Sarah Michelle Gellar Says New Buffy Will Be More Fun Than the Original’s Final Seasons
The US actor, a guest at the 18th Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, spoke about the reboot of the cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When Sarah Michelle Gellar pops up in the Forte Village in Pula during the 18th edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, time seems to revert to the late 1990s – when her cult TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was still airing. Now, more than 20 years after its series finale, Buffy is set to return with a reboot. And so is Gellar, who will reprise the titular character on the new show.
Thanks to her role as Buffy, the 48-year-old actor became a teen idol in her early 20s. “I was very lucky. Back then, social media didn’t exist,” she said at the festival. “A young, famous actor experienced it in a completely different way than in modern times. I didn’t feel the pressure that today’s actors feel, who are asked to constantly post content and do silly dances on TikTok.”
Gellar was convinced to step back into the vampire slayer’s shoes by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, whose pitch forms the basis of the show. “For so many years, I said no to a possible return of the series,” she said. “I didn’t want to reintroduce something we had already seen. I waited for the right time to come. Then Chloe, a big Buffy fan, proposed the project to me, and I accepted. The gestation was long. It’s been three years, and we’re still working on it.” But soon filming will begin.
The star, who will be joined in the series by young actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong, revealed some details about the series as well: “It will be lighter than the last few seasons of the original. We will try to find a balance between new and old characters. My dream is to bring back everyone who has died, but space will have to be made for new stories as well.”
“One of the surprising aspects of Buffy is that it’s always been a crossover series,” Gellar added. “We’re trying to figure out how to modernize the themes of the series, especially what it means to feel like an outsider in a world dominated by social media. What we want to explore are the space-time boundaries that affect society today.”
Original article at Vanity Fair.
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