James Marsters

Did you know?!

1. About the name

   At Fan Expo Canada in October 2021, Marsters and voice director Christopher Sabat confirmed that Marsters voiced Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super as David Gray. A Dragon Ball fan, he took the part for free to make amends with the Dragon Ball Z community after the poorly received Dragon Ball: Evolution.

2. Getting ready for a role

   For the role of Spike, Marsters spoke with a north London accent and got informal coaching from his British co-star Anthony Head.

3. Early training

   Marsters studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts at Allan Hancock College, then moved to New York City in 1982 for the Juilliard School, from which he was expelled after two years.

4. Beyond film

   Ghost of the Robot, the rock band fronted by Marsters, put out its first album, Mad Brilliant, on February 2, 2003. Several of the group's earlier songs drew loosely on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters Buffy, Dawn and Faith.

5. Behind the camera

   Marsters, who played Spike, co-wrote a Dark Horse Comics one-shot called Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru. Dark Horse also put out his own canonical graphic novel, Spike: Into the Light, on July 16, 2014.

6. Beyond film

   Marsters narrated the audiobooks for The Dresden Files, and when a scheduling conflict kept him from recording Ghost Story, the public outcry from listeners led to a new version with him returning as narrator in 2015.