Forgotten Buffy Star Completely Changed The Show’s Vampires
If you ask your average Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan who their favorite character is, chances are that few people will say “Jesse McNally,” the character played by Eric Balfour. He was a Scooby before the gang had a name, but he ended up vamped and killed before the end of the second episode. However, this forgotten Buffy star ended up changing the show’s vampires forever because his difficult line deliveries eventually caused Joss Whedon to order new prosthetics for vampire actors with heavy speaking roles.
Jesse McNally’s Short-Lived Tenure
Explaining the significance of Balfour’s acting difficulties will require a quick primer on his character and exactly how vampires work in this beloved television show. In short, Jesse was introduced in the series premiere, and he was already good friends with Xander and Willow. Given that and how well he fit in with the group, fans had every reason to assume this character would be around for a good, long time.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon wanted fans to feel that way so they would be appropriately shocked at the character getting turned into a vampire. In this capacity, he was used as bait to lure Buffy and her friends into a trap. Fortunately, they managed to escape, and by the end of the episode, the vampiric Jesse had been reduced to a pile of dust.
Problematic Prosthetics
How was Jesse able to lure Buffy and her friends into a vampire trap even after he was turned? In this show, vampires can present as regular humans, which is a handy trick when they are seeking out their next meal.
Otherwise, they have freaky vampire faces, which is usually the face they are wearing when fighting the Slayer. Those ugly faces were created by the use of a special prosthetic, but Eric Balfour helped Joss Whedon realize the problem with the initial design.
Not Great For Speaking Roles
While most of the evil minions in Buffy just sit in the background and look menacing or die in battle, some vampires like Jesse have extensive speaking roles. As Balfour found out the hard way, this prosthetic made it hard to say his lines. Particularly, he had trouble saying any words that had the letter “s” in them.
Different Designs For Dialogue Divas
That might not have been a problem but, as Joss Whedon ruefully noted in the Buffy DVD commentary for “Harvest,” much of the dialogue he wrote for Balfour’s vampire character had that letter in at least one word. The actor was on the struggle bus almost every time he spoke, but Whedon learned from this and had new prosthetics designed for vampires with heavy dialogue. He didn’t throw the old ones out, though, instead holding onto those for the henchmen who hardly ever spoke.
McNally Crawled So Spike Could Run
Unfortunately, Eric Balfour never came back to Buffy…unlike some other deceased characters, this vampire never popped up in any flashbacks, nor was he a shape ever taken by the First Evil. Nonetheless, he left a mark on the show as surely as his vampire longed to leave bloody marks on Cordelia’s neck. And without the lesson that he helped teach Whedon, fans might never have gotten so many great speeches from Spike, as James Marsters would have had trouble even saying his character’s name without the new prosthetics.
