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Buffy the Vampire Slayer star James Marsters has said that his fan-favorite character Spike would not have survived long without some behind-the-scenes tutoring from Giles actor Anthony Head.
Marsters played British vampire Spike from the show’s second season onwards, and famously was so popular that he was upgraded from a guest star to a full-on regular. But Marsters has now revealed that his initially-dodgy British accent would have likely cut his time on the show short, if natural born Brit Anthony Head had not intervened.
Head passed away last month aged 72, due to complications from pneumonia. The beloved actor also starred in Little Britain, Merlin, and Ted Lasso, but remains best known for his quiet presence as Rupert Giles throughout Buffy’s seven seasons.
“I remember early in Season 2, my accent wasn’t that great,” Marsters said at a recent convention, via MonopolyEvents. “In the script they had me say ‘bullocks’ and it was written by an American, so it was spelled ‘bullocks.’ So I did what I was told and said ‘bullocks.’ [Note: British people say “bollocks.”]
“He came up to me and goes, ‘We don’t say it like that, you prat. You’re embarassing me back home, so I’m going to help you now.’ And he tutored me by force. He would come at lunch when the new script came out, he wouldn’t even knock, and we he would just come in and we’d go through my lines line-by-line until he was satisfied I wouldn’t embarass him anymore.
“I swear, without his help, I don’t think the character would have lasted. And frankly, I think he was the best actor on Buffy, and the best human. He was always patient, always kind, he was our rock.”
Head’s death was marked by an outpouring of grief from fans of the series, as well as many of his former co-stars, who have variously spoken of his acting ability and presence on set. His passing follows the recent deaths of two other Buffy the Vampire Slayer regulars over the past year: Xander actor Nicholas Brendon, who passed away earlier this year aged 54, and the loss of Dawn actress Michelle Trachtenberg last year, aged just 39.
Earlier this year, fan hopes of a Buffy continuation series were dashed when Hulu decided to pass on the project, following a lengthy development and the shooting of a pilot episode last summer.
Image credit: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
