"I volunteered to have my hand set on fire! I left it burning for four times longer than they told me to, as I thought it be cool. My hand was fried. They edited it out, anyway. As far as stunts go, if my feet are on the floor, it's me - punching, fighting, etc. However, if I'm flying throught the air - it's not."
This is what James says about his character Spike and Sarah Michelle Gellar's character Buffy and their possibility of love.
"I use to think that the best episodes were the ones where I got to hit Buffy...but then I got to kiss her! Believe me, as hot as Sarah is on the screen, it's even better in real life."
This is what James says about acting on WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"It's heaven. Acting, for me, is much simpler and less important than I thought. Every time I learn anything about acting, it's to just simplify, stop acting and let the words work for you. What it comes down to is that an actor needs to know enough about structure and quality writing to just be able to choose good words. Once you've chosen the words and signed your contract, get out of the way. Don't bring attention to yourself. Bring attention to the words and let them make your money for you. At which point it becomes simple, brutally easy, to look cool."
That is what James says about his hero and who it is:
"Shakespeare, Shakespeare's the dirtiest playwright ever - people think that he's polite, that he's classy. No way! Nobody kills more people or has more sex on stage.!"
When asked if he were really a vampire and could sire anyone to keep him company for life, James responded:
"Angelina Jolie."
The above quotes are from SFX Probe, 2000.
When asked about the cast off the screen, James says:
"Once a week, a bunch of us from Buffy and Angel get together and read Shakespeare. We just finished Othello, which was brilliant. After we're done with that, we usually just kick back. Maybe do some drinking while I get my guitar and sing. It's a lot of fun!"
When asked if he ever throw his own lines in as Spike, James says:
"No way! We follow those scripts down to every last comma and conjuction. The writing on the show is exceptional, really great stuff, but that wouldn't be the case if an actor stepped in and changed it. The writers spend a lot of time compacting the language so that it will sing, and if we don't follow it exactly, it would blow the whole deal."
The above quotes are from a WB Interview 2001.
