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James C Leary - Loose-skinned Clem when the make-up's off.
Loosely joined
Tell us how you came to join the cast of Buffy.
I guess it was in 2001. I was called in April to come to read for this part. At the time [Clem] was just called The Loose Skin Demon, and I had the script and it was really funny. His lines were just really funny lines, so I went to go read.
I had to meet all the producers and I just read. It was one of those days where everything’s working right, the sun is shining, and they thought I was funny and they hired me. It was originally only supposed to be five small lines in that one show, and then they just kept calling and calling, so it turned out to be such a great experience.
Extreme acting
Tell us a little about your improvisation and theatre background.
I haven’t actually done actually much since my son was born three years ago, but I was heavily involved in Chicago doing Improv Olympic. I was a founding member of an improv group in college called Freudian Slip, which is just getting ready to have its 10 year reunion this year.
A lot of the people that I was doing that with I’m now involved with out here. [It's in] something called The Furious Theatre, which is in its second season. They just won Best Debut Theatre Award and we’re actually getting ready to do a British play called Mojo by Jez Butterworth.
What is the secret of improvised comedy?
Some people do extreme sports - improv is my extreme sport. It’s the adrenaline of not knowing what’s going to happen next. As far as the mind set goes, it’s so much about the people who you’re on stage with. I think the golden rule of improv is, "Yes, and". [That means] taking whatever somebody gives you, saying yes to it, and building on it.
It's almost like you’re battling with the people you're on stage with, not even trying to see who can be funnier but who can take the scene to the next level - how high, how ridiculous, how witty, how great can you get this scene to become. To me that’s the greatest thing about improv, you never know what’s going to happen next.
Stand up and be counted
Do you get much chance to bring your stand-up comedy experience into the show?
The writing on the show is so good that I don’t ever want to change the lines, because they’re so much fun. As far as I’d be involved is just being able to take the lines they give you and then just going 110 per cent to commit to them.
Clem is so goofy and it’s so much fun to get to play somebody that doesn’t care about their physical appearance, and can deliver lines about Knight Rider as if it’s the most important thing in the world. You know, "This will make my year if I get to watch Knight Rider and eat chicken wings". So it’s great fun to get to do that. As far as improvisation helping as an actor, it’s really teaching you to listen and react.
With fiends like these…
I suppose you’re like Spike’s best buddy?
I guess yeah, kind of.
Who would you really want as your best friend on Buffy?
Who would I like to have as a best friend? I would say that’s probably a toss up between the Tara character and Dawn. I really enjoyed doing those scenes with Michelle Trachtenberg, and I thought Dawn and Clem had really good chemistry together.
Spike’s a little bit too moody. You always got to be picking the guy up, he’s always depressed.
Putting on the zits
Do you find the make-up a help or a hindrance to your performance?
For Clem it really aided the performance because I had no idea what he was going to look like or anything. When they put it on the first time it really helped solidify the character that much more, because I knew I couldn’t take him too far. I knew there was nothing I could do that would be too much goofy-wise.
For me the make-up is light-weight. It gets itchy and hot, but it’s not like anything’s heavy, it’s a light-weight foam and it’s glued to every inch of my face. So as an actor I didn’t have to try to do anything to fight through it, so it was great, it really helped. When those ears go on, man, there’s Clem, Clem is back.
Street fear-tre
Do you ever go off the set and scare people outside?
I did want to go. There’s a Starbucks not too far away from where Buffy shoots. Unfortunately I never got the break, but I wanted to one day hop in the car and drive there and go and order. "Yeah I’d like a latte please. What’s the matter? Do I have something on my face, what’s the matter, is there something there?" But I never did it.
Money squeaks
What was your reaction to the idea of kitten poker?
On paper it was great. Actually having to deal with about twelve kittens on a table, when for some of the scene we were raised above the floor to get proper eye lines so the table was about two feet off the ground and the kittens kept trying to crawl off the table, [was difficult]. You don’t want to let them fall, so you’re in the middle of this dialogue scene trying to remember your lines and not look at the camera and you’re like "Oh, there goes a kitten, there we go."
So it was an effort trying to wrangle the kittens and keep them on the table. It was so crazy because there were twelve to fourteen of them that they would just keep interchanging all day long on the set. "Meow, meow, meow…" "Cut, we have kittens mewing".
Did they let you keep any of them?
No, but they were from the SPCA (Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals) so everybody on set wanted to take one home. I can’t - my wife’s allergic to cats - so that solved that problem.
Amiable hellspawn
Demons, are they bad guys or just misunderstood?
Demons are very similar to people, you got good ones and you got bad ones. Just because you’re a demon doesn’t necessarily mean you’re bad and just because you’re human doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good. That’s the way I look at it.
What I think is great about Buffy the show is that it can take all those archetypal characters and everything’s a metaphor. You can have a really hideous-looking person being one of the kindest, funniest people on the show, and then there are some people who have been very attractive who have been the most heartless and cruel. The whole Faith character is a beautiful girl who slipped into the dark side.
So I think the great thing about Joss and about the show and the writing is that it blurs all those lines, there’s no black and white, there’s all sorts of shades of grey. Just like life.
That’s the James Leary philosophical hour for the moment.
The wrinkly returns?
Can you tell us anything about what Clem might be doing in season seven?
I have no idea. Joss, please bring me back.
The way I work on the show is basically week to week. They call, and I read the script and go in and do it, so I haven’t heard too much as to what’s going to happen next year. If they need Clem he’ll be ready, willing and able to come and help in any way, shape or form.
Carry on Clem
How do you see Clem continuing after Buffy ends?
I have two big ideas. One is that if they go with the whole Slayer school, multiple Slayer type thing, let Clem become the Mrs Garrett of the Slayer world. He becomes the house mother. He helps them out with their problems, and never gets in any fights or he will die.
The other idea that James and I were kicking around one time was that Clem and Spike get their own sit-com that’s based on the Odd Couple.
Conventional wisdom
What do you make of the fan feedback you’ve had?
The most unexpected reaction was that there was a reaction. I never would have guessed in a million years that people would really fall in love with this character the way they have, because Clem hasn’t had a ton of screen time.
As an actor, especially when you’re used to doing theatre and improv where the audience reaction is immediate, you know if what you’re doing is good immediately because you’re in front of a live audience. With TV, you don’t get that, so coming to these conventions and seeing some of the websites and the posting board parties and stuff like that is really great because you find out that what you’re doing, people really enjoy.
As an actor that’s what you’re out to do, to affect people, so the fan reaction has been so fantastic. It’s been great getting to meet people and just everybody loves the character, which is the best complement any actor can ever get.