Vampire Ball Report VIII: James Marsters and Juliet Landau (2)
They were asked about the Buffy re-boot.
JM: “In my dream, I’d love to be the new Watcher.” He’s excited to see what’s in store. “If they call, I’ll come.” He said that if there was a new actor playing Spike, “my biggest fear is, he would rock the role.”
JL: Her husband said Spike and Drusilla would be played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. She said that the writing in BtVS was so good that you can watch and watch again. All the characters are so well-rounded. They are characters you want to spend time with.
JM: “‘Star Trek’” was selling hope - we don’t have to eat each other alive. A despot tries to kill hope.” [I’m not sure what that was apropos of …] and “You want to go back to Sunnydale and hang out with your friends.” The writing in BtVS “was an act of sustained vulnerability from the writers … ‘Hey Man - this sucked for me’ … they were reaching out to see if anyone else is out there.”
Someone asked about how Spike and Dru would be viewed by the post ‘Me too” generation.
One of them, possibly Juliet, said, “I know we ate people!”
JM: “I think I was a lot better for you than I was for Buffy.”
JM: “A character always seems far away at first, and you get closer and closer, and realise, ‘Hey! It’s just me!’ …I’m so caffeinated.”
There was a question about reading audiobooks.
JL: Unlike film and TV, with audiobooks you have to bring the momentum yourself - it takes a lot of concentration. She is the new Romana in a Dr Who audiobook.
JM: He’s doing more “Torchwood” audio!
What is Batman’s guilty pleasure?
JM: “Robin! …Playing Monopoly with Robin …” He was unavailable to read “Ghost Story” on two occcasions, so they just decided to get someone else to do it. After it had been done, he offered to do a reading for free, but they told him his fee wasn’t the only expense involved! There was the whole crew and studio etc.
JL: Juliet would love to do Catwoman.
JM: in the “Star Trek” universe, James would like to know how they got from World War III to the Original Series. He’d like to see a series where the crew all hates each other, and the maps are all wrong. He’d like Juliet to play a Vulcan.
JL: “I’m too emotional to be a Vulcan!”
JM: “You’d be a more interesting character.”
They got a question about stunts - not sure if this was just on BtVS.
JM: “I did too many stunts - I was an idiot!” He’d never seen such big bits of cartilage to be removed [I think this was from his knees].
There was one about how he felt about his backstory as William.
JM: “I’m glad I didn’t write the backstory for Spike. Joss always writes something infinitely more interesting.”
I got up and asked whether, after conventions, they had any trouble getting to sleep - like, did they, as they were dropping off, start dreaming about never-ending queues for autographs, and pens that wouldn’t write …”
They laughed.
JL: “No, but I will now!”
JM: It’s not hard to sleep - he thinks it will be, but it isn’t.
JL: “But it’s fun!”
JM: It’s harder to wind down after a music gig.
Someone asked what flower they would be.
JL: A rose … that’s her middle name. Or a wild orchid.
JM: Something prickly like a cactus, so he wouldn’t get eaten.
Someone asked how they would fare on “Tru Blood.”
They said they’d have a lot more sex on camera, and demolish the other vampires - with superior dialogue.
I’m not sure what this note was referring to, but JL said, “Why didn’t they listen to me? I had visions for 150 years! I said, ‘Fire!’”
Referring to the suggestion that Spike and Dru were a version of Sid and Nancy:
JM: “You don’t want Sid Vicious. Sid was a moron. He couldn’t play bass, he ruined the tour … when he was interviewed, he didn’t say anything interesting.”
JL: “I thought I was Sid … really.”
JM: “And I’m a Nancy Boy!” Joss was going to put him in Firefly, as Spike - in a bar. “I wrote a role for him - in Season 3. “Thelonious 183, who gets taken on Firefly, survives Firewalk … the most dangerous on his planet …” I didn’t catch the punchline.
Juliet had some project she wanted Joss involved with; she sent him an e-mail that said, “We will provide hair and make-up” and he replied, “You had me at ‘hair’!”
Someone - of course - asked something like, what did James not like doing on set. He said that after the AR, he had to do a scene where he had to show that he was ashamed (I guess this was for “Beneath You”), so he beat himself up mentally for all the bad things he had ever done.
He acknowledged that was not healthy, and said, “I had a breakdown after that scene.” But that was a good thing, because it made him go into therapy. “I recommend therapy to anyone … who’s lived at all”!
At the end of the Q & A I went down one last time to the autograph lines, but they wouldn't let me join, because I hadn't waited patiently with all the other schmucks! So I didn't get Brian Thompson's or Andrew Ferchland's autographs.
I was pretty exhausted by the end of the con., but nevertheless went down to the last party in my Rocky Horror Show Transylvanian garb. There was no one there that I had spoken to before, and the music was surprisingly rubbish for a convention. I went up to bed as soon as they started doing The Maccarena.
