Old Sarah interview from 2003 with EW

blessed be my angel sarah · 10-22-2007, 03:53 PM

Buffy Quits- Sarah Michelle Gellar interview
Current mood: drained

Interview with SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR

BUFFY Quits!

Sarah Michelle Gellar: I hope it is the right time. This is so weird. This is like the first time I've really said it. Joss and I always [said] from the beginning, as long as we can give 140 percent, we'd always be doing it. You always worry about being the show that's been on too long - especially when you're a cult hit. Last year, a lot of people were ready to tear us down. [So when] we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought, "THis is how I want to go out - on top, at our best." I was 18 when I started the show; I'm 26. I'm married. I never see my husband. This has been the longest span of my life in one place. There've been times where that's been difficult - you want to pick up and go, try other things, live in different places. It feels right, and you have to listen to that. The show, as we know it, is over.

Why do you say "as we know it"?

I know they are planning a spin-off, and I would love to come back [for some episodes] - assuming, of course, that they don't kill [Buffy]. The moment I say all this, I'm going to get the last script and go, "Oh, my God!" Look, this is so scary. I love this job, I love the fans. I love telling the stories we tell. This isn't about leaving for a career in movies, or in theatre - it's more of a personal decision. I need a rest. Teachers get sabbaticals. Actors don't.

What was it like announcing your decision?

At the beginning of this season, Joss and I had a conversation outside my trailer. We both kind of felt that this was the end, that we should make that decision and say it publicly. And then...we didn't. We didn't even talk about it for a while...[But] the fact the show's been so good [this season] decided it for us. It was a realisation that we all came to.

If the show had stronger ratings, and had received more mainstream acclaim - as in Emmys - would you have stayed?

No. Our show never had top 10 numbers, but everyone talked about it. Joss and I disagree on this. People are always, "How sad are you that your show never won any awards?" I think it's great! This is the cool show, the show the voters don't get. I've won an Emmy. Okay, it's a Daytime Emmy, but it's still an Emmy. It doesn't mean nearly as much to me as my Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favourite Female Butter Kicker.

Was money an issue for you?I

Money? No complaints. Never.

I'll be honest: Buffy on UPN has always seemed like an odd fit.

I knew this question was coming.

Do you feel the switch from The WB to UPN in 2001 hurt the show?

It was a hard transition. This is a hard question because UPN has been very supportive of the show. They gave us a home. But I will always have a loyalty and a very, very deep appreciation for the support that I felt at The WB. The WB and Buffy were synonymous. They made each other.

So now it's on to a big career as...Daphne in Scooby-Doo?

[Laughs.] I get a lot of "Scooby-Doo?! That's why you're leaving?" Scooby-Doo was interesting. The reviews were scathing, and I took it really hard. [But] Freddie said to me, "Scooby-Doo isn't for reviewers. We're not making it for them." And when all these children came up to me to say, "Scooby-Doo is my favourite movie," that was great. But for a weird time in between, I took everything really personally.

Do you have a clear post-Buffy plan for making it in the movies?

If I did, I'd write a book, cash in, and retire. My movie experience has shown me you can't plan.

Simply Irresistible was a major flop. Do you have something to prove at the box office?

No. Simply Irresistible was [just] a bad choice - and for that it was a great [learning] experience. I wasn't ready to make that movie. I was too young. The script was not ready. I knew in my heart before I left [to make it] that I should back out.

Have you ever had any fear that you would be trapped by your Buffy image?

Of course. You run that risk with anything you do. [But to] be greatly identified with anything is a mark of success. My biggest fear right now is that people will blame me for [ending] the show. People are going to think that it's my fault that their favourite show is going off the air. And God knows we're always looking for someone to blame.

Do you think people will hold it against you in a way that will hurt other things you want to do?

No, it's more personal than that. Less professional, more personal. I love the fans. We were a midseason replacement on The WB called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on a movie that was a flop. People were like, "Don't worry, you'll get a pilot nextr season." People pitied me - PITIED me. We couldn't pay directors to come here. Nobody wanted to be on our show. And look what happened.

Time for some exit interview questions. Has there always been a Buffy master plan?

Joss has had certain episodes planned from the get-go. I knew Dawn was coming two years in advance...Willow was always supposed to go bad. Willow was supposed to go bad a year before she did, but Joss loved Tara and Willow, so that story line was pushed a year... I honestly believe his original intentions was to put Buffy and Xander together. I really do believe that.

Favourite episode?

