James Marsters had to bleach his hair to play Spike. James swears that putting packets of Sweet and Low in the bleach lessens the stinging on his scalp when he has to dye his hair. His hair is naturally very curly and the bleach also acts as a straightener. He said about the dye:
“Oh, aaargh! What I have to say is, if you ever meet a dyed-blond, man or woman, they’ve got (courage), I’ll say that. Because they have to do it every 10 days. And, you know, the scalp would just peel right off after a while. My scalp would start to bleed. I’d be walking around after the dye job and a little puss-pocket would break and start dribbling down my forehead. It’s like - oh my gosh! And then your scalp starts to fall off. I mean, it peels. Big, thick clumps of it come out.”
Related episodes: 2.03 School Hard
Comments on this trivia
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shibbydm on May 13th, 2005 at 4:41 pm
Urgh.
But thats a method actor for you!
Love_My_Willowtree on July 26th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Kinda wish I hadn’t read this one :)
WilliamOhByte1885 on September 3rd, 2005 at 11:44 am
This makes me as well as others should apprecate spike, as well as james, he’s that devoted to making his ” spike fans” happy, I personally prefer james as the brown haired curly haired god, .. that people say he is…. but I do miss spike and want a spike movie… because i don’t want to have spike die. i rather they say he’s alright…. :) by the way, what is his real last name? spike’s anyways, and is he 125? now, or what? shurg: i gave him my own last name ” wordsoryn” combing two of the 19th centrury victorian poets i admire,.. that are very much like william…( Wordsworth, + Byron= Wordsoryn.)
Mysteryend on September 21st, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Spike’ last name is Pratt…It was approved by Joss…and was revealed in a comic book
stephanieisit on June 6th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
They must’ve been using some rough bleach. I’ve bleached my hair in the past and it doesn’t hurt at all!
Jess on June 6th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I know - he’s such a chicken! Maybe he was using regular household bleach?
ormaybemidgets on June 6th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I’m guessing it hurt it him because he was doing it so often? I dyed my hair a couple weeks ago and left it in too long. It didn’t hurt, but it did feel funny.
Also, it’s cool of him to do it even though it hurt him and his scalp was falling off (…which was not a great thing to read while having breakfast).
Mel on June 6th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Think how long James was playing Spike for….also how dark his natural hair is.
He must have had to bleach his hair a hell of a lot to play Spike, so I am thinking that after a while it would irritate the scalp.
hinny on August 22nd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Bleaching completely depends on the bleach you use. The bleach you use depends on the natural color of your hair. I, for instance, have an ashy brown as my natural hair color. I therefore use 30 volume bleach. James Marsters’ hair is much darker than mine, and would have to use 40 volume or higher. Obviously the 40 volume is gonna be a lot stronger than the 30 volume.
Plus, the closer it’s applied to the scalp, the more painful it is.
(For those who don’t know, it feels like your head is on fire, and you want to scratch it, rub it anything to make it feel better, but you can’t. [Hint: Use toothpicks.] Which is the most painful part.)