Bottom of page - Pictures - Sources Anthony Head made an appearance on This Morning with Richard and Judy, (U.K.) on June 21, 1999. Transcript: (courtesy of Diane) R: OK, now, for some time now our kids have been mysteriously unavailable for comment for any matter of any description at all at certain fixed parts in the end of the evening, at sundown, where they've become the latest prey of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, rapidly becoming one of the biggest shows on television. It's already massive in America, blowing them away, and guess who's in one of the leading roles?
[Excerpt from TED: R: Yeah, that was our Anthony Head, opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, right? A: Absolutely R: ...who is also huge, huge! A: Enormous, yes, she's [unintelligible]. R: ...charms second to most [sic]..."sexiest woman on the planet" was that the...? A: Yeh. Yeh. She's twenty-one, so I can't think of her in terms of her being sexy, but, uh... R: She's meant to be sixteen. A: I think Paternally. R: Sadly, yeah, paternal instinct [unintelligible]. [Both laugh] R: This is good. The last time we spoke [unintelligible] the last time we spoke, it was about a year after the coffee ads had finished, and you were doing some theater, your training and stuff... A: Yeah. R: But you were basically lookin' around, waiting to see, you know, which phone would ring first. A: Yeah, see what was, what was... R: And you read the script for Buffy in Santa Monica. A: I went out, yes [to the States], basically I was doing a lot of theater, and um, I thought now is the chance, if I'm gonna go for America, let's see what happens. The commercial was extremely successful out there, so I went out... R: Oh, really, on the original run? A: Oh, we reshot it. We had to actually audition for it and then basically Sharon and I got it again and so we did another six years in America. R: As English people? A: No, I was American, she was English. R: Get on! A: I, ah... R: Where were you supposed to be, in America or... A: In America, in New York, yeah. R: Was it the same script? A: The first four, about three or four were the same, and then they branched out, and then they ...basically, here, it was one of those deals where, um, because it was a runaway success, the scripts kinda, they developed as a storyline. In America they had hindsight and they were making them. They were always chasing their tail here, in America they were able to put a plan in and see. R: So you were a six year campaign in the States. A: Six, yes. R: And it was as big a hit there as here? A: Yeah. R: Great stuff! A: It was ten years long. If you look [at them] back to back - I was a young man when I got the part, and I aged, visibly aged, as they go. [Both laugh]. R: I'm sure I saw Sharon in central London about a month ago and she still looks great. A: Ah, she's gorgeous. She was actually out in LA just before I left, ah, back in March, um, and she and Trevor [Eve, her husband] were out there [focusing on the commercials again] and well, we sort of jumped backwards and forth across the Atlantic. And anyway, I decided to see what I could do, see if I could get an American agent, which I did...and I went out every year, every six months at one point, for the pilot season, to see what I could pick up. And, ah, I did another series, called VR.5 for Fox, which only went for thirteen episodes. But this one [Buffy] turned up,um, about three, three years ago. R: So when did it start to run in Britain, about a year ago? A: Ah, yes. Actually, that is, first they had [it] on Sky and then the BBC got it, um, last year. R: Let's see Buffy, then, slaying some more vampires. I think you're in this one, this one as well, and then you can tell... I must be honest with you, until about six months ago I thought Buffy was a bloke, I'd never seen him, so the kids would say,"[unintelligible"] and I would imagine, obviously being a sexist pig, that Buffy must be a bloke because to kill a vampire [unintelligible] people in your old high school.[ASH giggles]. Alright, let's have a look.