I loved The Prom. It stood for everything Buffy was about: the fact that she so badly wanted to be part of the other kids' lives. I think The Body is pretty amazing. I loved the episode in which Buffy and Faith switched. That was one of my all-time favourites because I thought Eliza was so great. And also when Buffy realises she has to kill Angel and she kills him and he comes back. Those are my favourites.

Least favourite episode?

I had troublew with the one where Buffy had sex with Spike on the balcony while watching their friends. I really thought was out of character. And I didn't like what it stood for. That was the moment that I had the most problems with.

You've mentioned how much you disliked the sixth season. Why was that? And how did you feel about Buffy's depression, and her sexual obsession with Spike?

It wasn't who Buffy was, or why people loved her. You don't want to see that dark heroine; you don't want to see her punishing herself. You want to see her killing vampires and making quips. It didn't feel like the character that I loved. Joss always explained that season as being about your 20s, where you're not a kid anymore, but you don't know what you want to do [with your life]. He always said that I didn't understand last year because I've always known what I wanted to do, and I didn't have that confusion, [that] dark, depressive period. But I think the heart of the show lies in the humour of the drama. I felt like Buffy's spirit was missing last year.

Who do you think was the best Buffy villain ever?

Angel. Angel and Spike.

Why?

There was so much heartbreak when Angel went bad. This is the love of her life and now her job was to kill him! That's heartbreaking. Not to mention the poor girl has sex for the first time and, you know, turned him bad. I've heard of turning [someone] gay, but...

So, how would you like the show and your work on it to be remembered?

I hope positively. One thing about the show was it was never categorised. It was drama, comedy, action, horror, all of those things combined. And I just want people to remember it as a fabulous run, a fabulous seven years.

Do you know what youre last scene in the last episode will be?

I can't even imagine. All I can say is that I really hope I have the last line... Even talking to you - I don't know how I seem to you, I don't know if I seem once removed from it, [but] I don't think the enormity has hit me.

ohiofan · 10-22-2007, 04:30 PM

Nice to read this again. It reinforces the fact that she probably wouldn't be too keen on doing another series. It's too bad she didn't get the last line. If I remember right it was Dawn asking "What are we going to do now, Buffy?" I think the last line Buffy spoke was "Spike" when Giles asked what had caused Sunnydale to turn into the Grand Canyon.

eadweard · 10-22-2007, 04:48 PM

Ah, but the last visual was the camera closing on Buffy's face as she contemplated an answer to Dawn's question. Without a formulated answer, we are left to imagine for ourselves, each of us arriving at our own potential fanfic outline. I liked it.

sarahbrazilianfan · 10-22-2007, 06:44 PM

Thanks for the interview Blessed

...Sarah sounds like such a Bangel in it lol !

eadweard · 10-23-2007, 12:20 AM

So does Joss Whedon: I just got the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sketch Book by Georges Jeanty, the principle artist on the 8th season. The book has sketches from the first 4 issues, including that 3rd issue pic of Buffy's dream: she is in a nurse's outfit and Angel and Spike (both naked) are hugging her, all wrapped in chains. According to Jeanty: "Joss asked that Buffy be turning a little more to Angel than Spike." Sounds like the Creator is a Bangel.

ohiofan · 10-23-2007, 02:59 AM

I liked it too, Ed!

eadweard · 10-23-2007, 09:44 AM

Great wallie - but sad too, from a fan's viewpoint: the finale of the only reason to own a TV.

**andrew r** · 10-23-2007, 02:11 PM

Great interview bbmas! Some great answers on there. I did like Season 6, but I didn't like the whole Buffy and Spike thing. Wasn't that great imo. Though I loved the nerds in it. Really funny lines from them. However I didn't know that Willow was supposed to be evil in season 5. Thanks again for the interview.

recordable2 · 10-23-2007, 02:21 PM

Thanks for nice interview and great walli!!

sarahbrazilianfan · 10-23-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eadweard

So does Joss Whedon: I just got the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sketch Book by Georges Jeanty, the principle artist on the 8th season. The book has sketches from the first 4 issues, including that 3rd issue pic of Buffy's dream: she is in a nurse's outfit and Angel and Spike (both naked) are hugging her, all wrapped in chains. According to Jeanty: "Joss asked that Buffy be turning a little more to Angel than Spike." Sounds like the Creator is a Bangel.

Oh....I didnt know about that! thanks for the info Ed ! It just makes me a little happier....lol....

....

eadweard · 10-24-2007, 12:32 AM

That's me, just here to brighten your day.

Didn't I also read somewhere that James Marsters didn't believe that Spike was right for Buffy? Apparently, it's a Bangel world!

