was happy and you just feel really safe with that, and it was just wonderful. Plus just getting finally to get to that relationship between Angel and Spike. Which had only kind of gotten touched on, and I – David and I were both saying – man, we were, so surprised it took them this long to get to it. We were both expecting this to come in you know episode three, but you know, there was other stuff to do. Whatsup.

Q You were saying about being comfortable acting, but now you have your solo CD. Do you feel like that puts you in a vulnerable place…

A You know it’s ironic, I would have thought – the question was do I feel more vulnerable performing solo having just had a band – and I was really worried about it because after you’ve been in a rock band you’re used to so much sound coming off that stage that you could feel it on the back of your pants. And when you [responding to an audience comment] Baby. And when you all hit together, Wham! And you can feel the audience just Boom! You know, and I’m just - now tonight, I’m gonna have my little guitar, I’m gonna be busking, you know. And so that was - it was hard for me to realize that I could fill up an hour to an hour and a half with one instrument. Um, but it’s ironic, I actually feel better when I’m doing solo. I feel more comfortable singing my own stuff. [someone says he was awesome in London, people agree] Thank you, in fact, I thought so too, I was really happy about that and that’s why I recorded the album. I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to do that or that I was ready to do that, and you guys were so nice, and I said okay, I’ll give it a try. Yeah, with the camera.

Q I hear you like Pez dispensers, what’s your favourite one?

A Boba Fett. Boba Fett, the unappreciated, the uh the villain that everyone likes that didn’t have a whole lot of screen time. [does an ‘I wonder why’ face, audience laughs].

Q Something about was he happy with the way Buffy ended, was it consistent with what the series should be

A Was the ending of Buffy consistent, with what the series was, yes, thematically it was very consistent, it was about empowering a young female mind, you know. And actually it was really about empowering the human mind. Because when I watched that show I was Buffy and when I play the video game I am Buffy [pretends he is playing the game]. It’s a good story, that’s why it’s good. But, in all honesty I thought that we were taking ourselves waaay too seriously at the end [audience agree] Yeah, I think that they knew we were wrapping up and I think they were wanting to give gravitas and all of that, and it just wasn’t really fun to watch. Yeah. So, yeah. I’m not even gonna go there. Next question.

Q What is your guilty pleasure television?

A Guilty pleasure television. [looks behind him] I don’t ahh, I don’t Q What is your guilty pleasure television?

A Guilty pleasure television. [looks behind him] I don’t ahh, I don’t- when I watch television, I always go for the news, and I always go for the History Channel, I’m sorry. But when I buy DVDs, I want action! I don’t want anyone talking to each other or explaining themselves or their feelings [makes a ‘stay away’ gesture] I want something flying across the screen and bam. Good movie. So yeah, total low brow taste in film, high brow , yeah what’re you gonna do. [someone says Death Wish five] Death Wish Five, no, not that no, not that bad. Not that bad- Die Hard! The Crow!

[deborahw37]

And more

Q As a director I like to ask my actors, who is the playwright they’d like to work with most, who’s yours?

A Living or dead? [living] Oh living? George Walker, a Canadian playwright who writes about the underclass in Toronto. Or Steven Berkoff? Who I just think infuses such anger and frustration and nevertheless is howlingly funny, you know I would love to just meet him period. There’s so many. I got to work with Steven Deats [sp] [thumbs up] [would he be willing to work with Lanford Wilson?] [shocked] Can you say that again? Did he? [she has him on speed dial] [stunned] Lanford Wilson is one of the reasons I moved to Seattle. Because he did, didn’t he? I heard he did so I moved. I mean yeah, he’s arguably the best playwright living in America, Two Trains Running? I mean jesus, god. [He’s in Houston right now] [stunned again] I’m feeling a little nauseous about… yeah, he’s absolutely one of my heroes. I would work for, I would work for a dime for Lanford Wilson, yeah. As would any actor worth his weight in salt, yeah. [joking, hopeful] Do you know Athol Fugard? Yeah, baby. Thank you. Okay. Moving on, in the black.

Q Was it uncomfortable bleaching his hair?

