Wait, that James Marsters?

Discussion

I feel so dumb.

I know James Marsters as the person who narrates the Dresden Files. I have listened to them for years now off and on.

I realized, just now, because of an interview.. that James Marsters, audiobok narrator and James Marsters, actor of Spike from Buffy, are the same person.

I knew both names in my head. But my dumb brain never put 2 and 2 together like hey dude that's the same human. I feel so silly just realizing it now, it really flabbered my gast.

That's all, just felt like sharing

in dresdenfilesby chalor182

461

99%

DumpBearington

196

And he's not even British.

unctuous_homunculus

Yeah I recall something about him learning by copying Anthony Head's real accent on the set of Buffy. And since Anthony put on a posh accent for Giles it made Spike's accent sufficiently different but still authentic. I don't know how much of that is true though.

OGNovelNinja

All of it, if James is to be believed. And he probably would know. 😏

Basically, Anthony told him how to pronounce everything, which is why Spike has such a believable accent. James wasn't faking, he was copying.

khaki75230

And in one episode, he (Spike) tried to sound American. So you have an American....faking a British accent....faking an American accent. Little bit existential there.

zarcommander

The exact opposite of Hugh Laurie in house in some of the episodes.

Jtk317

Very Tropic Thunder.

Sickfuckingmonster

I heard somewhere that Anthony's accent wasn't considered believable at first and they made him tweak it some.

nbcaffeine

Spike's accent in Angel is widely considered to be worse than on Buffy, because he didnt have ASH on set to coach him

stevied89

Giles has a private school accent, spike has an underclass London accent.

SirElectronic8013

Yeah, his British accent is concerning good

Mudders_Milk_Man

I've heard some people say it's "terrible".

My response to that is:

Anthony Stewart Head disagrees.
The makers of Torchwood (a BBC show) disagreed, because they hired Marsters to play a character with a similar accent.
If you want a terrible accent from a Buffyverse vamp, that would be David Boreanaz trying to sound Irish.

potVIIIos

that would be David Boreanaz trying to sound Irish.

PTSD flashback

Majorapat

Wait that’s what he was doing… I thought he was having a stroke.

Zegram_Ghart

Oi wah Tya Tawkin Aboot?

Edit in case someone thinks I had a stroke typing (trying to phonetically type out his faux irish/scottish/occasionally Australian accent.

StoryWonker

It's ropy (although still a lot better than the common Dick van Dyke attempts you get from americans) in early Season 2 but improves across the season. It helps that Whedon grew up in the UK and they had Head around so the dialect is also spot on, as that can trip up a lot of productions.

By the time he becomes a regular in S4 it's pretty much dialled in and by S5 he's got a good enough command of it that he can play around with a bad American accent or the posher accent in the flashbacks.

The real shocker, though, is hearing Alexis Denysof's real accent.

hypnoskills

The real shocker to me is that Anthony's real accent is like Spike, not Giles.

Mudders_Milk_Man

Yeah, Alexis Denysof nails it, as far as I've ever been told.

grubas

WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT "ACCENT"

GaidinBDJ

I think you mean Oirish.

AbibliophobicSloth

Or blond!

SuDragon2k3

He's got the voice for playing Harry, but not the physicality. It'd be like Tom Cruise trying to play Jack Reacher. It just wouldn't work.

bremsspuren

but not the physicality

I don't think that matters, tbh. Reacher's yeti physique is practically a leitmotif. It's a factor in almost every interaction he has.

But size doesn't mean much in the Dresdenverse, and only the puniest of mortals find Harry physically intimidating.

Mouse needs to be big. Harry not so much.

Humanmale80

Harry needs to be tall. Half of his internal monologue is him comparing his height/reach/stride to stuff. A full half, I say!

SuDragon2k3

Tall, but rangy, not muscley. Has to be able to loom with intent. And:

NO HATS!

</Edna Mode>

Graymouzer

Come on now, Harry wears hats. You can see for yourself on the covers and who are you going to believe, Jim Butcher or Christian McGrath?

Diasies_inMyHair

Cinematography made Hobbits believable. With the right budget, it could make James Marsters tall enough.

LadyKathy1963

I agree, but they would need to make him younger, as Marsters is in his early 60's , Harry in his mid 30's.

KipIngram

Totally agree. I'd say at least 6'4" or 6'5". I don't think he absolutely has to be as tall as he's stated to be, though. He just needs to be noticeably taller than the people around him. I've felt like Jared Padalecki could pull it off. I'd just have a hard time letting him be anyone other than Sam Winchester, though.

