Heh, I was just saying pretty much the same thing to a friend on AIM who'd just read this. And yes, James is very much a Method actor. He explained his whole process to us in Chicago, and talked about how he spent the first half of S7 in deep depression because of what he had to dredge up to get Spike to that place. So yeah, that's my theory, that James *has* to believe this stuff about Spike, because this is what *Spike* would believe about himself. He can't afford to be all "Yay Spike!" and still be able to get to where he needs to be to bring all these layers to the table.

I do want to point out that in Chicago he did say a lot of this stuff, but he also said a lot of very positive and hopeful things about Spike's growth and his redemptive path, *and* his feelings for Buffy. It's a shame he didn't get around to saying any of that this time. Like somebody else said, you also have to wonder if all this media stuff -- TWoP's attitude, that Salon article, etc. -- just outright hating Spike is getting to him. Still, you'd think he'd have the sense to know that those aren't gonna be the people he's talking to at a fan convention.