A Yeah, the bleaching was extremely painful. It’s not painful for everybody, but I have a dry scalp, which tends toward dandruff if I don’t take care of it, and those little tiny cracks give the bleach something to get into? And many times I would just curl up into the foetal position in my trailer and just wait for them to knock. [whispers] Paycheck paycheck paycheck paycheck . I’m gonna go house left to you darlin’. That’s right, sorry. Yeah.

Q When you have to do take after take how do you keep it fresh when it’s one line, over and over and over again?

A How do you keep it fresh, good question man, ‘cause it’s all about that actually. Uh, how do you keep it fresh when you have multiple takes, sometimes twenty to thirty between – because you have your master shot then you have your close ups then you have your two-shot, so how do you keep it fresh through all of those, um. And the problem is, is that the camera is this close [hand in front of face] so if it’s not fresh, like on stage, an actor might be fresh or not fresh you wouldn’t really know, as long as he’s hitting his marks correctly it’s a good performance. But in film you have to be real, it’s why Meryl Streep refuses to do more than three takes. She says I’m ready, you be ready. Because my first take is the best one, and I’m willing to do two more, just so you can feel comfortable but I’m not willing to give you anything more than that. And I wish I had that kind of power. But how do you do it, um. You just look at your partner, it’s so much easier if your partner is really there with you and not giving you a pre-plan. It becomes almost, it becomes very hard when you’re working with an actor who is just giving the line reading the way they planned it at home. Because you know there’s no tennis happening then. It’s really wonderful when you have an actor who you don’t know what they’re going to do, like David Boreanaz is like that. You look into his eyes and you really don’t know what you’re going to get. [audience laughs] No, in a good way, in a really good way. I probably over the years maybe worked with five to ten actors who were like that on Buffy, David was one of them. Yeah, but everyone sweats about it, it’s the big big big one, is spontaneity, freshness, how do you keep it. God I don’t know [laughs] Whatsup.

Q In the episode of The Mountain, where you played Ted Tunney [JM and audience laugh] First of all you made us all cry [audience agree] at the end, we all bawled at the end when you hugged your son [JM makes a rock on type gesture, even losers have love, yeah] What about those fake tattoos, did that give you any inspiration?

A [laughs] Uh, I can’t tat man, uh Sarah had a tat and David had a tat and it was always about the tat. You gotta change the shot, you gotta do make-up over here and all of this stuff and you just – you don’t wanna mark your body in a way that you can’t change easily, you wanna remain kind of a slate that you can play roles. [they were big tats] They were great, they were like, come by the makeup trailer, we’ll take ‘em off tonight, and I’m like no way, I’m going out to a bar tonight! Yeah, they were just norma- the same kind of tattoo stickers that you would buy out of a bubble gum machine, except they were made large by professional make up artists and they were painted really really well, but they come on the same- they put it on the same way, a little bit of water and put it on and powder it and that’s it. Yeah. Yeah yeah, totally cool. Whatsup.

Q Something about awards

A How would I feel to win an Emmy or to win a Grammy. You know, I’m so aware of the financial aspect of the business, that the awards have lost their meaning to me. I remember when – and also, when I was young, uh, I was hitting pretty well as an actor and I- it got to a point when a whole room was filled with trophies. Just all trophies, first place actor blah and I finally just put ‘em all in a big box and labeled in James’ Ego Trip and I put it into the garage, and I haven’t really thought about that since. And it would probably feel good and it might do well for my career, but it… doesn’t really mean that much. I mean, if Buffy the Vampire Slayer never got a major Emmy except for make-up, they don’t mean much.

Q You are primarily a screen actor but I know you’ve done stage work. Have you ever done improv, and how do you feel about improve versus scripted acting?

A I have not done a lot of improv, but improv is the basis of all good acting. So whenever you start to study acting it always starts with improv. So I guess I could say I’ve improvved a lot but I’ve never gotten paid for it. Right? But I love improv because it’s very dangerous. Because you don’t know what is gonna happen at any given time and if something goes wrong there’s no pre-scripted way to get out of it. So it’s uh, I love danger, I like to get into a situation where I might fall. And I always feel like I’m jumping off the cliff again, I better start flapping or I’m gonna splat, you know. But those are my favourite times, when I’m in a project you know we’re either going to splat or fly, those are always the best ones. So yeah, improv I have a lot of respect for people who do that, do you improv? [yes] Hell yeah. Right on. [You want to do scene?] [laughs] later. In the back.

