INTERVIEW: James Marsters On Why ‘Buffy’ Lives On

From Sunnydale to Supanova, James Marsters shared some insights with us into Buffy, Dragon Ball Super and more! After appearing at Supanova on the Gold Coast, Marsters will be at Supanova in Melbourne (18-19 April 2026) this weekend!

What do you enjoy most about visiting Australia?

I love the people of Australia. I love the sunshine and I love the weather. I am much better with warm weather than cold weather. I lived in Chicago and Seattle. I was poor in both cities and my main memory of being poor is being very cold during the wintertime. And when I come to Australia, I’m pretty much guaranteed that I’m not going to freeze, period.

Why do you think Buffy has had such longevity?

I think it’s the writing. I think the acting was good enough, but I knew the writing was just phenomenal. And I think that the theme is the strongest theme that I’ve ever encountered, which is don’t give up. It’s hard to be a human being. The world is not perfect and it hurts to be here sometimes, but it’s worth it. Keep going. Find something to fight for. What you choose to fight for is your decision, but find that thing and don’t give up on it.

Why do you think Spike has continued to have such popularity?

Spike is the ultimate outsider. I think that the show is really designed for anybody who felt like an outsider in high school, which is pretty much everybody, except for a very, very few. All of the characters in Buffy, they’re not super popular. Buffy is not super popular in school when we meet her. They’re kind of outsiders, all of them. And with Spike, I was cast out from the outcast group. So, I was the uber outsider, the uber outcast. And I’m not sure they planned it that way, but they created a character that was the most outcast of all.

And also, I had a whole lot of fun playing it. In theatre, there’s a saying that says, “It’s called a play for a reason. No one’s going to want to watch an actor work. They want to see an actor play.” And if nothing else, I think that you can see that I’m having a blast the entire time we’re filming.

What did you enjoy most about the role of Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super?

I love doing the Dragon Ball screams. I’m a Dragon Ball fan, and as every Dragon Ball fan knows, it’s all about the scream and it’s all about the fight. And I remember when I was doing that and I was doing my battle cry, the director was saying, “My God, you’re just bringing it. A lot of voice actors, they kind of protect their voice because it’s their bread and butter when we come to these fights, but you’re just bleeding all over the mic, man.” And I just said, “Yeah, this is Dragon Ball. I’ll heal up tomorrow or next week.” Yeah, so it’s the screams.

What’s the latest with your music?

Yeah, we are working on our seventh album. It’s taken a little while. We are currently waiting for the mix to come in. And hopefully when we hear that, we won’t need to add anything to it and we’ll be able to master it and get it out.

But of course, we may hear it and decide that we want to add some tracks. We just don’t know yet. And unfortunately, the person who is doing the mixing is very busy working with Social Distortion, so we have to wait, and that’s all.

Meet Supa-Star James Marsters at Supanova Comic Con & Gaming in Melbourne (18-19 April 2026)!