Soul Boy:

        At the end of season six, Spike went to get himself a soul. It was played out so that the viewers could decide if Spike got a soul or not. It's interesting to read what James thinks about the infamous soul deal. In case you were wondering, Joss and other writers have confirmed that Spike went and got his soul for Buffy.

So, now it turns out Spike was actually asking for a soul from the beginning of that whole subplot?

        They're switching it up again. I thought I knew what was going on until Joss said what he said. It's a case of what is the most interesting thing and he's kept his options open at the end of the scene. I was instructed to play it as if I wanted to get the chip out and was surprised and mad about the soul. But, as a storyteller, he leaves himself the option of going exactly the opposite direction without having to compromise integrity at all. The way that he constructed it, and I think he did it because of that, he left his options open." James (Past episodes - have affirmed that he does get it for Buffy)

Will Spike be a vampire with a soul or a human?

         James - "Oh, a vampire with a soul. His flesh is still dead. His blood is still cold. But he has to deal with the ramifications of 1000 murders."

Well, I won't ask you something as lame as how will it be different from Angel?

        James - "Yeah. It will be. That's the one thing you can guarantee and I don't know how it's going to be different from Angel, but it will be."

"I'm not given a soul. I'm still a sociopath. I'm still the biggest jerk in the world. It's just that I'm kept from actually hurting people," Marsters said. "It's more like -- well, I'm not the actor Malcolm McDowell is -- but it's more like 'Clockwork Orange' when he's been experimented on and kept from doing what he wants to do.

How would you feel if Spike got a soul, like Angelus?

        James - "Terrible! That would be awful. The best thing about Spike is that he can do all the stuff you want to do, but would never dream of doing. If he had a soul he'd talk about his feelings and stuff...No!"

Do you like playing the "big bad" or chipped Spike better?

        James - "Big Bad any day of the week. But Big Bad would have to die pretty soon, which means I'd be back to pulling change out of my sofa for rent money...."

     The writing takes Spike down a peg and I feel that sometimes it's my responsibility to make sure that it's the same character going through this wicked, strange journey. My fear was that they were going to have to soften him so much that it wouldn't work. But in a way, the situation has heightened his frustration and he's even more evil now because he's mad about it."

    "I kind of use Malcolm McDowell in Clockwork Orange as a touchstone. When he was deprogrammed, it was pretty much the same thing, except that he was stricken with nausea. Behind his eyes, he was still evil. If anything, he was even angrier and wanting to do more damage when he was kept from doing it, because it was bottled up inside him to some degree, that's what I was going for, but at the same time, they are trying to find a way to make Spike last. If he's evil all the time, any villain can probably try to kill Buffy maybe five times before they become pathetic."

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