大象传媒 Cult - Printer Friendly Version
Juliet Landau - Interviewed in London, May 2003
The start of a long relationship
Can you tell us about how you came to be on Buffy? Did you expect to still be involved after so much time?
I first went in for a meeting with Joss, and Gail [Berman] and David Greenwalt and Marcia Shulman who was casting it [were there].
I had seen a couple of episodes of the show and thought it was really really interesting. I loved the whole idea of high school as a nightmare and using dark forces and taking that to the absolute extreme.
I went in [and] had this great creative meeting. Joss had seen my work in I think, Ed Wood or a movie called Theodore Rex and [we] bounced ideas. They had said that it might be about an eleven episode arc, so I didn't know that it was going to continue, but it's been really lovely and fun that it has.
Southern-style Spike
James Masters said that he initially tried Spike with a southern accent. Did you have any alternatives to how you played Drusilla?
The [script] pages that I had said, "Actress can be British or American." I was like, "Oh, no, she should really be Cockney," especially with the whole Sid and Nancy analogy.
So then Joss said that it would depend on what actor they got for Spike, and how that was going to be. So they asked me, once I was set for the part, whether I would read with the final choices of Spikes. I think four actors came in.
James and I immediately had this great connection and worked so well together. He did come in Southern and then they said, "Can you do English?" He did and it went off from there. I never actually had a Southern Drusilla in mind. That would be kind of interesting, Blanche and Drusilla as something together.
Does Tony ever give you accent tips?
Yeah, Anthony has been great and really supportive in terms of the dialect and stuff.
A perfect pairing
What is it about the pairing of you and James Marsters that has captured peoples' imaginations so much?
James and I immediately worked so well together.
I remember things starting in the audition that actually ended up making it into the episode. There was a moment when we're talking to the Anointed One and instead we got sort of lost in each other. Our heads came together, and then it was like "Yeah yeah yeah, I was talking to him," and we turned back. That actually was used as a promotional thing, that evil has a few new faces, and it really came out of a very true acting moment between the two of us.
We always have that, whenever we work together. There's all sorts of things that happen that are real surprises. It's a thing of us bouncing off each other in this really, really fun way.
Working with the master
How have you found working with Joss Whedon?
Working with Joss is amazing. He's just such a creative force and he really has a vision. It's wonderful when you're working with someone who's created an entire world, because then you're really clear about what world you're stepping into and how to flesh out your part of it.
He was always so hands-on, involved in every wardrobe choice, all the visuals, obviously writing, producing and directing episodes - and it really shows. Often when you're working on a series it starts out one way and then it gets delegated to somebody else. Buffy has never had that feeling because there's always been that clarity.
Cult heritage
Coming from a showbiz heritage (Martin Landau and Barbara Bain), did your parents give you any tips about acting in cult shows from their own experience?
It's interesting, because I think the thing that I really gained from my parent has been just this feeling of really loving [what I do]. My parents love what they do and I really love what I do and having that sort of passion about the work, in terms of it being a cult thing, is kind of interesting.
Now I have an action figure, and so do my parents, so it's odd that we all have these dolls of ourselves. It's a little bit surreal but kind of fun. You can play with the whole family.
Demonic doll
Do you approve of your action figure? The one I saw seemed quite gory.
Actually there's a couple. There's the vampire face one and then there's [another] one. It doesn't really look a whole lot like me. There's a big picture of me on the box and the doll... it's still great. Who can complain?
Were you scanned in by computer?
We did a head and body scan, so it was almost like a medical procedure, because you can't blink and you can't move and it's very strategic.
Toybox favourites
Drusilla was known for her liking for toys. Did you have a favourite toy as a child?
Gosh. I don't know. I did have a little doll that had a hat that had a little red thing [on it]. When you pressed it in it actually made his tongue stick out from the back. This is very odd.
I called him Naughty Boy, because he would stick his tongue out. That wasn't my favourite doll but just what came to mind.
Beyond reason
What do you draw on to depict the madness that's one of Drusilla's defining characteristics?
Working with the character so long, it's like her illogic is logical to me by now, but then when I step back and I see an episode afterwards, it's pretty crazy.