**andrew r** · 10-24-2007, 02:22 PM

Well Angel was Buffy's 'One True Love' wasn't he?

ohiofan · 10-24-2007, 06:22 PM

I just think of the scene in Season Seven when Xander was giving Buffy trouble because she kept saying it was her duty to kill Anya after the incident at the frat house. She made it perfectly clear when she reminded him about killing Angel at the end of Season Two that he was the only true love of her life.

sarahbrazilianfan · 10-24-2007, 08:02 PM

OMG isnt this turning into the Bangel Topic !...lol

!!!!!!!

!!!

blessed be my angel sarah · 10-25-2007, 06:18 AM

as a bangel fan...i'm not complaining!!!

but why do you think people are Bangel fans considering how angel treated her??? lol

ohiofan · 10-25-2007, 07:39 AM

Most of us here think of Buffy as family. The show was so well written, directed and acted out that we felt that way and wanted nothing but the best for Buffy. It was obvious throughout the show itself and in many of the "Buffy" novels since that she thought of Angel as the "one true love in her life". The tragedy and hopelessness of their situation only makes the true Bangle long for some miracle where they can be together. We all want only what's best for those we care for and since Buffy feels as she does about Angel then we can do nothing more than follow her dream. The fact that we do care is one of the hallmarks of the show.

eadweard · 10-25-2007, 09:27 AM

Plus, in Angel's and our memories, there was "what might have been": I'll Remember You. A lot of people forget, that in order to save Buffy's life, and prevent total victory by evil, Angel gave up his humanity - and a life with Buffy as a normal person: a sacrifice beyond measure, and one that only Angel (and the viewers) remember.

*Sarah_Fan4Ever* · 10-25-2007, 07:34 PM

Yeah well, maybe I'm too Spuffy for this topic but...about the whole interview, the wallpaper and all that, I just can say...Aww, memories!!

ohiofan · 10-26-2007, 03:24 AM

Well said, Sarah. I guess, in the end, memories are the most important things we own. It's so nice that Joss and Sarah have left us with so many truly remarkable moments frozen in time. Just like these:

eadweard · 10-26-2007, 09:25 AM

Great moments, great wallies; thanks, Pat! All, on the verge of tears...

