James Marsters Reveals Why Reprising Spike for ‘Buffyverse’ Series Was “Easy”

The Big Picture

• James Marsters found it “easy” to return to the role of Spike in the Audible series Slayers, thanks to Amber Benson and Christopher Golden’s creative vision.
• Marsters describes a successful production as “burying the strings on the puppet,” meaning that the writing is seamless, and the actors are able to fully embody their characters.
• Amber Benson and Christopher Golden’s familiarity with the world of Buffy made it easy for them to do justice to the iconic characters and story that fans love.

Picking up the torch of a beloved franchise and continuing to tell its story is always hard. Whether it be a new director coming in to helm the next film or new writers entering to put the same voices to the characters that they didn’t create, it’s a challenge to keep a dedicated fandom happy. And, it’s fair to say that the more time that’s passed between the previous and latest chapter, the more challenging starting over can be. That’s precisely what Amber Benson and Christopher Golden faced when making moves to bring Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to fans around the world with the Audible series, Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. Despite wading into tricky waters by adding an audio chapter into a primarily visual franchise, the series turned into a successful production with a handful of stars from the original series reprising their roles. During an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at this weekend’s San Francisco Fan Expo, James Marsters spoke about how “easy” it was to return to the role of Spike thanks to Benson and Golden’s creative vision.

“It was easy, as it should be,” Marsters, who played the Billy Idol-looking vampire in both Buffy and Angel, said. “Like they say in acting, ‘If it’s working, it’s easy.’ And if it’s not working, it’s either because you don’t really understand the writing, or, if the writing, frankly is not that good, then it’s really hard.” Marsters then describes how he sees a flailing production to the audience,

I call it having to bury the strings on the puppet. Like you’re a marionette and if the writing is good then the strings are invisible and everything is working great but sometimes you’re like, ‘Don’t look at that! That writing’s problematic! This line makes no sense at all, we’re just gonna get right through that one.’ But this didn’t need any of that.

Amber Benson and Christopher Golden’s Familiarity With ‘Buffy’ Made the Job Easy for James Masters

This idea of needing to “bury the strings on the puppet” never once crossed Marsters’ mind during the recording of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. As he explained, “You know, Amber lived the world of Buffy as Tara and then Christopher Golden has been writing for Buffy both comic books and novels for so long that they knew the world really well.” Being that the duo was so closely connected to the original story, it was easy for them to slip in and do right by the iconic characters that fans came to love over the show’s seven-season run.

The series sets the stage for a multiverse adventure in which Spike (Marsters) and his old demon pal Clem (James C. Leary) have been keeping an eye on the underbelly of Los Angeles. When their paths cross with a brand-new slayer (Laya DeLeon Hayes), Spike has no choice but to take her under his wing. But, when universes begin to collide, the vamp discovers he may have bitten off more than he can … suck. Also starring in the series is a vocal cast featuring the familiar tones of Benson, Anthony Head, Charisma Carpenter, Juliet Landau, and Emma Caulfield Ford.

Check out Collider’s full guide to all the exciting events at the San Francisco Fan Expo and listen to Slayers: A Buffyverse Story now streaming on Audible.

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