Article content continued

The fact that he now gets to sit on panels and meet with fans of his role on the two Joss Whedon series makes the actor pinch himself. The experience has helped him reconcile his discomfort with fame. Marsters got his acting start in theatre. He felt like TV and commercials made people feel worse about themselves and he didn’t want to embody that. Conventions had the opposite effect.

Saskatoon Comic & Entertainment Expo

Sept. 17, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sept. 18, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Prairieland Park

Tickets $5-$70 (photo ops extra)

Box office: saskexpo.com

With Carrie Fisher, James Marsters, Tom Felton, Bob Morley, Garrett Wang and more

“If I can meet someone and really listen to them and really meet them on a human level, they end up feeling a bit better about themselves and that’s really cool. And now it’s kind of fun to be famous,” he said.

Though he’s gone on to do lots of different things since Angel ended in 2004 — including roles in Hawaii 5-0 and Caprica, playing with band Ghost of the Robot and doing voiceover work — he’s happy to revisit his time as the bad boy vampire Spike.

He’s proud of his work on the shows, even though he wasn’t looking for a critical hit when he moved to Los Angeles. As a new father, he moved there to make money.

“I told my agent ‘I’m not here to prove myself as an actor, I did that on stage a long time ago. I’m here for diaper money. I’ll be the new Urkel. I don’t care about impressing people, I’ll be Alf’s sidekick if I have to.’ And lo and behold, I got on a show that was better written than most of the original plays I was doing. It just tickles me. I really can’t believe that I sold out, but then did something that I’m actually proud of.”

Marsters is a featured guest at the Saskatoon Comic & Entertainment Expo Sept. 17 and 18 at Prairieland Park. His panel takes place on the 18th at 1:30 p.m. He’ll do photo ops and autograph signings on both days (see saskexpo.com for tickets). Marsters will also showcase his musical skills at a solo concert at Louis’ on the 17th. He’s played in Ghost of the Robot, a band he founded with Charlie de Mars, since 2001, but since one of the members is in college they only tour during the summer.

“I’ll do what I did when I was 13 years old. I’ll bring my guitar on stage and perform a different set of songs that are a little more folky, more bluesy than the band,” he said.

smckay@postmedia.com

twitter.com/spstephmckay