I don't know if I would tell you all the inner workings of what I'm doing, but it's a riot because I get to go to all sorts of places, whether I'm rolling around laughing on a floor or dancing on a table. There's a lot of stuff - it gives me a lot of room.
Do you find that Drusilla's character is so strong that you've wanted to adapt things in scripts?
The scripts are really strong in terms of the characters.
Joss said that he had Spike and Drusilla running around in his head for ten years prior. It really is like you pick up a script and you go "Yeah". It feels really right all the time in terms of that.
Holiday in history
Drusilla's been around for two hundred years now. If you had the chance to live in any of those periods in history, what would you pick?
I've always wanted to do a period movie, to do something the turn of the century and I'm really fascinated by that whole time period. It's been really so interesting through Buffy to get to visit some of that. Although I can say that corsets aren't really very comfortable.
I'm really interested in that whole time frame, but also in the '20s. It would be hard for me to pick a time, I'm really fascinated by all different eras. I would love to visit the '40s as well.
Goodbye to Drusilla?
How do you feel about Buffy drawing to a close now? Is it the end for Drusilla as well?
They're actually saying that she possibly could go onto Angel so we'll see what happens with that. It's a bitter-sweet moment, but I do think it's a good time to wrap up.
There's some really interesting stuff in store in terms of a series finale, which I'll say no more about.
Popular reaction
have you had a lot of interaction with the fans?
People are so great about the show. It's primarily a really interesting cool group of people, [who are] really into the way that the show's written and really bright. I'm flattered by the response that people have to my character and to the show in general.
Fans must ask you a lot of questions. What questions would you like to ask them?
I'm fascinated by people in general and what interests them, what it is that someone connects to or what it is that they're passionate about. So I'm always interested when I meet people in terms of what it is that sparked them about the show or what it is that they were drawn to about it.
Examining the extras
Do you enjoy analysing your work for DVD commentaries and so on?
In terms of the DVD stuff, I'm definitely interested in talking about the work. Personally as an actress, when I work on something, that's it and then I move onto the next thing.
I'm not someone who sits and watches my stuff. I like to go onto the next thing that I'm working on and the thing that's been completed is completed. But in terms of the DVD stuff, it's always fun and the questions are usually really interesting.
Independent woman
You've done quite a lot of work in the independent movie scene. Can you tell us about the attraction of that?
I've been really fortunate in the fact that I've gotten a chance to do a real wide range of all different kinds of characters. Drusilla is amazing, and is such a rich character, and then to go from that and work on a New York Italian character, to get that diversity of roles - that's what makes me tick. I love that I've gotten a chance to do a lot of that.
Wickedly fashionable
Do you think the evil characters get to dress better on Buffy?
I really like the wardrobe I get to wear as Drusilla. The initial concept of my character was this cross between a Victorian period look and the Kate Moss heroin chic fashion look. Skewing those things together... like the manicure is more along the modern stuff, and then the corsets and the hair [have] the period look.
Putting those two looks together was a very interesting idea, with the make up that Todd Macintosh created as well, [he's a] really amazing make-up artist. It's definitely fun in terms of the range of what I get to wear.
Sunnydale vs. LA
Is there a different feel working on Angel as opposed to Buffy?
Working on Buffy and then working on Angel, it really almost feels like one big extended family and it's almost like being on the same set, even though Buffy shoots in Santa Monica and Angel shoots on the Paramount lot.
So many people have come over from Buffy and are working on Angel. David Greenwalt who was producing on Buffy, and the cinematographer and the crew. Let alone [the fact that] when I was working on Buffy David Boreanaz was there a lot. Then Spike, James, came over to Angel to come and play there, so it ends up feeling very similar. The timbre of the sets are very much the same.
What was it like working with Julie Benz?
It was great. The whole storyline of me coming to Los Angeles and us getting to wreak havoc in LA was really a blast. She and I work really really well together as well.
Blackpool rock
What brings you to the UK right now?
I'm here because [Buffy] season six is coming out on DVD in May and so I'm here for that, and also the biggest convention that's ever been in Europe is actually in Blackpool on May 2nd through to the 4th. There's about twenty of us from Buffy and Angel coming so it should be lots of fun for us and for everyone. So that's really why I'm here now which is great.