Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
An Hour In the Buffy Verse
James Marsters was really fantastic. I was skeptical, worried it would turn into a goofy, teen angst ridden session, but it didn't. It was fabulous. Here are some excerpts from my notes:
There was no ad-libbing on Buffy. The writers would not tolerate the alteration of a single word. And he felt this was as it should be. He explained that when the writing is good, any change or adlib could cause the tension to leave the line... making it slack.
He was asked a bit about Spike on Angel vs. Spike on Buffy:
The character he has played that he feels is most like him is his character in P.S. I Love You. This makes him sad, because it's also his most boring character. The ones that was the most fun was his character in Dragon-Ball, because he did all his own stunts and was terrified the whole time. But he admits that playing Spike was a blast.
The fact that he is shorter than 6 feet tall never bothered him until he got to Hollywood. But he said it isn't much of a big deal. Especially playing with Sarah Geller, who is very tiny... he seemed like a giant next to her.
Stage is more fun than film because the art happens "in the air" between the stage and the audience. Film is far more flat, but for that reason, it's also easier.
He's seen every episode of Dragon-Ball because his son is "of that age" and loves the show's message. Being peaceful is not being weak. And the hyper-violence of the show is necessary to make that point clear.
The musical episode of Buffy ("Once More With Feeling") was his favorite by far. He and Tony Head were not intimidated by it because both of them were already singing professionally, but there was a small, unsuccessful mutiny by the rest of the cast. However, once the Xander Dance was filmed and the cast saw it, they realized the brilliance of it and were completely on board.
One brave audience member asked if John or Sarah was a better kisser (reference to Torchwood and Buffy costars respectively. He said kissing Sarah was like kissing his sister, but he did have a nice theater-geek story of how he fell in love with Buffy. Then he moved on to kissing John:
Someone requested he say "Bloody Hell." He obliged.
He was asked if fatherhood was treating him well. It is. He loves being a Daddy. The ladies swooned a bit.
Does he prefer playing Spike or his character on Torchwood. He said Spike was more complex, but he does like his Torchwood character because he's like Spike in the first year. Evil. Pure and simple. And likely to remain that way.
He does plan to continue to narrate the Jim Butcher Harry Dresden novels for audio as they are written. He has high praise for Mr. Butcher, saying those books are written just a little bit better than they need to be in order to sell. He feels Butcher handles abuse issues especially well.
One very cute young man asked him if he had a specific genetic trait. I was impressed that Mr. Marsters knew EXACTLY what he was talking about, ran right over to him, and rolled his tongue up like a hot dog bun. He then demonstrated another twisty-tongue ability he has. And the ladies swooned a bit more.
He was asked if there was a book he had a particular interest in taking to film, and he cited a book about how we are moving from a democracy to fascism. There was much applause.
He was asked if he has any formal fighting training. He has a green belt in Judo, plus some Karate and Kung Fu, and lots of stage fighting.
Someone then asked if he could recite a little Shakespeare:
He was asked if he would attend cons like this if he were not a famous celebrity. Would he come as a regular person. He answered affirmatively geeked out about how much he is looking forward to the next Star Trek movie and shared the story of him attending the second ever Star Trek convention as a young man in the 70s.
He quoted the great Jimi Hendrix: "Let your freak flag fly!"
There was no ad-libbing on Buffy. The writers would not tolerate the alteration of a single word. And he felt this was as it should be. He explained that when the writing is good, any change or adlib could cause the tension to leave the line... making it slack.
He was asked a bit about Spike on Angel vs. Spike on Buffy:
The character he has played that he feels is most like him is his character in P.S. I Love You. This makes him sad, because it's also his most boring character. The ones that was the most fun was his character in Dragon-Ball, because he did all his own stunts and was terrified the whole time. But he admits that playing Spike was a blast.
The fact that he is shorter than 6 feet tall never bothered him until he got to Hollywood. But he said it isn't much of a big deal. Especially playing with Sarah Geller, who is very tiny... he seemed like a giant next to her.
Stage is more fun than film because the art happens "in the air" between the stage and the audience. Film is far more flat, but for that reason, it's also easier.
He's seen every episode of Dragon-Ball because his son is "of that age" and loves the show's message. Being peaceful is not being weak. And the hyper-violence of the show is necessary to make that point clear.
The musical episode of Buffy ("Once More With Feeling") was his favorite by far. He and Tony Head were not intimidated by it because both of them were already singing professionally, but there was a small, unsuccessful mutiny by the rest of the cast. However, once the Xander Dance was filmed and the cast saw it, they realized the brilliance of it and were completely on board.
One brave audience member asked if John or Sarah was a better kisser (reference to Torchwood and Buffy costars respectively. He said kissing Sarah was like kissing his sister, but he did have a nice theater-geek story of how he fell in love with Buffy. Then he moved on to kissing John:
Someone requested he say "Bloody Hell." He obliged.
