Rove Live 2005 Rove shakes hands with Tony, shakes James' hand & they hug. R: welcome to the show - good to see you again (to JM) R: have a seat sir (to Tony) T: I could do that! (pointing at the cheerleaders) R: (laughs) Easy, you could do that standing on your head which is pretty much what they do. James pokes out & waggles his tongue, rubbing his hands together at the huge bowl of jellybeans R: jellybean? J: geeks & losers bro? R: I beg your pardon? J: geeks and losers at the convention? R: well i don't know? you tell me. J: I used to do that man! R: you used to do that? J: I even had the big ears on my head.. T: he did the Spock J: I had the tricorder (Tony covers his eyes and laughs) R: oh! you did the star Trek convention, oh my goodness me! J: Oh yeah! (eats more jellybeans) and you know what? (grins smugly) you should see my girlfriend! T: did you get her at a convention? (grins) J: huh? T: did you get her with the big ears? J: (grinning) no i got her with rock & roll, baby. audience laughs R: well Anthony, what type of people turn up to buffy conventions? T: fans! R: is it just the fans? T: (nodding) yeah R: are they very hard core? like, do you find some of them are very scary people to meet? T: occasionally R: because they can be a bit full-on, couldn't they? T: well actually, to be honest, most people who come to conventions are actually really sweet, and they just want, like a photo signed & they just want to ask you questions. It's bizzare, I, it's just, it's just like a normal gig really (looks at JM) J: I think it's a, that's a, there's a, it's the title of the show 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' It's like a line in the sand & unless you appreciate irony & are somewhat sophisticated you're not going to watch that show. Which basically means I didn't want to watch the show until i got on (everyone laughs) because I'm not that subtle, yeah...but oh, so usually, I mean seriously the fans of buffy never did to me what I did to Leonard Nimoy (makes a blathery fanboy noise & gesture) (everyone laughs) None of that at all. They are pretty cool actually. R: have you ever had a moment at a convention where, I mean, because you are surrounded by people who love you & it's their 1st chance to meet you & get up close. Has anything ever gone wrong, like people attacking you, getting a little too close for comfort? T: I dunno, I mean basically when we, one of the 1st gigs we ever did together, a big comic con in San Diego & they had security & like they were pushing people, and it was just so ... theres no need for that kind of stuff. Bottom line is, you can do anything you like as long as you keep your head down & don't make eye contact. As soon as you make eye contact you're kind of stuffed (all laugh) then it's like "OK I'll sign (mimes autographing) but I mean, bottom line is, people are pretty cool. you get some people who are a little obsessive & some people, you know.. J: Well you know Tony, a whole different thing happens when you kiss Sarah man, my whole life changed. Tony giggles T: yeah? (grinning) J: I got people come up to me & say, really good actor man, really good performance last night, I appreciate that. The day after I kissed Sarah - "Take your shirt off" (audience laughs, Tony giggles) J: and it never stopped, so yeah, at that point I've had screaming bunches of girls past barricades & it happens quite often & ah, it makes you feel like running away & hiding yourself in a hole, man. R: I mean it must be very exciting? are you used to it J: (to Tony, giggling) never kiss Sarah man! T: (grinning) I'm not gonna! No! No! J: (to Rove) sorry I... R: Is that what happens at the convention? Just Sarah Michelle Gellar comes out & everyone just gets to kiss her? T: Nope, nup, no, no J: Sarah never comes out. R: that's a right royal shame! R: it's wonderful to have you on the show, Anthony.. T: nice to be here mate R: Or Tony. Can I call you Tony too? T: yeah, you can call me anything you like (grinning) R: YES! absolutely! good! T: Tone R: Tone! you'd get a lot of that here wouldn't you? Tone (in an exaggerated aussie accent) T: (aussie accent) ah, yeah R: (accent) yeah, strueth mate, too bloody right! (everyone laughing) R:Now James, obviously we had the, the, James makes a gesture like - can he put his feet on the coffee table? R: yeah, make yourself at home James puts his feet up T: (to JM) you're just old rock & roll aren't you? R: we had the fortune of meeting you last year, how's the smoking going? you had patches on last year, how've you gone since? J: (reaches inside his shirt) It's going really well, I've got mine on right now! R: are