James Marsters

James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) is an American actor, voice actor, musician, singer, comic book writer, and audiobook narrator.

He is sometimes credited in various anime series and video games as David Gray and Sam Majesters in the series Dragon Ball Super and the video game Dragon Ball FighterZ respectively.

He is best known for his role as the British punk vampire Spike in The WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel.

Since then, he has played the alien supervillain Brainiac along with Professor Milton Fine and Brainiac 5 on the Superman-inspired series Smallville, Captain John Hart on Torchwood and terrorist Barnabas Greeley in Syfy's Caprica.

After graduation in 1980, Marsters studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California.

In 1982, he moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School, but was expelled from the program after just two years.

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.

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, he moved to Seattle and, with Liane Davidson and Greg Musick, formed the New Mercury Theatre.

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, he got his first TV acting job on Northern Exposure, in which he appeared for two episodes as a bellboy and a church minister.

In 1999, he had a small role in the remake of House on Haunted Hill as a TV cameraman.

Marsters attracted the general public's attention for his appearance as villain, and later anti-hero, Spike on season 2 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For the role, Marsters spoke with a London accent, for which he received informal coaching from British co-star Anthony Head.

Spike had been intended as a short role by creator Joss Whedon, who originally resisted Spike's popularity.

"He made it very clear he did not want the show to be taken over by another romantic vampire," Marsters told 411Mania, adding "to Joss, vampires were supposed to be ugly, evil, and quick to be killed... when I was cast Joss did not imagine me to be popular; Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead."

The massive fan response prevented his character from being killed off, allowing Spike a presence throughout the second season.

There were no plans to bring Spike back as a regular on Buffy, until the character Cordelia Chase was moved to the spin-off show, Angel, and, as Marsters told 411Mania, "they needed someone to tell Buffy she was stupid and about to die, and [so] they decided to bring me back."

Marsters thought Spike would not last, because being a vampire, Spike was restricted to night-time scenes and could not feasibly interact with human characters as often as Cordelia.

Surprisingly, Spike would become a romantic partner for Buffy, and Marsters a main cast member until the very end of the show.

After the conclusion of Buffy, Marsters carried Spike over to its spinoff, Angel, as a series regular in its fifth and final season.

Marsters was asked to keep quiet about this, as his return was intended to be a surprise, but the network ruined it by promoting Spike's return as soon as it could, in order to create media buzz and attract advertisers.

He has made guest appearances on television series including Andromeda, as well as the independent films Chance (2002), Winding Roads (1999), and the USA Network film Cool Money (2005).

In April 2004, following the end of Angel, Marsters had Spike's trademark bleached hair shaved off for charity live on television during an episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

When Angel was cancelled, there were plans for several television film based on the characters from the Buffy/Angel universe.

Talk of a Spike film began in 2004, and Whedon still had plans into 2006 before they were formally abandoned.

Marsters said he would only return to play Spike if the project took place within five years, feeling he would become too old to play the character (an immortal) after that:

"As long as I could do it within, say, the next four or five years; past that, I'm too old. Spike's a vampire, man, and I've got high standards."

Aside from playing Spike, Marsters co-wrote a comic book one-shot for Dark Horse Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru.

After Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel ended, Marsters became active with the canonical comic book series of both shows, particularly with stories centering around his character.

He appeared in a supporting role in the film P.S. I Love You, as Victor Hesse in the 2010 reboot of Hawaii Five-0, and Victor Stein in the Marvel series Runaways.

He is also the voice of Zamasu along with Future Zamasu for the Funimation dub of the Dragon Ball franchise.

He starred in the critically acclaimed two-part indie film A Bread Factory by director Patrick Wang.

He also voiced the roles of Lex Luthor in the film Superman: Doomsday and the video game DC Universe Online, Sergei in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Mister Fantastic in The Super Hero Squad Show, Korvac in Ultimate Spider-Man, Captain Faro Argyus in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Louis 'Match' Morris in Real Heroes: Firefighter, Nosferatu in DuckTales and Various voices in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

Marsters was born in Greenville, California, the son of a United Methodist 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 4th grade, Marsters joined the theatre group at Grace M. Davis High School and acted in many plays, including musicals.

A canonical graphic novel set during the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike: Into the Light, written by Marsters himself, was released by Dark Horse Comics on July 16, 2014.

He talks about this experience and his other theatrical roles at length in a 2020 interview with Michael Rosenbaum on the podcast 'Inside of You'.

He also appeared with well-known Chicago companies such as the Northlight and the Bailiwick and with his own group, the Genesis Theatre Company.