[deborahw37]

another section

Q How did you get involved in the Dresden Files?

A How did I get involved in recording the Dresden books, um, they just called me up which it was strange because it’s a book that so doesn’t need an English accent and that’s all I was really known for but I was so happy to kind of give it the old Sam Spade try, you know. Bit yeah, I had a great time, I think uh, that Dan is a really good writer [audience correct him] Excuse me, Jim, sorry. I was thinking of Dan Brown, someone gave me the Da Vinci code this morning I’m thinking of Dan- I got an autographed copy of the Da Vinci Code [claps]. Um, so sorry Jim Butcher, sorry, I know your name. He has the ability though, his plots go quickly he’s able to define characters with a minimal amount of language and he is able to get into psychological truths that really make me feel uncomfortable. You know like one or two scenes per book there’s some character that you may find out a little more than you even wanted to know and it just really helps, uh, just psychologically, being unsettled as you go into those mysterious worlds, I think it’s a perfect use of that. Whatsup.

Q Something about ‘Spike’ being torn to pieces in Jim Butchers second book

A I remember getting to that, yeah – hey wait a minute! [questioner asks the rest of her question] Yeah, the Dresden Files at the moment is being shepherded toward completion by Lions Gate, my name has been bandied around and when it gets to that point it will be bandied again but they’re not to that point yet. [something about lifts, audience laughs] I didn’t wear lifts for Angel, that’s why I was that much smaller [audience interrupt] No David didn’t wear lifts either [audience clarify] Oh yeah yeah yeah, that’s just Joss. No I wouldn’t wear lifts, I would just try to get as skinny as possible so the camera would think I was tall. Y’all think Antonio Banderas is tall don’t you? [audience say no] Oh. I’m screwed. In the pink, what’s up.

Q About the direction he was given for Charlemagne Bolivar

A I, you know, I went into that really thinking that I wanted to do Charlemagne like uh, what was that character in Rob Roy [thinks] he was a dandy but he was a very dangerous dandy. Who was that guy in Rob Roy, do you guys know who I’m talking about? [audience say Tim Roth] Tim Roth! Exactly. I wanted to take kind of a page off of Tim Roth, and I wanted to understand that guys who were like that were very masculine, that all of that affectation was just the period. And it didn’t mean anything about their relative strength or their danger or anything. Then I got to the set and they had me in purple, and they were like ‘don’t you think he should be a little more-‘ and I’m like NO. I didn’t get in the script that he was gay, I just got that he was rich. Not the same thing. I wouldn’t mind- I’ve played gay characters before but I just didn’t think that it was a very good way to go about that one. And so I didn’t go back on that, I thought that they had missed it, frankly. They went for something that was a cartoon of the real character. Now they hate me over there. What’s up.

Q Something about OMWF as a musical

A Any talk about making Once More with Feeling into a Broadway show, I heard about that actually, uh, there was a company somewhere in America that did it up on stage and it went really well and apparently there were some backers that had done Broadway before that were looking at it. I don’t know if anything, you know if that had to do with Joss or anything, I personally think it’d be an easy thing to do to mount a full- you would probably have to come up with another su plot though. With Spike! [audience laughs] But yeah it would have to stretch, you know that was a forty eight minute thing you’d have to add maybe two songs and a subplot but that would be easy. For Joss it would be an afternoons work. It’s not fair, that he’s that good. I have worked so hard to get where I am and to see him just [flying away gesture] [someone shouts something] Hey that’s right. Sometimes I feel like really like, you guys dig Joss, but see it’s my face [laughs] [audience, it’s more than a face] Thank you [someone says something] Dignity. Always dignity. Alright in the back.

[deborahw37]

and more

Q Have you ever been scared by a fan? Have you ever been approached where you felt uncomfortable, because of something a fan was doing?