Fortunately for me I'm a print reader, so I don't need to factor voice into these decisions at all.

bomban

They could do it like the hunger games where we dont get any internal monologue. Then it really doesnt matter.

Ep1cB3ard-4840

This! This is what annoys me the most. I AM British and I don’t sound as cool as he does 😡

ingenfara

Whaaaaaaaaaat!!! 🤯

Throwaway7219017

Wait, what?

The_Keywork

Op is just realizing Spike from Buffy narrates the audiobooks.

Throwaway7219017

Not just OP, lol.

paulHarkonen

Congratulations, you're one of today's lucky 10,000.

thegiantkiller

I love XKCD.

totaltvaddict2

I always do a double take when I see the name James Marsden thinking it’s Marsters. Both talented actors, but definitely do not look alike.

Hypno_Keats

right?

BulbasaurusThe7th

Not trying to ruin the mood, but I head some REALLY fucked up thing about Marsden and for half a second I was really confused and "fuck no".
Then I realised he is not our guy, but the other one.

MajorRico155

Yes lol. And yes, that means the cheeky buffy reference in proven guilty is EVEN better in audio form, I swear, you can hear him smiling.

He needs to do ASMR btw, love his voice and I'm mostly straight

Aeransuthe

It’s a splendid reciprocation. Marsters is in Buffy. Jim writes a series that is inspired partially by Buffy. The characters also live in world that has Buffy in it. Marsters then gets to voice act the audiobook, which is in part a love letter to work he took part in. Turns out it’s really good, and Marsters both loves and respects it himself, and is able to effectively channel the exact right narrative flair, elevating once again a series of that lineage he’s already in. Funny enough, Harry and a lot of the characters would be familiar with Marsters Character. In fact he’s actually somewhere in Harry’s world doing his own thing. And Marsters gets to contribute within and without in a way.

Would be funny if Jim did a cheeky cameo, without making him central or called by name. Someone who has a couple lines as chaos unfolds around Harry in the world. He should then tell Marsters. And should only reveal the reference later.

RuckFeddit7769

The characters live in a world that has Buffy in it?! Is there a WOJ on that? What kind of vamps would Buffy vamps be? I guess only Black Court really fits

dwehlen

I think they all mean BtVS as a television show exists in the Dresdenverse.

RuckFeddit7769

Oh, that makes a shitload more sense! Thanks!

anthonygpero

Marsters should play Bob in any adaptations.

chalor182

I'm gonna need to go back and listen for that moment haha

MajorRico155

Man, I wish I knew the chapters. I think it the first time they are walking into SPLATTERCON!!!

Munnin41

SPLATTERCON!!!

Don't forget to pronounce the exclamation points

Treebohr

The Buffy reference I know is the one from Blood Rites, where he tells Inari (I think) to, "Make like Buffy." Because they're fighting three Blampires.

I've never watched Buffy, so if it's much less explicit than that, I won't catch it.

Considered_Dissent

There's a few references (as well as the Inari one I assume you're referencing).

I think Thomas in one of the early books (probably Death Masks) was wearing a Buffy t-shirt.

And if one wants to stretch things, one of Marcone's early associates/goons was called nicknamed "Spike" by Harry.

Pkrudeboy

IIRC Thomas shows up to the duel with Ortega rocking a Buffy shirt.

pawntofantasy

Love the “mostly straight” line. Some times someone’s hot and it’s undeniable.

MajorRico155

Sometimes a smooth voice is all you need

Pkrudeboy

Him and NPH are the reasons I consider myself a one on the Kinsey scale.

Reddywhipt

I got ripped off. im a kinsey '0'

Chad_Hooper

He was also in a Marvel TV series. One of the parents in The Runaways.

MadSavery

Not to mention Braniac in Smallville.

Chad_Hooper

Braniac in Smallville? Really?

BlueHairStripe

It was a different approach to Brainiac. Smallville was it's own level of weirdness, but I watched it all 🤣

SemiFormalJesus

I recently watched it all after catching bits and pieces when it originally aired. There’s stuff I loved, stuff I didn’t, but it is undeniably packed full of ridiculously attractive people. Main cast, guest stars, single episode appearances, young or old, everyone is hot.

It probably has my favorite depiction of Lois. She was straight up a bad ass. She should have some serious brain damage from being knocked out though. I guess on top of being attractive every person had multiple concussions.

