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Exclusive interview
MARSTERS AT WORK
AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES MARSTERS
A respected and hugely popular star ever since his role as Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Marsters made Superman history as the very first actor to play a live-action version of Brainiac. Abbie Bernstein met with the charismatic actor to discuss his dramatic return to the show and his plans for the future.
By the time James Marsters had completed his first stint as Brainiac on Smallville during the fifth season, he readily acknowledges he wasn’t quite sure what was up with the Kryptonian entity. “Because my character wasn’t revealing himself to anyone else in the script, and because the script wasn’t revealing him to the audience, I was really in the dark. It’s the first thing you learn in acting class – what’s your objective? What do you want? I was in a position for a long time where I didn’t know exactly what Brainiac wanted!”
Marsters is finally back as Brainiac for season seven. He hasn’t become any less enigmatic, but Marsters has become more Zen in his approach, as the actor explains cheerfully. “I just released myself into the maelstrom of ignorance,” he laughs. “At the end of the day, it’s a good show, and I’m probably dealing with a certain amount of my actor pride by being put into a situation where I was that ignorant. I’ve had enough people come up to me and say that they really enjoy watching Smallville. I watched some of the episodes and they really were pretty good, so I decided that I should go back and have fun. And I am!”
There are some major changes in Brainiac this time around, Marsters notes. “I think they have taken him in a slightly different direction. Well, they’ve given him cooler clothes, but I think the rest has got to be up to me. He’s a little less cocky. He’s now a little more respectful of Clark. He calls him names and everything, because he’s actually a little more afraid of him. In general, he’s a little more just this side of wary.” As for how Brainiac feels about the new girl on the scene, Kara, Marsters says he doesn’t know any more than we do. “I don’t know why [as Brainiac] I’m including her in my plans. I don’t know why I’m seeking her out and manipulating her. I don’t know to what end that is, so I’ve played it like I am making the same mistake with her that I did with Clark; that I’ve decided that I’m not going to go for Clark in a direct assault. That doesn’t really work, so I’ll go for Kara, thinking she’s an easier target. We’ll see if that works.”
Like almost all Earth-dwelling Kryptonians, Brainiac can take to the skies. Does Marsters have a flying style? “The first take, I stamped like a little soldier. I don’t really know how to explain why I even wanted to do that,” he laughs. “I think I just jumped with clenched fists. I didn’t want to be very heroic; I wanted it to be pretty straightforward, kind of scary but not fancy. Actually, having to do that really put me in the mind of getting ready for the flying stuff in the movie I’m making at the moment called Dragonball.”
While Marsters certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone emulate the man’s personality, he’s very enthusiastic about his recurring role as Time Agent Captain John Hart on the BBC’s Torchwood. “I love that character,” Marsters declares. “He’s completely beyond the normal moral parameters that would operate under anywhere that I’ve been on Earth.”
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Working on all of these science-fiction/fantasy projects, has seen Marsters has play opposite a lot of special effects. “I think I can imagine [elements that will be added later via computer-generated imagery] very easily by now. Also, just growing up on effects movies, watching what actors that I like do and watching what actors do that I don’t like [has been helpful]. The ultimate actor for me for special effects movies is Sam Neill in Jurassic Park. Anybody who wants to work with special effects has got to watch that performance and realize that it’s all against blue screen. He didn’t have any dinosaurs to be continually amazed by. Some of the shots made me want to cry.”
With that in mind, what’s the toughest special effect to work with on Smallville? “Superspeed running. Taking it on faith that you are not going to look like an idiot. You have to make sure that your head doesn’t bob up and down. [The special effects artists need the image] to run as smoothly as possible with your head not bobbing, which in real time looks really, really bad!” Lately, Marsters has covered so many miles that superspeed could have been a handy power to have. “[It’s been] an especially busy time for me, going between Wales [for Torchwood] and Vancouver [for Smallville] and then Durango [Mexico, for Dragonball] in quick succession.”
Ever since Spike became popular on Buffy, Marsters has been asked almost every conceivable question about each of his characters. Does this analysis ever affect the work? “Luckily, what I talk about is in the past – I don’t have to perform [the same scenes] again. If I was doing this for a play, it would be death. While we’re filming, we don’t talk about anything, especially if it’s going well. You can destroy things by defining them. If you are outside the scene judging it, whether it’s the lighting or your costume or the other actor or yourself, you’re just missing the whole boat. Just know what you want and know in that moment how you’re trying to get it, and then go do it.
In conclusion, Marsters says, “I’m very happy to be back in Smallville. The cast is wonderful to work with. I like being on shows that do what they do so well. I‘m having fun again on the level that I always knew that I could have but maybe didn’t have for a little while. I’m having a blast!”
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