|
Spike
was never really interesting to Joss except as an antagonist in
the second season, and he didn't really have a need for Spike beyond
that. So when he wanted to have Dru and Spike back the next season
as kind of a lark and Juliet wasn't available, he decided to do
an episode with just Spike being brokenhearted and drunk. And that
was the point where Joss tells me the wheels started turning, that
he discovered there was something more interesting in the character
he wanted to explore. JM (TEXT)
"I
was supposed to die after three to five (episodes). I was reading
scripts last-page-first to see if I died," he said. "But
the fifth one came and I didn't die. Of course, I could have died.
If the money hadn't worked out -- bye-bye Spike."
"When
I got the part, Spike was supposed to die after three to five
episodes.
In fact, I think the original plan had me down as Angel's first
victim. They told me, 'Look, we're going to bring you on for
three
to five episodes.' Then we hit number six and just kept going."
"Originally
he was slated to die after three to five episodes," the actor
recalls. "He was Drusilla's boy toy, who was going to be dumped
and killed by Angel when he took over with Drusilla. They thankfully
decided not to do that, but I don't think they had a lot for me
in that season because my being alive wasn't part of the arc, so
I was in the wheelchair." JM (The
Realm)
Q:
Were you surprised when Spike became a regular on the show?
JM:
Spike was never really interesting to Joss except as an antagonist
in the second season, and he didn't really have a need for Spike
beyond that. So when he wanted to have Dru and Spike back the next
season as kind of a lark and Juliet wasn't available, he decided
to do an episode with just Spike being brokenhearted and drunk.
And that was the point where Joss tells me the wheels started turning,
that he discovered there was something more interesting in the character
he wanted to explore.
Q:
Did you have any clue when starting out that you'd make it big on
Buffy?
JM:
Nope. When I got the part, Spike was supposed to die after three
to five episodes. In fact, I think the original plan had me down
as Angel's first victim. They told me, 'Look, we're going to bring
you on for three to five episodes.' Then we hit number six and just
kept going.
"I
really didn't see it coming," Marsters said of Spike, the vampire
whose goal from the beginning was to do in the star of the show.
"I saw the character as a functioning villain and the thing
about a villain is that he can't achieve his objective. He can't
kill the slayer, because then we're all unemployed. But if he keeps
failing to do so, he becomes stupid. He becomes foolish and bumbling
and ineffectual. So he has to stop trying. And so I didn't know
what the heck they were going to do because Spike's whole thing
was all about killing slayers." JM (TEXT)
"I
think there's a complexity to him. He was designed as a disposable
villain, so they really let him rip a lot of heads off at the
start,
because they were going to kill me and there wasn't going to be
any worry about making him accessible to people. Then they decided
not to kill me, so they had to go far away to make him accessible."
"That meant we really had to delve into the character. So we've
explored his past, his background and the reasons why he might
be so complex. Spike's now a very well-fleshed-out and multidimensional
character."
"Also, the coat works and the hair works. If the coat had been
shorter or the hair had been black, I would have been dead.'' JM
(TEXT)
"He
can't kill Buffy [Sarah Michelle Gellar], because we'd all be out
of work. That would be bad. But he can't try too many times and
fail or he becomes ineffectual and bumbling and stupid. So I think
it's imperative that they find a way for him to stop trying."
(...) "I'd like to find something that I could hit," he
admits. "But if they return the character to what he was last
year, they would have to kill him eventually." JM (TEXT)
"He
use to be a badass and now he's a wimp. In a nutshell. Basically
he was designed to be a villain that was going to be killed,
so
he was very broadly drawn, he was very dangerous, hopefully interesting
but not sustainable. What has happened now, since they've decided
to keep me around, is that they needed a way to make Spike a
little
more recognizable; to put him through experiences that people can
identify with, and take him off that pedestal of supervillian.
So
there's more to work with. There are only so many things you could
have done with him before. Of course, it's really important to
get
him to stop trying to kill Buffy, because if he keeps doing that
he's either going to be killed himself or he's going to become
pathetic
because he's failed so many times."
"He
was designed to be a villain that was going to be killed,"
agrees Marsters. "He was very broadly drawn, he was very dangerous
and hopefully interesting, but probably not sustainable. But now,
since they've decided to keep me around, they needed to find a
way
to make Spike a little more recognisable; to put him through experiences
that people might actually identify with and kind of take him down
off that pedestal of super villain. It's really important to stop
trying to kill Buffy, because if he keeps doing that, he's going
to either be killed himself or he's going to become pathetic in
failing so many times. That was my worry. I didn't see how they
were going to fit me in."
Ah, but one should never doubt the power of series creator Joss
Whedon, who essentially never delivers what anyone expects of him.
"The whole situation is typical Joss," Marsters agrees.
"He says he's going to do something and I say, 'Okay, Joss...',
but in the back of my mind I'm like, 'That's impossible. There's
no way a human being can pull that off'. But I bite my tongue because
every time he manages to do it." JM (TEXT)
|