Myydrin

Also King Piccolo in the awful Dragon Ball Evolution movie.

shadowblade159

We do not talk about such atrocities as that movie. That one's up there with the Av... there is no movie in Ba Sing Se

Intrepid_Ad7432

BUT! He felt bad about it so he got his redemption shoot by being Zamasu in Dragonball Super!

MadSavery

James Marsters? Yeah!!!!

Chad_Hooper

I thought you said not to mention that?

see-bees

He’s also a warlock in one episode of season 7 of Supernatural. The only surprising bit is that it was a one shot cameo and they never brought him back.

DanceMaster117

A warlock whose wife is played by Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordilia Chase in Buffy

Pkrudeboy

However he is not to be confused with Cyclops’ actor, James Marsden.

Szygani

Out. For. A. Audiobook.

Bitch

chalor182

I had 100% forgotten about that line until I read this haha.. I can picture Dresden using it too

Hypno_Keats

ya, because of this I basically just picture Harry as a scruffier dark haired spike when I listen lol

Wild-Lychee-3312

Now that I’ve read the books and watched the tv series, I’m stuck seeing Paul Blackthorn in my mind every time I think of Harry Dresden.

I have the same problem with Frodo Baggins and Elijah Wood.

hitchinpost

My first read through of Harry Potter, Snape looked nothing like Alan Rickman. He now ALWAYS looks like Alan Rickman in my mind. Same with Maggie Smith and McGonagall.

theonegalen

Rickman was perfect casting, except 20 years too old

Ingwall-Koldun

The OoF generation was too old in general. I mean it makes some sense for a 32 years old to still be hanging on the fact that his high school sweetheart married his high school bully. For a 54 years old it's a little pathetic.

Pkrudeboy

On one hand I agree, but the other hand has Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Ingwall-Koldun

That's the price we paid, yes.

Come to think of it, only Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, and Timothy Spall are too old, the others are fine. I mean, we could have Tim Roth as Snape, Ricky Gervais as Pettigrew and Christopher Eccleston as Sirius Black. Would be different, but not necessarily worse, I think.

Pkrudeboy

Theoretical performances will always beat actual ones. It’s all supporting cast in the end, and they ended up nailing the roles anyways.

Ingwall-Koldun

No, I don't think they'd be _better_, just more age-appropriate. I don't think you can top Rickman as Snape, performance-wise.

Pkrudeboy

I meant that the performance in your head is going to be better than any actual performance, no matter who. Imagination doesn’t stumble or take bathroom breaks.

Hypno_Keats

Fair lol

OGNovelNinja

I recognized the name with the first audiobook I listened to, and I thought it would be weird hearing him without Spike's accent. It wasn't, though, because from word one his narration exactly matched Harry's voice in my head.

Seriously, I'd bought it on CD (yes, kids, that used to be a thing) at the bookstore (yeah, that was pretty common in the Ancient Times), popped it into my player in the car, started backing out, and almost slammed the breaks because suddenly Harry Dresden was talking to me.

SaraTheRed

Yes...I still have my cd copies of Storm Front that I bought ages ago from Jim's website. Because I found out that James Marsters was the narrator :D

And when Audible became a thing, I eventually got all of them!!!

anthonygpero

Harry Dresden was also breathing heavily at you throughout all of stormfront. And smacking his lips, and a thousand other things they edited out now in the age of audible. Thank God.

OGNovelNinja

The first one I heard was Small Favor, so I never heard all of that.

anthonygpero

The first two books are a bit rough, but they were recorded before Audible standards took over the industry. Maybe they've rerecorded them by now.

Krazy_Karl_666

Yes THEE Piccolo form Dragonball Evolution

Ezekiel2121

He’s also Zamasu in Super.

Slammybutt

Did it for free b/c he wanted to make up for the live action being terrible, or so I heard.

shadowblade159

Yeah, iirc, it was something like he wasn't allowed to work on a non-union voice acting gig, so he volunteered for free so they couldn't say anything about it.

Hypno_Keats

his most spectacular role to date

phrog

Met him over the weekend and he's very cool. Says he has a great Toot Cameo for a birthday wish!!! Got the wife into that for next year

Belcatraz

We all need a good Gast Flabbering once in a while.

Outofwlrds

I never listened to the audiobooks, and my husband has never watched Buffy. I remember watching it one day, and my husband runs into the room, completely bewildered. "I hear the Dresden Files guy? Is that the Dresden Files guy??"

meawait

He’s cool in person. I had to totally not geek out when I saw him in the wild.

