James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) is an American actor and musician. Marsters first came to the attention of the general public playing the popular character
Spike, a platinum-blond English vampire in the television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series,
Angel, from 1997 to 2004. Since then, he has gone on to play other science fiction roles, such as the
alien supervillain
Brainiac on the
Superman-inspired series
Smallville, the omnisexual time traveller
Captain John Hart in British science-fiction show
Torchwood, and terrorist Barnabas Greeley in
Syfy's
Caprica. Marsters appeared in a supporting role in the 2007 movie
P.S. I Love You. He appeared as a recurring character in the first season of the revival of
Hawaii Five-0.