you down to 12 now? how many did you have on last time? it was like you were doing 2, 3? J: dude, i was down to the 1/4 patch, OK, I was doing it right, but then my family needed more help than I thought i could give. Anyway i'm back up to 2 - 4 patches a day R: patches? oh good! J: yeah R: oh good, so you're still off the cigarettes, good job. R: So, the two of you, as actors, you've both been acting and a lot of theatre work before you got onto Buffy T: was I? oh yeah.. R: so when your agents call you with the idea of this show about a vampire slayer, what was your initial reaction? T: I must admit, I'd been approached for something else before that, a thing called Poltergeist, The Legacy, or something. Which was very serious, not funny, hardcore horror & I kinda went, i didn't like it. This came up a week later, I read the script & it was the best thing I'd read since I'd been in LA. So I was cool. Down with that, me. R: how about you James? J: oh they approached Tony, they were all about, do you like the script? & what do you need changed? & all this - it was different for me. It was one of those auditions in amongst about 100 ones & I'd never seen Buffy or been allowed to read the script, actually... & ah, so my initial reaction was F that! I came down to Hollywood, I was going to do anything. I'd be alf's sidekick, I'd be Urkle 2 if I had to be, but that was beneath me (giggles) but then my agent said, dude watch it. It's on tonight & I remember I tuned in and there was a scene between you and Sarah (looks at Tony).. it took about 5 minutes and I was back on the phone going "OH MY GOD! get me on this show!" R: I've got to kiss that woman! T: No that was me! J: No! I wanted to kiss him! (giggling) R: and are you doing any gigs with the band? while you're here? are you still?... J: no I kicked them off the tour baby ... I'm sorry, the band broke up. R: really? T: he's playing some really cool stuff now .. I saw him in Bristol.. J: I'm solo now.. T: he did a tour of England - sell out tour, he's doing some really, really sweet stuff - it was time to get on your own dude. J: thanks brother, yeah, it didn't really work. You have to be very brutal with yourself as a performer & at some point you have to put in a lot of work and then you have to turn around and say, is it really working or does it just feel good? & the other major songwriter & I couldn't come together. I couldn't give him the notes as a singer he needed & he couldn't write songs for my voice & that's a big problem, and then the ego thing happened. It's amazing what happens when you play for over 1000 people. We played for 500-700 & it was cool, it was kind of like this (looks at audience) everyone was a human being & if you're pissed with me you can tell me. and then we popped up above 1 (thousand), then 3, one time we went up to 5 & the temptation is to feel like a god. If you don't automatically tell yourself - you're a prat! & I think that a couple of the guys fell down on that, I think they're probably OK now, but if we had of kept going the way we were it would've been bad. R: Now what about you Anthony? will we be seeing more of you in Little Britain? T: more Little Britain R: Which was a hit! maybe a cult hit some would say, but certainly a hit. T: It's cool. It's the best, best show. Yeah, I'm doing another series right now. Now that we've kissed I don't know quite what ...... have you had the kiss? R: oh yes, we've had the kiss! T: you've had the kiss R: The tension was building up all series! T: I tell you, cos people say, how the hell do you keep a straight face & bottom line is, I don't! and I, um, basically I'm, my daughter noticed that when he kissed me I was grinning. They used the 1st take. He said he was going to kiss me & I thought it was just going to be a kiss on the lips & suddenly whoomp! on the mouth! It was like Alien & I'm grinning under that mouth! (they are all giggling like mad now) James goes to high 5 Tony & Tony doesn't notice T: It's true! R: denied the high 5!!! J: just fuck it! (claps hands over his mouth) R: don't worry, I said it at the Logies (Aussie TV awards) nobody cares! T: was that my high 5? I missed the high 5! J: It's alright R: high 15! high 15! (they all high 5 each other at once) R: you can catch James and Anthony at the Buffy Downunder Convention at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne this Saturday.. T: come on down R: and Sunday. There are still a few tickets left through ticketek. Please thank the boys themselves! ANTHONY STEWART HEAD & JAMES MARSTERS!! R: to Tony really cool to have met you R: to JM great to have you back, good to see you again.