Crisper026

Oh wow. Learned something new today

chalor182

Welcome to the club lol

Nivek_Vamps

I did the same thing for Mark Hamill jedi knight and Mark Hamill insane clown.

serack

Here’s a collection of stuff James has said about working on the Dresden Files I made a while back

https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/wojames-marsters/

LadyKathy1963

Marsters also had a recurring character on Warehouse 13, played a man made immortal by his brother, played by Anthony Head.

jimwormmaster

Wait, really?! I loved Warehouse 13, but never placed either of the two.

LadyKathy1963

4th season, Marsters played an immortal conman, Professor Sutton in 3 episodes, and Anthony Head played his brother and wannabe caretaker Paraceleus in 4.

jimwormmaster

Hmm, I might need to go back and rewatch it, it doesn't sound familiar. Thanks for the info!

LadyKathy1963

I just rewatched for like the 10th time about a month ago.

Anxious_Plane_8219

He's also a recurring villain in Smallville.

BigBadWolf97

That’s totally understandable. No shame in that. I used to assume that book companies hire from a different talent pool than movies and television for their narrators. It was originally mind blowing to me to see how many talented and recognizable actors lend their talents to audiobooks. Seeing James Marsters as the narrator for the Dresden Files instantly sold me on the audiobooks!

Mudders_Milk_Man

If you want to see Marsters play a somewhat Spike-like character, he was in some episode of the BBC show Torchwood (a kind of Dr. Who spinoff) : https://youtu.be/s0G4Df1_OTU?si=OyA_XKpkpMMbLy3V

Diasies_inMyHair

I initially didn't bother to note who was narrating the Dresden Files. Until Bob spoke, somewhere along Book 3. And I thought, "that sounds a lot like Spike." Then Bob Spoke again, and I knew it was James Marsters, scrambling to pull up the audiobook cover.

InfernalDiplomacy

If I recall, both James and Jim are friends and when it came to picking a narrator for the audiobooks Butcher didn’t hesitate and asked Marsters who agreed.

The only book he did not narrate was Ghost Story, a schedule conflict at the time. In a weird 6 degrees of separation, Lionel Luthor’s actor from Smallville did the narration which I thought fitting given the plot of the book to give Harry a slightly different voice.

SomnambulicSojourner

John Glover is a great actor, but it was way too jarring going from Masters to him. I'm glad they recorded it when Marsters was available

FweepKat

There's something so sweet and wholesome when people have their "firsts" in this subreddit. (Even if the topic isn't wholesome or is dark haha) I love it.

CopperJet

Thanks for a granting me a good laugh. I needed that. It's summer, so perhaps I should take re-read the Dresden Files audio books.

Wild-Lychee-3312

Don’t feel bad. I went a decade without realizing that the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and the lead singer of the Postal Service was the same person

samaldin

It's not unreasonable to assume they're different persons. If i'm informed correctly an actor of Masters pedigree would normaly be waaay too expensive to hire as an audiobook narrator for a series like Dresden Files. Luckily, he's a fan in his own right and accepted a significantly smaller payment than he normally would.

see-bees

I mean he’s not small time, he’s been in the business for 30 years now, but Marsters has spent his career as a supporting actor. I’d say that he lines up an an actor with the Dresden Files as a series, big in certain circles but unknown in a lot of them.

Ingwall-Koldun

From what I heard, he's intentionally not pursuing a big acting career, just doing things he likes a lot.

SaraTheRed

I heard they actually offered him the role of Dresden in the TV show, but he turned it down bc his kids were still in grade school and he didn't want to either move his whole family to Canada for filming, or spend that much time away from them.

Dude has his priorities straight!!

RedXIII1888

Hes also zamasu in dragon ball super dub. Which he done for free because he is a fan of dragon ball and fucked it with evolution.

PleasantManagement32

He's one of the best audiobook readers I've heard. The nuances and sensitivities he is able to convey are perfection.

SaraTheRed

Only one I like better is Bronson Pinchot (aka Balki from Perfect Strangers sitcom). He did the Grimnoir series--and 1000% sounded like a teenage Okie girl who can teleport, or a huge ex convict who can control gravity, or an immortal Japanese dictator, or an old Portugese dairy farmer, or any of a dozen or more other characters.

But James Marsters is a close second 😁

radun6996

Wait until you realize he also has a band. I met him at dragon con over 20 years ago. Jim too. Jim went and watched his band play with a huge group of us. It was an amazing weekend

Ingwall-Koldun

Marsters is the only reason my wife reads the Dresden Files audiobooks. She is a big Buffy fan, and could listen to Marsters read the phone book.

davect01

Yup ☺️

_CaesarAugustus_

Welcome to the party!

