James Marsters: The first Halloween costume I remember is being a hobo in third grade. I remember opening a door and a guy thought I was Jimmy Durante. He said, "Hi, Jimmy" and I thought he knew me. I was spooked all to hell. He invited me into his Halloween party and introduced me to all his guests as Jimmy. I wanted to jump out the window. I later found out he thought I was Jimmy Durante. This year the head of the makeup department, Todd MacIntosh, is throwing a party and you're supposed to go as your favorite cross-dressing star. The only one I can think of is Tim Curry in "Rocky Horror Picture Show." I will be a sweet cross-dresser.

Question: Who's your favorite cast member of either/both shows to work with, and why?

James Marsters: Sarah Gellar. I love it when she kicks my butt.

Question: Hello, there is quite a controversy about your birthdate; some sites give an August date and some a November one. Can you tell me the correct date?

James Marsters: August 20th, and I do like presents.

Question: Some of my favorite "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" moments involve the quirky one-liners you spout off. Do have a favorite episode?

James Marsters: My favorite episode up until recently was the one with the highest body count, which was "School Hard." But after seeing the most recent episode this week, I'd have to say "Harsh Light of Day." Unfortunately it has less to do with the wonderful writing. It's because we have to fight a lot. There are only three shots that are not me... they are the stunt double. I got to throw Buffy through a glass table. It was terrifying but fun.

Question: I haven't really seen you in anything besides "Buffy." What other movies/shows have you done?

James Marsters: Most of my life I've done stage. If you live in New York, Chicago, Seattle or San Francisco and like the theater, there's a good chance that you've seen me and didn't know it. However I have a small role in the upcoming Geoffrey Rush movie, "House on Haunted Hill." I'm in the beginning as the TV cameraman who gets scared almost to death. I'm also in a small, independent film called "Winding Road," and I did two episodes in a series called "Northern Exposure" which you can still see in reruns. I had guest roles in two series that have just been cancelled, "Maloney" starring Peter Strauss and "Medicine Ball."

Question: Speaking of "House on Haunted Hill," where do you live, and what's your house like?

James Marsters: I live in Santa Monica, California, in a 1930s Mediterranean-style apartment with hardwood floors, coved ceilings, lots of sunlight, which I have blacked out with black plastic for now in the bedroom, as I am a very late sleeper. I am a night owl. I'm two blocks from the beach. And there are about 20 cats, 12 of who belong to my landlord next door, and whom my cat Zachary enjoys beating up. He gave one cat a bloody mouth. This was the other week, and I'm very proud of him. This cat came from the Bronx. He was the one cat who refused to go back into the cage at the ASPCA. He drew my blood on the first meeting, and I love him.

Question: Do you have any other pets besides your rowdy cat?

James Marsters: No. It would quickly be turned into kitty food.

Question: How did you get the job as Spike?

James Marsters: It was [one] of 100 auditions. They had been casting around for a long time looking at a lot more actors more famous than myself and luckily did not find what they were looking for. They had to scrape the bottom of the barrel where they found me.

Question: If you weren't acting, what would you be doing for a living?

James Marsters: Stamping license plates.

Q: Do people recognize you when your hair isn't platinum blond?

James Marsters: People don't recognize me when my hair IS platinum blonde! I'm usually in a good mood and not scowling, and I don't have the accent in real life, so when I do get recognized it is like, "You look like the guy who plays Spike!"

Question: What's your favorite book, and why?

James Marsters: "Twentieth Century Insanity and the Madness of Crowds." It's about the credulity of people through history, and it states that there are three things that we will never be able to beat in our lives -- death, ignorance of the future, and toil. People have been selling snake oil all these years telling people they have a way out of those three things. It was written about 100 years ago.

Question: Speaking of the 20th century, do you have big plans for the millennium?

James Marsters: I may be in Morocco. I'm just going to tempt fate. I want to be as high as possible in the air in the newest untested airplane and to see how lucky I am and possibly have sex during Ramadan and see how forgiving the Muslim world is.

Question: Which do you like better, your Spike hair color or your natural color?

James Marsters: My Spike hair color in a cold heartbeat. Kudos to all dyed blondes. It's a pain in the butt, but put 4 to 7 packets of Sweet 'n' Low, and it will save you the worst of the blisters.