A There are times when I feel like there is so much, there’s a need that I don’t have time to fill. But at the same time I realize that if I don’t freak out about that and give what I can, then it’s a good thing. No, you know in general I um, I don’t get afraid of things, much. And I’m good at defending myself so if – I’m always kinda like if anything went really weird it wouldn’t really be a problem. And add on top of that I played a total villain on and people are pretty scared of me when they meet me, you know they usually come up like ‘I don’t want to waste your time or anything but you know, I’ [but they’ve seen you without your shirt on , often, so] But it’s interesting, you know after I kissed Sarah it went up, people used to stop me on the street – before I kissed Sarah they would stop me on the street and say man, you’re a really good actor, a really good actor. And then the day after I kissed Sarah, from passing cars – take off your shirt! No! You gotta watch commercials for that, that’s the paid. [someone shouts about DragonCon] Yeah, ohh. I have an apology for that girl, I don’t know. I did not expect her to do that, I really was trying to make the point, it’s a little weird to get asked to get naked in front of a lot of people and she’s like okay! No that wasn’t the plan! But she was brave man, she was braver than me. Give her that, you know. I know I’ve learned, I’ve learned. Okay, what’s up, yeah.


Q How does he stay grounded

A How do you stay grounded in the face of celebrity. Uh, deny it, deny it, deny it. Find people in your life that don’t care about that and will hold you accountable to being a jerk or if you’re a flake or anything and will speak their minds. Um, you know having family is really important for that. Stay off the internet. You guys are just too nice, I can’t – I went on the internet, a lot of you have heard this before, early on I went on the internet twice. And both times I felt sooo good about myself. And a friend of mine kinda, was just passing in the hallway and he kinda went ‘what’s that look, bro’. What look? I just got off the internet and he was like ‘check thyself’. Yeah, celebrity- celebrity was invented, if you wanna know, about three hundred years ago in England. When they found out that ticket buyers would come to an actor if they felt that that actor was elevated above the other actors. And so celebrity is created to sell tickets. It’s not something that naturally occurs, I think. It’s something that has to be manufactured. And so with an eye towards that I keep it at a distance. And you thought you were gonna get picked and I’m gonna pick you now. Cool tshirt.

Q What was your reaction to ‘that one time’

A What I thought was the same thing when he had us hold hands. Uh Joss, uhhh. Yeah, basically I was not gonna let him get to me. Basically I was not going to go screaming and say how dare you, but Joss has a problem with anybody, with people thinking anybody is really cool. When he perceives that anyone is getting a lot of attention and all of that his big instinct is to rip that down. And so it’s really good for scripts because he goes after lots of sacred cows and rips them down but when he rips me down it’s like argh. He called me an ingénue the other day. Spike was the best ingénue Angel ever had. In fifteen percent of the bars that’ll get ya killed. I’ve seen what happens when you call a man a pretty little girl. All joking aside when I read that I wanted to go find him and show him what kind of ingénue I was. But I got over it, and I realized that’s the downside of working with Joss. And that there’s a lot of upsides, but that one is the frustration, he does like to humiliate people. What’s up.

[deborahw37]

more

Q If you had the choice would you like comedy or a dramatic role

Q If you had the choice would you like comedy or a dramatic role

A You know I would hope to get another series where we have so much of both. The question being do I like comedy or drama, what’s the- more fun to play, and what I love about Buffy is scene to scene it would change, we’d go from melodrama to horror, to romance, we would switch up styles mid-scene sometimes, um. In general drama is easier, comedy is hard. Making people laugh at the same time in rhythm is really hard and it’s why most comedians, you’ll see them like this before the show [pulls a face]. You know and most- a lot of comedians aren’t happy people and I think it’s because their job is just simply that hard. But I like it, I’ve always done well on comedy, I’ve always been able to do a good prat-fall. What’s up.

Q Something about them taking a while to get Spike right on Angel

A Yeah. It takes more- it takes people a little- the question being did you notice that it took time for the writers a little time to get your character down in angel and yeah, it happened sometimes over on Buffy too. But it happened earlier. They would oftentimes they would write me like Giles. And they would make me blublubluh these long sentences and I went up to the writers and I finally said look, Spike speaks in few words, you gotta truncate that down. Eliminate any- eliminate adjectives eliminate all conjunctions. Just take all conjuctions and throw ‘em out, he does not need an and or an or he doesn’t need that. And then after that they pretty much got it every time. I never talked to the writers about that because I felt that they kinda clued in pretty quickly. But yeah, they didn’t really know what to do with me, it’s so- every year Joss comes to me, every single year ‘we don’t know what we’re gonna do with you this year, you know. We got no ideas whatsoever.’ Thanks man.

