| Caption | James at a Q&A; in London (February 7, 2010) |
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| Birth date | August 20, 1962 |
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| Birth place | Greenville, California, U.S. |
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| Birth name | James Wesley Marsters |
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| Occupation | Actor/Musician |
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| Years active | 1987–present |
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| Website | http://www.jamesmarsters.com |
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James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) is an American actor and musician. Marsters first came to the attention of the general public playing the popular character Spike, a platinum-blond English vampire in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel from 1997 to 2004. Since then, he has gone on to play other science fiction roles, such as the alien supervillain Brainiac on the Superman-inspired series Smallville, the omnisexual time traveller Captain John Hart in British science-fiction show Torchwood and businessman Barnabas Greeley in Syfy's Caprica. In 2007, Marsters appeared in a supporting role in the mainstream movie P.S. I Love You and as the main antagonist, Piccolo, in the 2009 fantasy adventure film Dragonball Evolution.
Early life
Marsters was born in Greenville, California, the son of a former minister and social worker. He grew up with his brother, Paul and sister, Susan in
Modesto, California. Dreaming about becoming an actor since he played Eeyore in
Winnie the Pooh in fourth grade, James joined the theater group at
Grace M. Davis High School acting in many plays including musicals. After graduation, Marsters studied at the
Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, 1980–1982, and
Juilliard Drama School, 1982–1984.
In an appearance on the Loveline radio show in early 2003 he spoke very negatively about his experience at Juilliard, which he was "basically kicked out of", saying that they were not concerned about being entertaining and that it "wasn't an acting college, it was a speech college".
Career
Acting
Marsters moved to Chicago, where his first professional acting role was Ferdinand in
The Tempest at the
Goodman Theatre in 1987. In this production, he was rolled onto the stage strapped naked to a wheel. He also appeared with well-known Chicago companies such as the
Northlight and the
Bailiwick and with his own group, the Genesis Theatre Company. Marsters was nominated for a
Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance of the lead role of
Robespierre in the six-hour drama
Incorruptible: The Life, Death and Dreams of Maximilian de Robespierre in 1989.
In 1990, Marsters moved to Seattle and, with Liane Davidson and Greg Musick, formed the New Mercury Theatre, named after Orson Welles' own theatre group. In this and other companies, Marsters was involved in a wide range of plays, including Teechers (a British play by John Godber), Anouilh's Antigone, an original work based on the Dr. Seuss books, and Shaw's Misalliance.
In 1992, Marsters got his first acting job on TV—on Northern Exposure, in which he appeared for two episodes as a bellboy and a church minister. He has made guest appearances on television series such as Andromeda, as well as the independent films Chance (2002), Winding Roads (1999), and the 2005 USA Network movie Cool Money. In 1999, Marsters had a small role in the remake of House on Haunted Hill as a TV cameraman. During November 2005, Marsters filmed a thriller, Shadow Puppets, with Jolene Blalock.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It was his appearance as
Spike on the television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (first appearing in Season Two) that attracted the attention of the general public. The immediate fan response prevented his character from being killed off, allowing him a presence throughout the series. Spike became a regular in Season Four, and remained so until the show's finale. After the conclusion of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marsters carried Spike over to the Buffy spin-off show,
Angel, also in a regular role (second title billing after
David Boreanaz). In April 2004, following the end of
Angel, Marsters had Spike's trademark bleached hair shaved off for charity live on television in
On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Aside from playing the character, Marsters also wrote a comic book one-shot for Dark Horse Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru.
Other work
Marsters has also narrated the audiobooks for
The Dresden Files produced by
Buzzy Multimedia, a series of detective novels with a supernatural bent. The third audio in the series,
Grave Peril, was released in March 2005 and Marsters is contracted to narrate the fourth in the series,
Summer Knight, in 2006. He reprised his reading of the series, including "Proven Guilty," "White Night,"
Small Favor, and "Turn Coat", produced by Penguin Audio. "Death Masks" audio book is due out in late 2009. In late 2005, Marsters appeared on the
television series Smallville playing Dr. Milton Fine — the popular
Superman villain "
Brainiac" — in eight episodes throughout the show's fifth season. He reprised his role as Brainiac in a four-episode arc in the seventh season, and did a cameo voice-over in season eight. He also returned for one episode in the show's final season.
