Marc Blucas vs. Brad Pitt

From Journalnow.com - By Webmaster - 2008-01-10

Marc Blucas - "Buffy" Tv Series - Journalnow.com Interview

When Blucas was hired to play Buffy’s new boyfriend in 1999, he was warned to expect hostility from fans. After all, he was taking the place of Buffy’s ex Angel, a brooding vampire who had gotten his own spinoff series.

"Joss (Whedon, the show’s creator) told me, ’We could hire Brad Pitt and they’re still going to hate him,’" Blucas recalled. "It didn’t matter. They did everything humanly possible, as writers, to get them (the audience) to like me."

But though some fans accepted the character, heroic nice-guy Riley Finn, many others were rabid in their hatred of him. And they took their complaints to the Internet.

So did Blucas check out what was being said about him on fan message boards online?

"Sure I did," he said ruefully. "That was a real bright move. That can hit your confidence."

Whedon and other members of the cast and crew warned him not to look at those comments, "but it was like driving by a car accident," he said. "They were writing such bad things about me, I thought my parents would disown me."

Despite the bruises to his ego, Blucas appreciated the chance to be a part of Buffy lore.

"It was like being a freshman in the ACC," he said. "I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, but I was playing with some of the best players out there. I got to get my feet wet and pick up good habits instead of bad ones on my first real job. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience."

After about a year on the show, he went to talk with Whedon and they agreed that it was time for the character to leave.

"I was ready to be off the show, not because of the audience," he said. "I don’t want to play the same character all the time. It’s important to play different roles."

He has resisted series television since then, focusing on movies. He did, however, take a guest role last season on an episode of Fox’s hit medical drama House. In it, Blucas played an ex-Marine whom Dr. House had a dream about.

"They win awards for a reason," Blucas said. "They’re a great group of people, but by day three I was going crazy. To each their own. Some people want the security of a series, to be on the set and with the same people all the time. Again, I had a great time, but it told me what I already knew - which was that I didn’t want to sign up for a big TV show."