Q At Moonlight Rising you said there was a possibility for Macbeth. How is that going?

A That is going well, but as I’m learning with big projects unless you have somebody in a big studio that says greenlight! It is to get to that greenlight word, that phrase, that beautiful phrase, is years in the making. So it is rolling along, but it will be years before you see it. But that’s just true of almost every film. [but it is rolling along?] Yeah, oh yeah. I’m taking meetings, taking a meeting with a film, a production in England, when I go. Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that it was gonna go tomorrow, that could be a great meeting and nothing happens. But now I’m realizing when you read those interviews with the directors and they’re like ‘what are you going to do now’ and they’re like ‘I’m not going to do anything, I’ve been doing this for seven years, this one film has taken seven years of my life’ and now I’m understanding why. But it’s a lo- it’s, I love working on it so I don’t mind it taking seven years I’ll be sad when it’s done. Yeah.

Q What did the blood taste like, what was it made out of?

A It was strawberry Quik. I always thought like they should- they should doctor it up. When I had a theatre company I was all about blood, I was all about getting the blood right because I noticed I went to a Steppenwolf [sp] show, and they had, they did blood really well. And it just, and the colour on the handkerchief was so perfect that it made you just kind of [shudders] it really seemed real, the guys head really seemed like it just got hit man, and uh when I made blood for my theatre company I used Sam Peckinpah’s recipe which what was that? Peanut butter- corn syrup with red food colouring, peanut butter and coffee. I don’t know why the chunks, somehow it just reads like something more organic, somehow. But anyway it was strawberry Quik, which it was seemingly nice, you’d think that was nice, right- because you drink a glass of it, you start to feel like you’ve just eaten forty thousand pieces of candy corn. And then you do take two. And they would literally have, they would have paramedics on the set when we were drinking blood because people – in the past, I never passed out but other actors did pass out and like, just take a header right into the concrete. But yeah, I always felt that- some of the actors the vampires, when they would drink the blood they didn’t want to have to del with the nausea? Because they were in the middle of a fifteen hour day and forget that so they would fake it. And I didn’t think that was good I though that you really want to see a vampire chuggin’ that blood and running down his lips and really his throat is moving and you can really see that. So I did it every time, yeah ‘can we just have real blood? Yeah, just no more strawberry Quik, please.’

[deborahw37]

more

Q When he was living in New York did he get to see any Shakespeare in the park?

A Oh, uh. I went to one play but it wasn’t a Shakespeare. This is Shakespeare in the Park at Joseph Path [sp] Beautiful space, oh my god so magical. I forget the play it was a musical. Mary Beth Hurt was in it I forget what it was, but to tell you the truth I am not that impressed with New York Shakespeare. I was a student at Juilliard so I got to see two full seasons of Broadway because they give us free tickets all the time and I don’t see it. I really don’t see it and New York is a commercial for profit market and they tend to over simplify their plays, when you see a play on Broadway it’s way dumbed down than if you see it at a good regional theatre. Like I would never go and see Lanford Wilson on Broadway, never. But I’m a little bit uppity that way. I don’t- I’m firmly believing in regional theatre I don’t think that Broadway has anything over regional theatre whatsoever.

Q Caveman and Astronaut

A If a caveman and an astronaut went at it- Caveman! You know what was inter- David actually believes that it’s astronauts. And I would- Joss had us like improvise, like a bunch of stuff, because he wanted maybe, he didn’t end up using it but he wanted it in the background leading in to the scene. And I was [accent] Look! Caveman’s gonna be this big, astronauts gonna be this big, and David’s like no, astronauts are not that big! And I’m like yes! They have to choose the small ones to fit into the capsule! And it’s actually true, it’s all about fuel and weight, so they’re gonna pick the small [points down] you’re a talented astronaut! Nothing against astron- oh, I’m in Houston Texas I’d better get off of that. But yeah, David was all about co-operative fighting, and tools and all of that and I’m like tool! [punches downwards].

Q You’ve talked a lot about things you had to leave from stage what did you keep from stage?

