Buffy Star hated their Costar’s Accent and made them fix it

According to Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 day ago

If you are a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan who’s ever seen Spike actor James Marsters at a convention, you’ve probably heard something that sounds completely wrong: the actor’s American accent. He’s famous for playing an undead British villain on this show, but the English accent he uses on the show is completely fake. It sounded very realistic, and the reason for its authenticity is that Marsters received voice training from a real Englishman, Anthony Stewart Head, who was annoyed by Marsters’ first attempts at an English accent.

Giles to the rescue

The head was of course included Buffy cast from the very beginning, and his English accent made him the perfect sidekick for the titular Slayer. Buffy Summers was a Californian party girl forced to hunt monsters for a living, and Head’s Giles was her devoted and sultry opposite. Spike was only introduced in season 2 and Joss Whedon planned to kill him off quickly, but the popularity of the character ensured that he lasted until the end of the show and even appeared in the final season of the series. Angel spinoff.

To become a Buffy support meant it James Marsters he’ll have to use his fake British accent for years, but Anthony Stewart Head didn’t wait that long to help him work on it. After Marsters mispronounced a vulgar bit of English slang, he claims Head took him aside and told him: “We don’t say it like that.” Fortunately, the criticism was coupled with a very generous offer: “I’ll help you now.”

Taught by force

Marsters envisioned the story at Dublin Comic Con, joking that his Buffy a colleague “basically force-schooled” me about Spike’s English accent. As he recalls, he got a new script in his trailer in the morning and Head came over for lunch to help with the operation. Head seems to have been as strict with Marsters as Giles Buffy: “We would go through the script until he was satisfied that it (the accent) was no longer embarrassing.”

While Marsters can’t help but laugh at the early ones Buffy days, is the first to admit that Head deserves credit for Spike’s amazing English accent. “(I owe the accent to) Tony Head,” he said, noting how actor Giles “saved me.” He pointed out that Spike’s accent is especially tricky during his first few appearances, making it easy for fans to understand when the voice tutoring really started.

To this day, Spike remains a fan favorite Buffy and the man behind him is eternally grateful for the accent training he got from Head: “If it wasn’t for him, it sure wouldn’t be such a good accent,” Marsters said. By the way, if you want to hear more about Marsters’ real accent, it’s easy to catch him on the show as Refugees (great and overlooked MCU series). Or you can listen to a song or two from Ghost of the Robot, the band for which Marsters is the lead singer.

As for us, we’re about to do another rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayerand we’re going to pay close attention to Spike’s accent in these first two episodes. It should be fun to notice all the ways the accent improves over time, and it’s weird to think it’s all thanks to Anthony Stewart Head. It’s always amazing when actors share some similarities with their most famous characters, and in Head’s case, he’s proven to be just as effective an off-screen teacher as he was on the show that made him famous.

Source: Express