10-22-2007, 03:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
blessed be my angel sarah Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: dorset, UK Posts: 775 My Profile	Old Sarah interview from 2003 with EW Buffy Quits- Sarah Michelle Gellar interview Current mood: drained Interview with SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR BUFFY Quits! Sarah Michelle Gellar: I hope it is the right time. This is so weird. This is like the first time I've really said it. Joss and I always [said] from the beginning, as long as we can give 140 percent, we'd always be doing it. You always worry about being the show that's been on too long - especially when you're a cult hit. Last year, a lot of people were ready to tear us down. [So when] we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought, "THis is how I want to go out - on top, at our best." I was 18 when I started the show; I'm 26. I'm married. I never see my husband. This has been the longest span of my life in one place. There've been times where that's been difficult - you want to pick up and go, try other things, live in different places. It feels right, and you have to listen to that. The show, as we know it, is over. Why do you say "as we know it"? I know they are planning a spin-off, and I would love to come back [for some episodes] - assuming, of course, that they don't kill [Buffy]. The moment I say all this, I'm going to get the last script and go, "Oh, my God!" Look, this is so scary. I love this job, I love the fans. I love telling the stories we tell. This isn't about leaving for a career in movies, or in theatre - it's more of a personal decision. I need a rest. Teachers get sabbaticals. Actors don't. What was it like announcing your decision? At the beginning of this season, Joss and I had a conversation outside my trailer. We both kind of felt that this was the end, that we should make that decision and say it publicly. And then...we didn't. We didn't even talk about it for a while...[But] the fact the show's been so good [this season] decided it for us. It was a realisation that we all came to. If the show had stronger ratings, and had received more mainstream acclaim - as in Emmys - would you have stayed? No. Our show never had top 10 numbers, but everyone talked about it. Joss and I disagree on this. People are always, "How sad are you that your show never won any awards?" I think it's great! This is the cool show, the show the voters don't get. I've won an Emmy. Okay, it's a Daytime Emmy, but it's still an Emmy. It doesn't mean nearly as much to me as my Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favourite Female Butter Kicker. Was money an issue for you?I Money? No complaints. Never. I'll be honest: Buffy on UPN has always seemed like an odd fit. I knew this question was coming. Do you feel the switch from The WB to UPN in 2001 hurt the show? It was a hard transition. This is a hard question because UPN has been very supportive of the show. They gave us a home. But I will always have a loyalty and a very, very deep appreciation for the support that I felt at The WB. The WB and Buffy were synonymous. They made each other. So now it's on to a big career as...Daphne in Scooby-Doo? [Laughs.] I get a lot of "Scooby-Doo?! That's why you're leaving?" Scooby-Doo was interesting. The reviews were scathing, and I took it really hard. [But] Freddie said to me, "Scooby-Doo isn't for reviewers. We're not making it for them." And when all these children came up to me to say, "Scooby-Doo is my favourite movie," that was great. But for a weird time in between, I took everything really personally. Do you have a clear post-Buffy plan for making it in the movies? If I did, I'd write a book, cash in, and retire. My movie experience has shown me you can't plan. Simply Irresistible was a major flop. Do you have something to prove at the box office? No. Simply Irresistible was [just] a bad choice - and for that it was a great [learning] experience. I wasn't ready to make that movie. I was too young. The script was not ready. I knew in my heart before I left [to make it] that I should back out. Have you ever had any fear that you would be trapped by your Buffy image? Of course. You run that risk with anything you do. [But to] be greatly identified with anything is a mark of success. My biggest fear right now is that people will blame me for [ending] the show. People are going to think that it's my fault that their favourite show is going off the air. And God knows we're always looking for someone to blame. Do you think people will hold it against you in a way that will hurt other things you want to do? No, it's more personal than that. Less professional, more personal. I love the fans. We were a midseason replacement on The WB called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on a movie that was a flop. People were like, "Don't worry, you'll get a pilot nextr season." People pitied me - PITIED me. We couldn't pay directors to come here. Nobody wanted to be on our show. And look what happened. Time for some exit interview questions. Has there always been a Buffy master plan? Joss has had certain episodes planned from the get-go. I knew Dawn was coming two years in advance...Willow was always supposed to go bad. Willow was supposed to go bad a year before she did, but Joss loved Tara and Willow, so that story line was pushed a year... I honestly believe his original intentions was to put Buffy and Xander together. I really do believe that. Favourite episode? I loved The Prom. It stood for everything Buffy was about: the fact that she so badly wanted to be part of the other kids' lives. I think The Body is pretty amazing. I loved the episode in which Buffy and Faith switched. That was one of my all-time favourites because I thought Eliza was so great. And also when Buffy realises she has to kill Angel and she kills him and he comes back. Those are my favourites. Least favourite episode? I had troublew with the one where Buffy had sex with Spike on the balcony while watching their friends. I really thought was out of character. And I didn't like what it stood for. That was the moment that I had the most problems with. You've mentioned how much you disliked the sixth season. Why was that? And how did you feel about Buffy's depression, and her sexual obsession with Spike? It wasn't who Buffy was, or why people loved her. You don't want to see that dark heroine; you don't want to see her punishing herself. You want to see her killing vampires and making quips. It didn't feel like the character that I loved. Joss always explained that season as being about your 20s, where you're not a kid anymore, but you don't know what you want to do [with your life]. He always said that I didn't understand last year because I've always known what I wanted to do, and I didn't have that confusion, [that] dark, depressive period. But I think the heart of the show lies in the humour of the drama. I felt like Buffy's spirit was missing last year. Who do you think was the best Buffy villain ever? Angel. Angel and Spike. Why? There was so much heartbreak when Angel went bad. This is the love of her life and now her job was to kill him! That's heartbreaking. Not to mention the poor girl has sex for the first time and, you know, turned him bad. I've heard of turning [someone] gay, but... So, how would you like the show and your work on it to be remembered? I hope positively. One thing about the show was it was never categorised. It was drama, comedy, action, horror, all of those things combined. And I just want people to remember it as a fabulous run, a fabulous seven years. Do you know what youre last scene in the last episode will be? I can't even imagine. All I can say is that I really hope I have the last line... Even talking to you - I don't know how I seem to you, I don't know if I seem once removed from it, [but] I don't think the enormity has hit me.

10-23-2007, 02:59 AM	#6 (permalink)
ohiofan Fan Artist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,846 My Profile	Ohiofan's Humble Wallpapers I liked it too, Ed!

10-24-2007, 08:02 PM	#14 (permalink)
sarahbrazilianfan Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rio de Janeiro Posts: 1,660 My Profile	OMG isnt this turning into the Bangel Topic !...lol !!!!!!! !!! Last edited by sarahbrazilianfan; 10-24-2007 at 08:03 PM..