A Yeah, being that I’d said in the past that when I started working in television I’d had to give up all that I learned about acting because it was only applicable for stage – question is what was still applicable for film. Not much. Improv, improv. That’s important, that becomes infinitely important in film. Um, and beats. Which is to say that a character – like the best drama for me is like a football game because everybody’s objective is really clear, one team wants to go this way and one team wants to go that way. And I find the best acting has that too, that you know exactly what that guy wants, and you know- you can see in his mind that he changes gears to try to get it a different way. And when he changes gears that’s called a new beat. And good actors change beats very cleanly and therefore they let you into the process of their mind, and so that one was applicable as well but I would probably have to think for a solid hour to come up with anything else. There probably is one more. Stunt fighting, learning stunt fighting, that worked. Stunt fighting for stage, by the way is infinitely harder than for film. Because on stage you have to give- for film, you only have to account for only one camera angle, only one angle so the gag just sells from one angle. On stage there’s up to a thousand angles that you have to account for and you have to make the sound of impact. [tries to do it, but has the mic so he goes to an audience member ‘I’ll use you, do you mind? - I won’t hit you’] Like that and there’s a thousand different naps, and every actor has their own little secrets and it’s a whole little, I once paid a guy fifty bucks for his nap, nobody ever caught it and I wanted that nap. [audience asks what a nap is] a nap is making the sound. And that would be about all. Yeah.

[deborahw37]

Last bit

Q Out of all the songs you’ve written what’s your favourite?

A Out of all the songs I’ve written what’s my favourite. I think This Town [audience approve] is one of my favourites I think I was able to get more into- I was able to squeeze more into few words in This Town. That’s what I was really-I was trying to get a whole story into three verses. And I was trying to tell a lot about what kind of people they were, especially the guy and the girl. And I think I did pretty well. And it’s also the first time I’ve just done a story, and not written about myself. But then again, the title track off the album Civilised Man, that’s a tie for me. I also felt like I had said something that I had really been wanting to say for a long time and I think that the melody really rocks too.

Q In The Mountain I found that I had a really difficult time looking at you and watching you, it hit really close to home for me having an alcoholic father myself, I just wondered what was involved in you taking that kind of role.

A Why did I take that role in The Mountain, and yes it is very hard for me too, to talk about alcoholic parents. But the reason I took it is that I like to play characters that are- that are fallible. That aren’t perfect. I like to try to get the audience to feel for someone that they may pass over in life and may quickly judge, and try to show a little more. Because I think that that’s- when that happens, when it’s a type of person that normally we don’t spend enough time to understand and that kind of person gets opened up to us? From a storyteller? For me that’s always a really powerful experience. And so that’s why I took the role, he was just a very very imperfect man but he had a lot of love for his son. [she could only watch it once] Yeah, but it was very tough for me, I was like ‘this is a loser, I wanna- alcoholic son of a bitch’ But that’s, you know- maybe I needed to understand it too.

Q How was the transition from Buffy to Angel, were they similar, or?

A The transition from Buffy to Angel was non-existent. They were- many of the writers were the same, I already knew David very well. I’d already, I’d acted with the whole cast of Angel at Shakespeare over at Josses so I’d already acted with them. Same character. The coat was a little thicker than the first one. The only really big difference was that we were fighting on wood. Which is like a trampoline compared to concrete. That’s the one complaint I really have about Buffy is whoever scoped that place and decided to do an action picture, and action show on a concrete stage needs to be talked to. Most sound stages are wood but we’d converted another thing to do ours. Otherwise it was a great space but I still, I know too many guys who are still hurting from it, yeah.

Q Which did he like filming better, Angel or Buffy

A What did I like better, angel or Buffy. You know, both of them were intense, frustrating, horrifying, giddy, happy everything at once. I think I probably got stretched more on Buffy. I did more things that horrified me on Buffy. Yeah, I guess at the end of the day we did more dangerous work on Buffy I gotta say, you know on A-, for Angel I really was the thorn in the side. Which is only going to go so far- it’s a nice little thing to have, being the smartass whose always kinda getting under Angel’s skin that’s a nice place to be, but it’s not really going to grow very much. So you know, we did things that really horrified me over on Buffy and some of them I wish we hadn’t done, but much of it I was very frightened to do but proud that I did.

Q How much of the Sex Pistols did you bring to Spike and how much was Whedon?

