James Marsters recently opened up about a difficult scene he filmed during his time on ‘Buffy the Slayer.’
“It’s a problematic scene for a lot of people who like the show,” he told on Michael Rosenbaum’s ‘Inside of You’ podcast. “It’s the darkest professional day of my life.”
The controversial scene appeared in the series’ sixth season in May 2002. Spike tried to force himself on Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy after she rejected his advances in the ‘Seeing Red’ episode.
The scene ended with Buffy pushing the vampire into a wall, but Marsters said its nature had a big impact on him, especially since he avoided sexual violence depictions both as an actor and a viewer.
“I just collapsed to the floor,” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘I guess I’m kind of tense right now,’ you know. And we got the scene in the can, and it was — it was hell. I was in personal hell.”
The episode’s story drew inspiration from one of the female writers’ personal experience from college, where she forced herself on her ex-boyfriend to make up with him. Marsters opposed the creative team’s idea at first.
“I said, ‘You know, guys, we’re providing a vicarious experience for the audience,’” he shared. “And so, I was saying, ‘You know, everyone who’s watching ‘Buffy’ is Buffy, and they’re not superheroes. So, I’m doing this to every member of the audience, and they’re gonna have a very different reaction.’”
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ wrapped up with its seventh season, a few months following the ‘Seeing Red’ episode.
