Marsters, whose evil vampire Spike will become a regular on WB's hit "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" this fall, recently talked to The Kansas City Star from Jerry's Famous Deli in L.A. Unable to make it to his car because of construction, his cell phone fading in and out from interference, he ducked into the deli.
"Well, well, who's here ... there's all these stars around here," he said.
Marsters, 28, a rising star in his own right, has worked on stage and screen. Before landing the role of Spike, he studied at the Juilliard School in New York and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
The California native learned the British accent he uses on "Buffy," in fact, from a North London actor who played Caliban in "The Tempest" at the Shakespeare Festival in Los Angeles - and from watching "Monty Python's Flying Circus."
And the role Marsters did in that production?
"I played Sebastian, the bastard brother of the king who's plotting his overthrow. Another villain."
The new season of "Buffy" begins Tuesday. Spike returns in Episode 3. "There is a crossover with ('Buffy' spinoff) 'Angel' on the same night, so it'll be two bloody hours of Spike ... In the stuff I've shot so far, I am meaner and nastier and bloodier than I've ever been before."
As for getting into the role, Marsters said that "most of us have severe limits on our dreams. ... For vampires, it's just immediate gratification at all times. That's a very easy fantasy to give yourself over to."
And when Marsters makes his season debut, he'll have fight scenes with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz). He relishes the orchestrated violence on the show.
"I love the stunt work. ... What's nice for the crew and the stunt choreographer is that I can fight Sarah, I can fight David ...
"David and I, we just love to get going. ... We just had a couple of fights on Buffy's show, and people were coming up afterward saying, 'Did he really hit you!?' We weren't leaving a whole lot of air between our punches and the guy's face, because there's that much trust."
When asked whether he hoped to return to the theater, he said: "Yes. Not immediate plans. I came down here and had to really consciously decide to commit to doing film and television. ... But, I mean, (the stage) is my first love. There is a lot about film and television that I am enjoying. It is its own challenge and a worthy effort."
As for what he would do on the stage, Marsters said, "My favorite Shakespeare play is 'Macbeth,' and I would very much love to direct (it). The play points up that the common person shares more with the beasts than we like to admit. ...
"It is a big challenge to keep him the hero right up until the middle of the fifth act, when he does become the functional villain. Until that moment, you have a hero who's committing atrocities, and that's not something that people are used to.
"To make it work as an actor, you have to respect him and to use yourself and to realize that the reasons that he commits these murders is from ambition, which is one of the most universal human feelings.
"I'm very ambitious. I want the world. But it also can lead, if one's not careful, to cutting moral corners."
And speaking of ambition, Marsters said, "You know who I was sitting next to? I was just sitting next to (Robert) Shapiro, the guy who defended O.J. Simpson."
09/30/1999
The Kansas City Star
METROPOLITAN
To reach Robert Folsom, a staff member of The Star, call (816) 234- 4436 or send e-mail to rfolsom@kcstar.com