JM: “In my dream, I’d love to be the new Watcher.” He’s excited to see what’s in store. “If they call, I’ll come.” He said that if there was a new actor playing Spike, “my biggest fear is, he would rock the role.”
JL: Her husband said Spike and Drusilla would be played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. She said that the writing in BtVS was so good that you can watch and watch again. All the characters are so well-rounded. They are characters you want to spend time with.
JM: “‘Star Trek’” was selling hope - we don’t have to eat each other alive. A despot tries to kill hope.” [I’m not sure what that was apropos of …] and “You want to go back to Sunnydale and hang out with your friends.” The writing in BtVS “was an act of sustained vulnerability from the writers … ‘Hey Man - this sucked for me’ … they were reaching out to see if anyone else is out there.”
Someone asked about how Spike and Dru would be viewed by the post ‘Me too” generation.
One of them, possibly Juliet, said, “I know we ate people!”
JM: “I think I was a lot better for you than I was for Buffy.”
JM: “A character always seems far away at first, and you get closer and closer, and realise, ‘Hey! It’s just me!’ …I’m so caffeinated.”
There was a question about reading audiobooks.
JL: Unlike film and TV, with audiobooks you have to bring the momentum yourself - it takes a lot of concentration. She is the new Romana in a Dr Who audiobook.
JM: He’s doing more “Torchwood” audio!
What is Batman’s guilty pleasure?
JM: “Robin! …Playing Monopoly with Robin …” He was unavailable to read “Ghost Story” on two occcasions, so they just decided to get someone else to do it. After it had been done, he offered to do a reading for free, but they told him his fee wasn’t the only expense involved! There was the whole crew and studio etc.
JL: Juliet would love to do Catwoman.
JM: in the “Star Trek” universe, James would like to know how they got from World War III to the Original Series. He’d like to see a series where the crew all hates each other, and the maps are all wrong. He’d like Juliet to play a Vulcan.
JL: “I’m too emotional to be a Vulcan!”
JM: “You’d be a more interesting character.”
They got a question about stunts - not sure if this was just on BtVS.
JM: “I did too many stunts - I was an idiot!” He’d never seen such big bits of cartilage to be removed [I think this was from his knees].
There was one about how he felt about his backstory as William.
JM: “I’m glad I didn’t write the backstory for Spike. Joss always writes something infinitely more interesting.”
I got up and asked whether, after conventions, they had any trouble getting to sleep - like, did they, as they were dropping off, start dreaming about never-ending queues for autographs, and pens that wouldn’t write …”
They laughed.
JL: “No, but I will now!”
JM: It’s not hard to sleep - he thinks it will be, but it isn’t.
JL: “But it’s fun!”
JM: It’s harder to wind down after a music gig.
Someone asked what flower they would be.
JL: A rose … that’s her middle name. Or a wild orchid.
JM: Something prickly like a cactus, so he wouldn’t get eaten.
Someone asked how they would fare on “Tru Blood.”
They said they’d have a lot more sex on camera, and demolish the other vampires - with superior dialogue.
I’m not sure what this note was referring to, but JL said, “Why didn’t they listen to me? I had visions for 150 years! I said, ‘Fire!’”
Referring to the suggestion that Spike and Dru were a version of Sid and Nancy:
JM: “You don’t want Sid Vicious. Sid was a moron. He couldn’t play bass, he ruined the tour … when he was interviewed, he didn’t say anything interesting.”
JL: “I thought I was Sid … really.”
JM: “And I’m a Nancy Boy!” Joss was going to put him in Firefly, as Spike - in a bar. “I wrote a role for him - in Season 3. “Thelonious 183, who gets taken on Firefly, survives Firewalk … the most dangerous on his planet …” I didn’t catch the punchline.
Juliet had some project she wanted Joss involved with; she sent him an e-mail that said, “We will provide hair and make-up” and he replied, “You had me at ‘hair’!”
Someone - of course - asked something like, what did James not like doing on set. He said that after the AR, he had to do a scene where he had to show that he was ashamed (I guess this was for “Beneath You”), so he beat himself up mentally for all the bad things he had ever done.
He acknowledged that was not healthy, and said, “I had a breakdown after that scene.” But that was a good thing, because it made him go into therapy. “I recommend therapy to anyone … who’s lived at all”!
At the end of the Q & A I went down one last time to the autograph lines, but they wouldn't let me join, because I hadn't waited patiently with all the other schmucks! So I didn't get Brian Thompson's or Andrew Ferchland's autographs.
I was pretty exhausted by the end of the con., but nevertheless went down to the last party in my Rocky Horror Show Transylvanian garb. There was no one there that I had spoken to before, and the music was surprisingly rubbish for a convention. I went up to bed as soon as they started doing The Maccarena.