A That was Whedon. I got cast because I love the Sex Pistols and I knew what that was. But yeah, he was definitely- he was a punk rock vampire, I don’t think, I don’t think he was Sid Vicious though. This is the one thing I want to tell Joss, I think maybe I know the Sex Pistols better than you do. I was Jonny Rotten. Because seriously, this is Sid Vicious, have you seen the film whatever it was? this is Sid Vicious [accent, stoned] Uh, girls like me coz I’ve got a nice face and a good figure. That was Sid, he was totally drugged out and he doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of brain. But he was really cute, I mean- couldn’t play bass, couldn’t write music but he was really cute. And – and if you threw a bottle at him he would laugh at you and that’s important, you know. But yeah whenever they said he was the Sid Vicious of the vampire, I’m like no! I’m the Jonny Lydon.

Q Have you taken karate and how did you like sparring with Sarah

A Have I taken karate, no not karate I’ve taken judo and I’ve taken kung fu. And how do I like sparring with Sarah [laughs]. Sarah hit me a lot. Not bad but she’d whip my nose a lot. And it hurts- snap, snap, ow. But I gotta say she put herself into those fights. A lot of girls would shy away from that but she always came- you could tell that it wasn’t her favourite part of the shoot, but she always came ready to do it. She was always ready and I respected that, uh and she was the lead, she was allowed to hit me I’m supposed to be okay with that.

Q If he could meet one actor who would it be

A If I could meet one actor who would it be. Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep, the best actor in America. Or Bobby De Niro. Bobby Streep.

Q Something about favourite characters

A What is my favourite character on stage. [whistles] I got about a hundred. Macbeth. I mean you’ve heard it before, Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth. Robespierre was an interesting one that was an original play, six hours long about the French Revolution. And it was a hit! What the hell? And we got like, we got the first show- the first three hours we rehearsed that one for like a month and a half. The second three hour? We rehearsed for two weeks. And I was Ro- I was the lead, and I was on stage the entire time. So my dialogue was just mountainous and I just remember just grabbing, what was the name of that playwright, Christopher, his name was and just ‘Give me the second act!’. ‘Richard [somebody]’s coming, I just-’ But yeah, Robespierre and Macbeth. But all of them, god, It’s fun. You know? It’s almost like it doesn’t matter what the song is as long as you listen to me sing [laughs].

Q Something about where he’d like to move to if he could

A New York City. or Chicago. Where would I move if I could move and work elsewhere. I’d want to go to New York and frankly prove what I’ve been telling everybody for years is that I’m good on stage, it would be really nice. But that will happen, it’ll just happen later. I ain’t going anywhere. And with that, I’m leaving. I’ll see you later on tonight.

[MaryShelley]

Hi Marilyn,

Yes, it's me (waves in the direction of Louisiana)! I sent you and Trina an e-mail but didn't hear back from either of you.

Yes, the Lanford Wilson/August Wilson mistake was pretty understandable. I guess when the problem is "Which Pulitzer Prize winning playwright is it that wants me to act for him?" it's not that bad a problem!

For those unfamiliar with Lanford Wilson (the playwright who expressed interest in Marsters), the very reputable Gale Literary Database says, "Lanford Wilson is one of the most prolific and most celebrated American playwrights of the late twentieth century." JM should really follow up on his interest!

Julie

[Pixie]

WOW! Thanks for the Q&A, Deb

[Pluto7077]

Hi Deb, you've given me a right dilemma now. Do I thoroughly read all those wonderful Q & A's and get 'right in the momen' or do I go and rescue my dinner before smoke appears from the kitchen

Think I'll have to come back later and give them the time and attention they deserve. Thanx

[marilyn]

Thanks, Deb, for sending the q and a to us here...it helped me remember things said...I'm very forgetful, lol!
And Mary S, that is true about the Wilson confusion, and I wonder if that person was serious about having the guy's number and if she would have really called him if JM would have asked her to....

[Ditto]

James should call, Lanford Wilson might open doors for him, he obviously appreciates talent!

Look at this, don't you just love that man....
a nice gel that went to Houston...

Re: Houston Photos

I had a wonderful time and when I went for my photo with James I asked him

"how do you want to do this"

His reply

"We just hug, it's all about the love."

[Pixie]

*swoons* I'll hug him any time. And yup... it's all about the love

[DeeDee]

Oh yes all about the love for James hugs are all of the good ;D ;D