On October 29, 2005, Marsters presented two performances of his own abridged adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth with American actress Cheryl Puente as Lady Macbeth, followed by question and answer sessions with the audience and acoustic concerts in London.
In September, 2006, Marsters' own interpretation of Godber's Teechers was performed on the Queen Mary with two other actors in Los Angeles. This is a play he had received critical acclaim for as a stage actor prior to his television work. Marsters co-starred in the 2007 cinematic release of P.S. I Love You alongside Kathy Bates, Hilary Swank, and Gerard Butler. Released in September 2007, Marsters starred in the direct-to-DVD animated movie, , providing the voice of iconic villain Lex Luthor. The film received mostly positive reviews, with most of the critics and fans stating that Marsters and co-star Adam Baldwin, (who played Luthor's nemesis Superman) gave excellent performances. 2007 would also see James portray "Detective Mars" on the CBS drama Without a Trace.
In 2008, James Marsters guest starred in Torchwood, a spin-off of the popular British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First appearing in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", as the nefarious omnisexual time traveller Captain John Hart. He reprises the role in the last two episodes of the second season.
Marsters portrays the character "Piccolo Daimao" in the live-action film adaptation of the popular Dragon Ball manga and anime, directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow, which was released worldwide on April 10, 2009.
On July 20, 2009, the movie, Moonshot, aired on the History Channel in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the 1969 moon landing. In this film, Marsters portrays Buzz Aldrin. On August 19, 2009, it was announced that James signed on for a role in Caprica. Marsters has been cast as the dangerous terrorist leader Barnabas Greeley for at least three episodes, with the potential for more, SyFy confirmed to TVGuide.com.
Also in August 2009, Marsters' science fiction western, High Plains Invaders aired on the Syfy Channel. In this alien invasion flick, Marsters portrays Sam Danville.
It was announced in August 2010 that Marsters would be joining the cast of Syfy Channel series Three Inches as a series regular portraying Troy Hamilton, a former government agent who now leads a team of superheroes.
On September 20, 2010, Marsters played the villain in the series premier of the Hawaii Five-O reboot. On December 13, 2010, Marsters reappeared in another episode of Hawaii Five-O.
Musical career
Marsters had played in bands and solo in bars and clubs for many years and enjoyed several successful sell-out solo gigs at
Los Angeles clubs before forming a band. For these solo gigs he mainly performed covers of classic
folk and
rock musicians such as
Tom Waits,
Neil Young, and
Bruce Springsteen. He also sang in "
Once More, with Feeling", a musical episode of
Buffy: solo parts in "Walk Through the Fire" and "Something To Sing About", and "Rest in Peace" completely on his own.
As a friend of Buffy colleague Anthony Stewart Head, Marsters appeared in two songs on Head's 2002 album Music for Elevators.
In 2003–2004, Marsters was the lead singer for the rock band Ghost of the Robot. Their debut album Mad Brilliant was released on February 2, 2003. The band played its first gigs in Los Angeles and Paris. They went on to play successful dates in and around Los Angeles and two sold-out tours of Europe in 2003 and 2004. In addition to Mad Brilliant, they released three singles ("Valerie", "David Letterman" and "New Man") and one mid-length EP, It's Nothing. All these releases carried tracks written and co-written by Marsters.
Marsters' solo musical career was launched in October 2004, in London. His solo acoustic tour of the United Kingdom in April 2005 sold out. A new solo album "Civilized Man" produced by Chris Rhyne and Andrew Rosenthal
2009 sees James return to the Union Chapel on May 1, followed by a 'Marstersclass' event at The Drill Hall, in London on May 2. The sell-out event includes a concert, Q&A; session plus opportunities to get autographs and photos. May 3 sees James perform at the Legendary 100 Club in London. Prior to the UK dates, James' busy performing schedule sees him heading to Orlando and The Netherlands. Following his UK stint, James heads to New York in June.
Personal life
Marsters is divorced from Liane Davidson, with whom he has one son named Sullivan (born 1996).
His reps announced on May 21, 2010 that James recently proposed to longtime girlfriend Patricia Rahman, 24, a student of fashion design, in Trier, Germany. Marsters and Rahman met at a concert in Amsterdam.
