Tony Head, the Woman Slayer; Buffy the Vampire Slayer. October 23, 1999, by Vicky Spavin.
"I'm enormously sexy, can't you see?" cries Tony Head, as he relaxes in his BBC Scotland dressing room.
He has just been voted the third sexiest man in sci-fi, behind David Boreanaz and David Duchovny, and he's secretly delighted.
"I'm amazed that people find the mild-mannered Giles sexy," he says of the English librarian he plays in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the latest big US show to hit Britain and which this week starts its second series on BBC2.
"He has a very warm side, but a very dark side. But I'm glad people find him sexy. Maybe I'll beat David Duchovny one day..."
The same knowing wry smile and twinkling eyes landed Head what is, to date, his most prominent role - as the Gold Blend man.
The 'will they, won't they' saga between two neighbours who shared more than a love for the same coffee was planned to run for six commercials, but the on- screen chemistry between Head and his female lead Sharon Maughan was so strong that the company kept adding more.
Altogether 12 ads were shot for British TV, and a further 12 for America over 10 years, as the soap opera of romantic intrigue unfolded.
It was the most successful ad campaign of all time, and granted Head a pathway into the States.
"The commercials gave me the chance to go to America and prove I could do something else. Sharon was a dream to work with and they've given me enormous opportunities. Years ago there was a stigma attached to doing commercials but a lot has changed."
While in my eyes Tony Head will always be the Gold Blend man, there is a whole generation of youngsters out there who associate the handsome 44- year-old with his most recent role, as the surprise star of adventure series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Librarian Rupert Giles, played by Head, is friend and mentor to 16-year- old high school student and vampire slayer Buffy, played by men's magazine favourite Sarah Michelle Gellar.
It was a part Head knew he wanted to play as soon as he read the pilot script, and an opportunity to work with Academy Award- nominated Joss Whedon, of Toy Story fame, who wrote the screenplay for the original cult film.
"He's a cross between Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman and a real character role," he smiles. "It's not often you are given the chance to play a character so diverse. Buffy's not just a kids' show. It has an enormously broad appeal."
Although an instant hit in the States, the series which combines teenage humour with thrills has struggled to settle comfortably in the UK.
"When I first saw them trying to sell the series in Britain, to a Saturday morning slot I thought 'No!' It has a broader appeal than you might think.
"I was quite nervous because I didn't know where they would pitch it, but fortunately the BBC know what they are doing."
Buffy is not Head's first series in America. He moved to California five- years-ago to join Lori Singer and Michael Easton on the set of Fox sci- fi series VR5.
Appearances on NYPD Blue and feature films A Prayer For Dying and Lady Chatterley's Lover followed, but making it in America has been something of an uphill struggle for the man who is working on a Gothic musical,
not least because for a significant part of his five- year contract with Buffy he is separated from his girlfriend, Sarah, and two daughters, Emily and Daisy, who live back home in England.
"I come back here as often as I can. I get breaks, 10 days at Christmas," he says. "And if I've ever got four days clear I'm on a plane.
"Luckily I have an incredible girlfriend who's prepared to be a single mother for eight and a half months and who can keep it all together."
The arrangement clearly works for the couple who have been together 16 years. And although there are always plenty of jobs needing to be done around his home on the west coast of England when he does return, his time is devoted 100 per cent to his familywhen he does get home.
"When I'm back I'm back 24 hours a day and we all get on terribly well."
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