Glitch_King

I didn't make the connection myself until after I finished battle ground, I think it happens to everyone at some point.

Henlein_Kosh

Yes! That James Marster, the lead singer and guitarist from the band Ghost of the Robot.

Saw a lot of people talking about his acting career, thought I would throw in some of his music career, as I actually enjoy it on occasion.

blueboy714

I found that out years ago and it totally blew my mind

propolizer

I found this out last week haha!

bobabeep62830

I figured that out a while back and it blew my mind too. I immediately started thinking about who he could play if they do another tv series. Definitely he could voice Bob, but perhaps if it takes another decade or so for the show to get its reboot, he might be a candidate for Ebenezer or any of the older white council.

Striking-Estate-4800

He’s truly amazing. I read an interview where he said he wants considered doing Spike from Buffy in a Louisiana accent. I would have loved to have heard that.

Gilamunsta

Cajun Spike? Ah guaron-tee ya, lol

RainyDaysAh3ad

This happened to me as well! Except I was listening to the audiobooks during the same time I was watching Buffy all the way through. It took me until the 3rd season to actually see his name on the opening credits put 2 and 2 together. Though I thought, no way are they the same! 😅 Made me love Spike/James Marsters all the more!

Advanced-Sherbert-29

We've all had that moment.

chalor182

Glad to know I'm not alone lol

Galind_Halithel

It's the accent.

Even after listening to the books for years if I actually SEE James Marsters speaking and hear anything other than his Spike voice it just feels wrong.

Same with Hugh Laurie using his, real, British accent instead of his House voice. Some people are just so iconic in their roles.

craybe

This is what got my wife not only into The Dresden Files but also audiobooks in general. He is a little breathy on the first 3 books.

Key_Concentrate_5558

Wait. What?

Viperstealth007

This is why I’ll always giggle at the line “That’ll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo.” Spoken by Harry/Marsters AND the Buffybot. It’s a sly nod.

PPFirstSpeaker

I know what you mean. I'm a huge player of DC Universe Online. I started playing it easy back in 2012, took a break for a couple of years, came back right around the beginning of the lockdowns, when I started to play a LOT.

A voice in that game was really familiar. Eventually, I looked up the voice actors for all the characters. It wasn't at all surprising that the voice of Batman was Kevin Conroy, rest his soul, and the Joker was voiced by Mark Hamill. But the real surprise was Lex Luthor, voiced by our own dear Mr. Marsters!

He really captured the essence of Luthor's megalomania. Magnificently done!

Cerine_Moments

Holy sh*t! I’ve learned so much just now…

honorabledemon0916

Yeah man it wild ain't it

D3adp00L34

I had the same moment when watching Supernatural the other night. Wife hasn’t seen it, so we’re working our way through and reached an episode with James Marsters. I freaked out when my worlds collided.

khaki75230

Wait...which episode had Marsters in it? I stopped watching around season 8.

D3adp00L34

Season 7. He and Charisma Carpenter play a couple of ancient witches or whatever having a marital spat.

TimeisaLie

He was also Piccolo but we don't talk about that, his role as Zamasu? Varies from fan to fan.

kshep1188

What? You talking about the dad from The Runaways?

man_on_a_wire

Wait, the guy from Sonic?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005188/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

jimwormmaster

That's Marsden, not Marsters.

man_on_a_wire

Gee, thanks Jimmy

ofthewave

Wait, JAMES MARSTERS?!?!? The guy who played Piccolo from hit movie Dragonball Evolution???

mjw220220

He was on an episode of Supernatural. i closed my eyes just to listen and suddenly it was a Dresden/Supernatural crossover. Loved it.

rawwbnoles

Guys like James Marsters and Stephen Fry have set the bar way high in terms of narration.

WI_Superman

IMO: It shows what a good actor and production team can do. I tried listening to James in the Buffy Audible exclusive book that came out last year. I couldn't finish it. The writing, the production, and the actors were all phoning it in.

CJefferyF

Was spike a better person then angel he got a soul because I wanted one not because of a curse? Also to get Buffy lol but hey she made him wanna be better isn’t that nice lol

GreenLightRen

Otherwise known as both Piccolo from Dragon Ball Evolution and Zamasu from Dragon Ball Super dub.

thecraftybee1981

I loved him as Cyclops! ;)

Bluesluvr

-1

Duh

Wait, *that* James Marsters?

Wait, that James Marsters?