Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Sarah Michelle Gellar has explained why she has no desire to reprise her role as Buffy Summers, be it in a reboot or a revival of the beloved '90s supernatural teen drama.
"I'm not," Gellar said when asked if she was interested in returning to Buffy during an interview with SFX Magazine. "I am very proud of the show that we created and it doesn't need to be done. We wrapped that up," she elaborated.
That said, Gellar would love to see the Vampire Slayer franchise continue without her. "I am all for them continuing the story, because there's the story of female empowerment," she said. "I love the way the show was left: 'Every girl who has the power can have the power.' It's set up perfectly for someone else to have the power. But like I said, the metaphors of Buffy were the horrors of adolescence. I think I look young, but I am not an adolescent."
Will Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ever Get a Reboot?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer began life as a 1992 feature film starring Kristy Swanson as Buffy Summers. However, the role is far more synonymous with Gellar, who starred as the character on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. The show originally aired on The WB before moving to UPN for its final two seasons. It also spawned a spinoff, Angel, which starred David Boreanaz and aired on The WB for five seasons from 1999 to 2004.
While Buffy has not received any sort of on-screen reboot or continuation since it and Angel wrapped up nearly 20 years ago, the franchise has lived on in the world of comic books, including continuations of Buffy Summers' story, as well as spinoffs focusing on other characters and concepts. A TV reboot of Buffy was reported to be in the works in 2018, with embattled creator Joss Whedon attached as an executive producer and Monica Owusu-Breen (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) attached to write. As of this year, however, the project has reportedly been paused indefinitely.
Sarah Michelle Gellar Returns to Genre TV in Wolf Pack
Still, while Gellar seems to have hung up her wooden stake for good, 2023 will actually mark her long-awaited return to genre TV. She is set to star as Kristin Ramsey in the upcoming Paramount+ series Wolf Pack, an offshoot (though not a spinoff) of MTV's Teen Wolf. "It was a couple of things," Gellar recently told Den of Geek regarding why she decided to do the show. "I've said this before, but initially, I had no intention of saying 'yes' [to it]. It's really hard when you've done something like Buffy. Because it's not that I've avoided genre, it's just that I can't top that. So it has to be either something that's so different or equally good, or all of those things have to sort of come together. I love genre, but it has to fit."
See Sarah Michelle Gellar return to supernatural TV in Wolf Pack, which premieres Jan. 26, 2023 on Paramount+.
Source: SFX Magazine, via MovieWeb