James Marsters

Marsters in his role as Brainiac in Persona

James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) better known simply as James Marsters 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 terrorist 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, Marsters 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 School, 1982–1984.

Acting Carrer

Early roles

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. 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

Angel

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.

Smallville

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

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. "Blood Rites", "Dead Beat", "Turn Coat", "Changes" and the side short story collection in the same universe "Side Jobs" were also recorded by Marsters. However, he did not do the latest Dresden book "Ghost Story" due to a scheduling conflict.

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, Superman: Doomsday, 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.

In February 13, 2009, James Marsters guest stars on NUMB3RS as an international arms dealer.

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.

On June 24, 2011, Marsters appeared in an L.A. Theatre Works radio production of The Importance of Being Earnest, in the part of Sir John Worthing, which aired on June 25, 2011.

On July 17, 2011, Marsters and Buffy former cast member Charisma carpenter will guest star in Shut Up, Dr.Phil. the 5th episode of the seventh season of Supernatural where former Smallville cast member Jensen Ackles is currently working