Filmography
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9;
|- align="center"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
|
1999
|
House on Haunted Hill
| Channel 3 Cameraman
|
|-
|
2002
|
Chance
| Simon
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|
2007
|
Shadow Puppets
| jack
|
|-
|
|
| voice/Direct-to-Video Release
|-
|
P.S. I Love You
| John McCarthy
|
|-
|
2009
|
Dragonball Evolution
|
Lord Piccolo
|-
|- align="center"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Television
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
| 1992, 1993
|
Northern Exposure
| Bellhop
Reverend Harding
|
|-
| 1995
|
Medicine Ball
| Mickey Collins
|
Episode: Heart and Sole
|-
| 1997
|
Moloney
| Billy O'Hara
|
Episode: Herniated Nick
|-
| 1997–2003
|
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
|
Spike
| 96 episodes
|-
| 1999, 2003–2004
|
Angel
|
Spike
| 24 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2"|1999
|
Millennium
| Eric Swan
|
Episode: Collateral Damage
|-
|
Winding Roads
| Billy Johnson
|
TV-Movie
|-
| rowspan="3"|2001
|
The Enforcers
| Charles Haysbert
|
Miniseries
|-
|
Strange Frequency
| Mitch Brand
|
Segment: Soul Man
|-
|
Andromeda
|
Charlemagne Bolivar
|
Episode: Into the Labyrinth
|-
| 2003
|
| Sergei
| Season 1
|-
| 2004
|
The Mountain
| Ted Tunney
|
|-
| 2005
|
Cool Money
| Bobby Comfort
|
USA Network TV-Movie
|-
| 2005–2006, 2008, 2010
|
Smallville
| Professor Milton Fine/Brainiac/Brainiac 5
| Season 5, 7, 8 (voice only, uncredited), 10 (14 episodes)
|-
| 2007–2008
|
Without a Trace
| Det. Grant Mars
|
Episode: Lost Boy
Episode: Clean Up
Episode: One Wrong Move
Episode: Article 32
|-
| 2007
|
Saving Grace
| Dudley Payne
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2008
|
Torchwood
|
Captain John Hart
|
Episode: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Episode: Fragments Episode: Exit Wounds
|-
|
The Capture of the Green River Killer
|
Ted Bundy
|
Miniseries
|-
| 2008
|
| Captain Argyus
| Episode:
Cloak of Darkness
|-
| rowspan="5"|2009
|
Moon Shot
|
Buzz Aldrin
|
ITV TV-Movie
|-
|
High Plains Invaders
| Sam Denville
|
TV-Movie
|-
|
Numb3rs
| Damien Lake
| Episode:
Guilt Trip
|-
|
The Super Hero Squad Show
|
Mister Fantastic
|-
|
Lie to Me
| Pollack
| Episode:
Truth or Consequences
|-
| rowspan="3"|2010
|
Caprica
| Barnabas Greeley
| Episodes:
Know Thy Enemy, End of Line, Unvanquished, Retribution
|-
|
Hawaii Five–0
| Victor Hesse
| Episodes: "Pilot" and "Hana 'a'a Makehewa"
|-
|''
Three Inches
| Troy Hamilton
|
|-
|- align="center"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Video Games
|- align="center"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
| 2002
|
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
| Spike
| voice role
|-
| 2003
|
| Spike
| voice role
|-
| 2009
|
| Jimmy "Match" Morris
| voice role
|-
| 2010
|
DC Universe Online
|
Lex Luthor
| voice role
|}
Awards and nominations
Teen Choice Awards
2000: Nominated, "TV - Choice Sidekick" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2002: Nominated, "TV - Choice Actor" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2003: Nominated, "TV - Choice Actor" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Saturn Awards
2000: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2001: Won, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2002: Won, "Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2002: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2003: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2004: Won, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel
2005: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Angel
Golden Satellite Awards
2003: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Supporting Actor in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
SFX Awards, UK
2002: Won, "Best Comedy Performance" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2002: Won, "Best TV Actor" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Spacey Awards, Canada
2004: Won, "Viewers Choice Award - Favourite TV Character - Male" - "Spike from Angel"
References
External links
James Marsters Official Site
Category:1962 births
Category:American male singers
Category:American voice actors
Category:American television actors
Category:Actors from California
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:Living people
Category:People from Modesto, California
Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area
Category:Saturn Award winners
![James Marsters - [Jan-2003] - interview](http://web.archive.org./web/20110203070805im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/W3UwoqC50vE/0.jpg "James Marsters - [Jan-2003] - interview")
