Cast Biographies: Anthony Stewart Head:
It's ironic that when Buffy first began airing, people would have immediately recognized Anthony Stewart Head but have no idea what his name was because to most Americans, he's simply best known as the Taster's Choice guy for the past eight years.

"It is always nice being recognized for whatever reason, but Buffy is very different from anything I've done before so it's been really cool."

Unlike his stammering, somewhat stodgy television alter ego, in person Tony Head is an earring-wearing, confident charmer who has been acting his entire adult life, his career spanning more than twenty years. Born in the Camdentown area of North London, Head grew up in nearby Hampton and trained for the theater at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts.

His first role after leaving school was Jesus in the national tour of Godspell. Over the years, Tony has maintained his ties to the theater, appearing in Yonadab, Chess, Lady Windermere's Fan, and The Heiress. He also donned fishnets and a dress to play Dr. Frank N. Further in a West End revival of The Rocky Horror Show, and most recently, he starred in Rope.

In addition to his theater work, Head has worked steadily in British television, amassing a résume full of credits, from the 1978 war drama Enemy at the Door to The Detectives (1989), Ghostbusters of East Finchley (1995), and the current mystery Jonathan Creek.

Tony has also been able to move easily from television to features, working in films such as A< HREF="ahprayer.html">A Prayer for the Dying, the 1987 drama that starred Mickey Rourke as an IRA bomber and 1991's Lady Chatterley's Lover, opposite Sylvia Kristal, who is best known for her soft-porn Emmanuelle movies.

Even though Head has appeared in his fair share of American series, including guest spots on NYPD Blue and Highlander, and a regular role on Fox's 1995 sci-fi series VR.5, it was his commercial work for Taster's Choice, as a man who becomes smitten with his neighbor after she borrows some coffee from him, that made Tony a household face.

The budding romance that began in 1990 evolved in thirteen different spots that eventually included the woman's son and ex-husband. And the end may not yet be in sight.

"It's a yearly contract, which they've been renewing every year," Tony says. "But there has been some problem about availability. When I've been free to shoot, Sharon hasn't and now Sharon's husband Trevor is involved, so there are three of us to move around."

Because of the ads' popularity, there was actually talk of turning the commercial romance into a television series. "Yes, it's been talked about turning the commercials into a series and people have actually approached us with scripts, but the bottom line is, it's all kind of said in a fifty second commercial, you know? We've been doing it for eight years now so unless the scripts that came to us were radically different or somehow managed to expand the characters, there was never really any point in doing it.

"I have said to the producers, Enough is enough. The story lines are going nowhere. I wonder how they can be made more intriguing, how they can be given more spice. I don't know where else we can go, but we are talking.

"Personally," Tony smiles, "I'd like to do them as a musical."

While Head isn't convinced the commercials have much life left in them, he'll keep going as long as the coffee maker wants him to.

"While Taster's Choice hasn't made me wealthy for life, the commercials did give me the money to have a very nice house, a very nice lifestyle," he acknowledges. "The money has also put me in the position that actors dream about, which is the luxury of picking and choosing jobs. I don't have to take a job just to make the rent or feed the kids. And that's quite nice."

In fact, Head and his longtime partner Sarah and their two children, Emily and Daily, have homes in both Bath, England, and Los Angeles. They split their time between the two residences.

Unlike many American actors who act as if it's mandatory to denigrate L.A., Head is unabashedly delighted with the city.

"I love Los Angeles because you can almost feel the creativity in the air."

Prior to Buffy, the last time Tony spend extended time in California was when he was cast as Oliver in VR.5. When asked if it's just coincidence that he seems to frequently get cast in science fiction and fantasy roles, Head admits it's a genre be particularly likes.

"Yes, I do seem to gravitate toward science fiction and fantasy and I do love it. I used to be a serious fan of Ray Bradbury when I was young. It's wonderful stuff and I've always been attracted to it. But more than that, as an actor, I'm attracted to good roles. Highlander was a wonderful opportunity and VR.5 was a great series; it was sad that it didn't go a second season. I think it might have been just a little ahead of its time."

It was also not the easiest plot to follow. The series starred Lori Singer as a telephone technician who accidentally discovers a way into the fifth level of virtual reality, in which all five senses are involved. She could bring other people into VR.5 and create the setting--but had no control over the outcome. When she tried to use the technology to uncover the truth about her father's suspicious death, she was thwarted at every turn by the mysterious Committee.

VR.5 was canceled in May 1995, after only two months on the air. Tony headed back to England, where he worked in theater and did a couple of television productions. Then he was sent two scripts for a new television series.

"Joss sent me the first two episodes of Buffy and they were seriously special," Tony says. "The timing was wonderful because I had been asked if I wanted to do the series Poltergeist: The Legacy and to be perfectly honest, I thought it was too dark. I was close to doing it and then Buffy came along, which I much preferred because it had a lighthearted side to it. It just seemed to come from a lighter place.

"Although, Joss also told us from the beginning that we were going to be serious about the dark, scary stuff. That it would be real, with no gags. Which I thought was important because I do believe there is a dark side, a black side."

When asked specifically what scares him, Tony has a quick answer. "The unknown, I guess. When I was six, my uncle and aunt did a puppet show for me for my birthday--I think it was Jack and the Beanstalk. I spent the entire time behind the sofa because it scared me solid. That's about the size of it, really--the unknown."

Tony believes the secret of the series' success is its ability to incorporate several different genres into one. "Joss has proven that you can have real horror, real suspense, real situations and yet have real humor. I think it's amazing that Americans have this unique ability to switch abruptly between emotions.

"I used to marvel at the fact that one moment you can have a complete farce and then the next moment it turns into a real weeper and American audiences are right there. It's something the English have never been very good at doing. Joss has just taken that a step further by adding suspense."

Ironically, in both VR.5 and Buffy, Head's character is responsible for watching over a young woman, but Tony says that's where the similarity ends. "The difference is that in VR.5, Oliver worked for an organization and he basically knew what he was doing. In Buffy, I'm on my own and occasionally don't have the faintest idea what I'm doing. I just know it is my duty and my life's mission to find this girl and teach her how to deal with vampires.

"And the fact that she is this young American high schoolgirl and I'm very English creates a lot of fun to be had. So it's very different from VR.5. Very different."

Although the fortysomething Head is the senior member of the cast by a significant number of years, he says there is no generation gap off-camera.

"You always hear actors saying, Oh, we're like family. But in this case, it really is true. We all hang out together. We tend to gravitate to each other's trailers and hang out."

After the quick demise of VR.5, Tony is pleased at the reception Buffy has received, particularly from the critics. "We've had some extremely good press but one of the things that's been most flattering is we're regularly referred to as an ensemble show and the supporting characters are singled out. I think the show is doing very well for all of us, particularly Sarah, who is great.

"This bunch are really, really talented and dedicated and nice people but then again, I've been very lucky because in the twenty-one years I've been working, I've rarely come across egos that have gotten in the way of stuff. I've been really lucky with the people I've worked with and this is no exception."

Sources

Page created January 1999. Original material © Betsy Vera (bentley@umich.edu). This website is for information and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to infringe on copyrights held by others.

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