Question: Do you do a lot of your own stunts, or do you just have a stunt double that really matches you well?

James Marsters: Unless my feet leave the ground, it's most likely me. If they throw me up against the wall or off a cliff, it will be Steve. I even lit my hand on fire last season. I will never do that again! I had about 15 blisters the next day, but it was nobody's fault but my own. I wanted to be butch and let the gag go too long. The scene was cut out in editing anyway. My stunt double, Steven, is obscenely good, though. He's one of the few Americans to have worked extensively in Hong Kong with people like Jackie Chan. But in last Tuesday's crossover episode, I think there was a total of five quick shots that were not me, but everything else was. Steven, though, could kick my butt, and he's teaching me.

Question: Was it cool being on both "Buffy" and "Angel" on the same night? You basically ruled the prime time.

James Marsters: Yes. If we could have blacked out Atlanta, it would have been even better. Thank you to everyone who didn't watch baseball that night.

Question: Do you have a girlfriend right now, and if yes, who?

James Marsters: Her name is Liz. We met doing a Shakespeare play called "The Tempest." She played the pretty girl, Miranda. I played the evil, scheming villain -- go figure.

Question: Could you please tell us about your new movie, "Winding Roads"? I love you!

James Marsters: It is a very low-budget film. It was filmed on location in Springfield, Missouri, hometown of Brad Pitt, although I've never met him. He must have been busy kicking Ed Norton's butt. I play a good person, hometown boy, who ends up not being enough for the lead character, and the movie is about our breakup and her decision to leave Springfield. You'll need to catch it at a film festival unless Miramax picks it up.

Question: How did you become discovered as an actor? What advice would you give to someone wanting to become one also?

James Marsters: I discovered myself as an actor. I discovered I liked it in fourth grade. The best advice I could give is never give up. Don't let anyone tell you you're not good enough. I've had my share of that junk, usually said by people who are jealous or blind of your talents. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is interesting enough to watch. More than anything, the audience pays for a ticket for the right to stare at someone.

Question: What kind of music you like?

James Marsters: All music. I like Miles Davis, Bush, Palace, sometimes known as The Palace Brothers, Al Green, Bob Dylan, Digable Planets, Benny Goodman, Billie Holliday, Johnny Lee Hooker, The Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Morcheeba, Roy Orbison, Nirvana, Charlie Parker, REM, Lou Reed and classical, Beethoven.

Question: When do they plan to add you to the credits on "Buffy"?

James Marsters: I wish I knew. Joss has a thing for secrecy. I would imagine around Episode 8.

Question: James, do you know of any spoilers involving Buffy and Angel's further developing relationship?

James Marsters: If I tell you anything, Joss is going to put me in a tutu in the next episode, so no deal!

Question: How long does it take to put on the makeup for vampire face?

James Marsters: About two hours, which is a good thing, 'cause it means you can sleep in the morning. And Todd, the Emmy award-winning makeup artist responsible for it, slaps me when I drool. It's 4:30 in the morning, so I sleep while he's applying it. Most of the time is spent painting the appliance after they glue [it] onto my skull.

Question: What person do you most admire?

James Marsters: Dr. Martin Luther King, whose penchant for nonviolence is the bravest thing I've ever heard of. The man was chewed by dogs, but he wouldn't let that dissuade him from his game plan.

Question: What brand of hair gel do you use?

James Marsters: Whatever we think is going to knock out the curl in my hair, which tends to look like Shirley Temple.

HostTPtony: James is going to check the name on the tube right now....

James Marsters: It's called Phytodefrisant. It's French.

HostTPtony: Okay, we want to thank James for joining us and even agreeing to go over his half hour. We have time for one more question.

Question: Do you go online? If so, do you go on AOL, Yahoo, or what do you go on? And are you taking e-mail pals?

James Marsters: I am not online but will be soon. I want one of those cool iMac PowerBooks. I will be surfing or drowning shortly.

HostTPtony: Thanks so much for joining us tonight, James. Any final thoughts?

James Marsters: Thank you for showing up online, and sorry to those people whose questions didn't get through. There will be more chats to come. I would tell you to watch the show, but I assume you're intelligent and already do.