10-26-2007, 03:24 AM	#19 (permalink)
ohiofan Fan Artist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,846 My Profile	Ohiofan's Humble Wallpapers Well said, Sarah. I guess, in the end, memories are the most important things we own. It's so nice that Joss and Sarah have left us with so many truly remarkable moments frozen in time. Just like these:

10-22-2007, 04:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
ohiofan Fan Artist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,846 My Profile	Nice to read this again. It reinforces the fact that she probably wouldn't be too keen on doing another series. It's too bad she didn't get the last line. If I remember right it was Dawn asking "What are we going to do now, Buffy?" I think the last line Buffy spoke was "Spike" when Giles asked what had caused Sunnydale to turn into the Grand Canyon.

10-22-2007, 04:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	Ah, but the last visual was the camera closing on Buffy's face as she contemplated an answer to Dawn's question. Without a formulated answer, we are left to imagine for ourselves, each of us arriving at our own potential fanfic outline. I liked it.

10-22-2007, 06:44 PM	#4 (permalink)
sarahbrazilianfan Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rio de Janeiro Posts: 1,660 My Profile	Thanks for the interview Blessed ...Sarah sounds like such a Bangel in it lol !

10-23-2007, 12:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	So does Joss Whedon: I just got the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sketch Book by Georges Jeanty, the principle artist on the 8th season. The book has sketches from the first 4 issues, including that 3rd issue pic of Buffy's dream: she is in a nurse's outfit and Angel and Spike (both naked) are hugging her, all wrapped in chains. According to Jeanty: "Joss asked that Buffy be turning a little more to Angel than Spike." Sounds like the Creator is a Bangel.

10-23-2007, 09:44 AM	#7 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	Great wallie - but sad too, from a fan's viewpoint: the finale of the only reason to own a TV.

10-23-2007, 02:11 PM	#8 (permalink)
andrew r Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: England Posts: 33,322 My Profile	Great interview bbmas! Some great answers on there. I did like Season 6, but I didn't like the whole Buffy and Spike thing. Wasn't that great imo. Though I loved the nerds in it. Really funny lines from them. However I didn't know that Willow was supposed to be evil in season 5. Thanks again for the interview.

10-23-2007, 02:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
recordable2 Love, my life inspiration Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany - Berlin Posts: 7,890 My Profile	Thanks for nice interview and great walli!!

10-24-2007, 12:32 AM	#11 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	That's me, just here to brighten your day. Didn't I also read somewhere that James Marsters didn't believe that Spike was right for Buffy? Apparently, it's a Bangel world!

10-24-2007, 02:22 PM	#12 (permalink)
andrew r Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: England Posts: 33,322 My Profile	Well Angel was Buffy's 'One True Love' wasn't he?

10-24-2007, 06:22 PM	#13 (permalink)
ohiofan Fan Artist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,846 My Profile	I just think of the scene in Season Seven when Xander was giving Buffy trouble because she kept saying it was her duty to kill Anya after the incident at the frat house. She made it perfectly clear when she reminded him about killing Angel at the end of Season Two that he was the only true love of her life.

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10-25-2007, 06:18 AM	#15 (permalink)
blessed be my angel sarah Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: dorset, UK Posts: 775 My Profile	as a bangel fan...i'm not complaining!!! but why do you think people are Bangel fans considering how angel treated her??? lol

10-25-2007, 07:39 AM	#16 (permalink)
ohiofan Fan Artist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,846 My Profile	Most of us here think of Buffy as family. The show was so well written, directed and acted out that we felt that way and wanted nothing but the best for Buffy. It was obvious throughout the show itself and in many of the "Buffy" novels since that she thought of Angel as the "one true love in her life". The tragedy and hopelessness of their situation only makes the true Bangle long for some miracle where they can be together. We all want only what's best for those we care for and since Buffy feels as she does about Angel then we can do nothing more than follow her dream. The fact that we do care is one of the hallmarks of the show.

10-25-2007, 09:27 AM	#17 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	Plus, in Angel's and our memories, there was "what might have been": I'll Remember You. A lot of people forget, that in order to save Buffy's life, and prevent total victory by evil, Angel gave up his humanity - and a life with Buffy as a normal person: a sacrifice beyond measure, and one that only Angel (and the viewers) remember.

10-25-2007, 07:34 PM	#18 (permalink)
Sarah_Fan4Ever Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 312 My Profile	Yeah well, maybe I'm too Spuffy for this topic but...about the whole interview, the wallpaper and all that, I just can say...Aww, memories!!

10-26-2007, 09:25 AM	#20 (permalink)
eadweard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bristol, TN, USA Posts: 4,589 My Profile	Great moments, great wallies; thanks, Pat! All, on the verge of tears...