He was asked if fatherhood was treating him well. It is. He loves being a Daddy. The ladies swooned a bit.
Does he prefer playing Spike or his character on Torchwood. He said Spike was more complex, but he does like his Torchwood character because he's like Spike in the first year. Evil. Pure and simple. And likely to remain that way.
He does plan to continue to narrate the Jim Butcher Harry Dresden novels for audio as they are written. He has high praise for Mr. Butcher, saying those books are written just a little bit better than they need to be in order to sell. He feels Butcher handles abuse issues especially well.
One very cute young man asked him if he had a specific genetic trait. I was impressed that Mr. Marsters knew EXACTLY what he was talking about, ran right over to him, and rolled his tongue up like a hot dog bun. He then demonstrated another twisty-tongue ability he has. And the ladies swooned a bit more.
He was asked if there was a book he had a particular interest in taking to film, and he cited a book about how we are moving from a democracy to fascism. There was much applause.
He was asked if he has any formal fighting training. He has a green belt in Judo, plus some Karate and Kung Fu, and lots of stage fighting.
Someone then asked if he could recite a little Shakespeare:
He was asked if he would attend cons like this if he were not a famous celebrity. Would he come as a regular person. He answered affirmatively geeked out about how much he is looking forward to the next Star Trek movie and shared the story of him attending the second ever Star Trek convention as a young man in the 70s.
He quoted the great Jimi Hendrix: "Let your freak flag fly!"
Tamora Pierce
A Very Blurry James Marsters
Elizabeth's Plan for the Day
This may be really crazy... posting what I intend to do ahead of time, because you rarely completely stick to a plan at a conference, but let's give it a shot. I'm giving you the description from the program, and then my comments in parentheses.
1pm - An Hour in the Buffy Verse - We spend an hour with a Buffy Fan Favorite as he answers our questions about his roles in Buffy, Angel, Smallville, Torchwood and more -- James Marsters (Okay, I know this isn't very literary... but... I am responsible for the Young Adult programming... and DUDE! It's JAMES MARSTERS! For the record, I am going to miss Nathan Fillion for the next session...)
2:30pm - Who Ya Callin' A Kid? - In conjunction with the YA track, we will attempt to identify what elements make a book YA and whay pushes it over the edge into the adult sf genre. Help us find the answer. (Sarah and I are both going to this).
4pm - To Be SF ...or Not To Be SF? - There are some books that lack only a small detail to be science fiction. There are some that are science fiction but only periferally. Where do we draw the line?
7pm - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog! LIVE! (Well, okay, not live. It's basically Rocky Horror, but with Dr. Horrible. 'Nuff Said)
8:30pm - Sheroes: Strong Female Characters - Some of the strongest female role models are today's YA heroines; we have Hermione's book-smarts, Lyra's cunning, and Alanna's perserverance. (Tamora Pierce is the big name on this panel, and also Diana Tixier Herald will be known to my librarian readers as the author of Genreflecting for Teens. She is also on the panel. Unfortunately, I may be exhausted at this point, so I hope I make it there.)
Midnight - Sarah is dragging me out to see Abney Park and Voltaire.
okay... that's the plan! Let's see what happens!
1pm - An Hour in the Buffy Verse - We spend an hour with a Buffy Fan Favorite as he answers our questions about his roles in Buffy, Angel, Smallville, Torchwood and more -- James Marsters (Okay, I know this isn't very literary... but... I am responsible for the Young Adult programming... and DUDE! It's JAMES MARSTERS! For the record, I am going to miss Nathan Fillion for the next session...)
2:30pm - Who Ya Callin' A Kid? - In conjunction with the YA track, we will attempt to identify what elements make a book YA and whay pushes it over the edge into the adult sf genre. Help us find the answer. (Sarah and I are both going to this).
4pm - To Be SF ...or Not To Be SF? - There are some books that lack only a small detail to be science fiction. There are some that are science fiction but only periferally. Where do we draw the line?
7pm - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog! LIVE! (Well, okay, not live. It's basically Rocky Horror, but with Dr. Horrible. 'Nuff Said)
8:30pm - Sheroes: Strong Female Characters - Some of the strongest female role models are today's YA heroines; we have Hermione's book-smarts, Lyra's cunning, and Alanna's perserverance. (Tamora Pierce is the big name on this panel, and also Diana Tixier Herald will be known to my librarian readers as the author of Genreflecting for Teens. She is also on the panel. Unfortunately, I may be exhausted at this point, so I hope I make it there.)
Midnight - Sarah is dragging me out to see Abney Park and Voltaire.
okay... that's the plan! Let's see what happens!
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