[Excerpt from TED: R: Actually, that's your girlfriend. A: Yes, she... R: That [surviving the crossbow shot] would imply you have supernatural powers yourself? A: No, no, no, technically she shot me with a, with a crossbow, and I had the presence of mind, as one does at the time, to, ah, take it out and stick it in a vampire, while he was havin' a good laff. R: How come it didn't kill you? A: Well, 'cause I was wearin' tweed! [Both laugh]. R: That'll do it every time, of course, yes, just send it out to the paras, you know... A: There is, actually it's not my joke, there's a line in it [the script], that, that "Tweed is like kevlar." R: Especially when it's wet! A: Absolutely. [Interlude concerning co-host Judy, who was suffering from an upset stomach, attributed to rum food in the prior segment, a cooking demo. R:[to an aide] Is Judy alright? Is she going to eat some food? [Aide:yes] A: Oh, dear. What did you find underneath that shelf? [jaunty tone]. R: No, no, no, it's funny, she's got quite a delicate stomach at the moment because she's got, um, you've heard of this wheat allergy? A: Oh, yeah, yeh. R:And she had a sandwich yesterday, [singsong tone] she had the sandwich and now it'll be fine, I think... what is that horrible thing underneath the service there, any idea, um? A: [laughing] You should come and investigate. You'd learn something... R: I think it's an old prawn, to be honest; it turned her stomach. Did they let that thing back in the building? A: [laughs] That's what you call your ex-guests, old prawns? R: Old prawns, um.] R: Anyway, to get back to Buffy, can you give us a thumbnail sketch, 'cause it goes out on weekdays in Britain, and tell us what's the story, why? A: The idea, basically, Joss Whedon, who creates - he actually wrote a film when he was nineteen, it wasn't the, ah, he wanted to set out basically, showin' that you could have witty sardonic humor at the same time as having real horror, real thrills and chills, ah, and the movie was a bit more schlocky, so if anybody ever sort of sees the movie and they think it's what the [tv] show is about, it's not... R: It's much drier. A: It's much drier, this is why adults actually, actually love it, as well as kids, and the, the appeal is, is...extraordinary... R: I know, I think at the moment in this country it's more to the teen market... A: Same for there... R: But in America, now, everyone watches it, and out here we are all watching it, and this is obviously going to happen to Buffy. A: Basically, the premise is, he thought, watching several horror movies, that it was always the bimbo, the blonde bimbo who fell over, the first to be got by the monster, fell over, twisted her ankle,"aaaah!' [ASH screams a little], you know. Actually, he said, wouldn't it be great if the fate of the world lay in her hands, she was the only one with the "strength and power to hunt, to kill the Vampyr", to quote the show. And basically, that was it. So he set out... and he had an enormous fight at one point with the network out there, they wanted..."You can't call it Buffy, you know, it's silly, a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer show", and he said, "No, I want it, it's definitely going to be Buffy, you can take it or leave it." She's not a Valley Girl. She's actually, as the series progressed, she's got more and more cued up, but, the idea is, she's the last person... R: And you play the school librarian, who's aware of her powers; your office... A: I'm her Watcher. "I like to watch." [plummy voice]. [Both giggle] And, ah, I'm her mentor, I'm the guy who trains her, who, who, who finds out all the information about what [enemy], you know, and I'm a very bookish kind of...um, it starts off, I'm a man of not very much experience, not a very worldly guy, and that's why the appeal was there to play someone who was not exactly the obvious romantic hero. R: Right. And you play it very English, obviously. A: Very English. There's a sort of mixture, there's a little bit of Hugh Grant, a little bit of Alan Rickman, a little bit of dear Prince Charlie in there [R giggles], thrown in. So it's great fun. We've done, just finished our third year, and as the years have progressed, the more he's with Buffy, and the more he's influenced by her, the more outgoing he is, the less, um, embarrassed by, by his social ineptness. R: Well, let's just show one more clip now. This is you with Buffy. I think this is the "morning after the night before" [unintelligible] for the sake of form [ASH laughs].
[Excerpt from TED: R: Now a question direct from my children, who are curious. What's she like, what's her, what's the scoop on her, Sarah... A:Sarah? Sarah Michelle, she's great, she's really great, yeah, she really is. I know it's a cliche, but the whole set is like a big family, and it all stems from Joss, Joss Whedon, he's a remarkably clever, personable guy... R: Chloe wants to know, my daughter wants to know, does she take herself very seriously, or is she, does she become one of the guys, is she still one of the team? A: Oh, no, we go out, you know, the bunch of us go out now and again. The main thing is, the fact that she has so little time for anything other than Buffy and making other...this is the first year she hasn't done two movies back to back in the hiatus. She is constantly. away ...I mean, I'm very lucky, I sort of...I, I don't do a full... R: What are you doing now? You ought to do something coming up... A: I'm over here to actually be with my family. R: Aren't you doing a film, someone mentioned a play in America? A: No, no, I mean, I did a sitcom just before I came back, I did a guest spot out there [Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place] R: So, you're much settled, you're much an American now, that's it, for the time being, that's where you're working. A: Oh, n-, I, eh, I don't want to be one of those phoney English actors who does a bit in America and then turn...this is why our home is still very much here. And Sarah's, my girlfriend's, work is here and the children's home is here. It's why I spend as much time as I can gettin' on planes and comin' back... R: Because it's important. A: Um, it is important. I mean, at the moment, I talked to the kids, I said "Should I give it up, it is a bit of strain on the family." They said, "No, you can't, Daddy! [high voice]". You know, it's too cool a show. R: Stay with- it is a cool show, stay with it, and many congratulations. And I assure you, Judy's not now here because of you." A: Aaargh [stagey scream, then unintelligible] It's the prawns! R:Oh, it's terrible, we must investigate it, thank you , thank you for being here, good luck with the future... A: Thank you. R: You can't walk off without signing all our [unintelligible]. All right, we'll take a break, if you're the meanest person in Britain, you could be outed in just three minutes by your other half, that's coming up in just a minute..."
Pictures
Sources
Page created October 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.
|
Credits & Press /
|
