Sarah Michelle Gellar had to “deal with a lot of bulls**t” on Buffy

As the star of stuff like Buffy and the Vampire Slayer and Cruel Intentions, Sarah Michelle Gellar was one of the buzziest stars in the late ’90s and early ’00s. She left center stage for a while in part to raise her family, but is mounting something of a comeback, which includes a role in the new Paramount+ show Wolf Pack and an interview spread in The Hollywood Reporter.

Gellar is back in the limelight in the wake of the public cancelation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, who also went on to direct the first two Avengers movies. Cast members on Whedon’s shows Buffy and Angel, most prominently Charisma Carpenter, came forward to talk about Whedon’s toxic behavior on set. At the time, Gellar made a statement of support, but stopped short of telling her own story. “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers,” she wrote, “I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.”

And after grappling with her experiences behind the scenes, she still isn’t interested in sharing those personal details, which is understandable. “I’ve come to a good place with it, where it’s easier to talk about,” Gellar told THR. “I’ll never tell my full story because I don’t get anything out of it. I’ve said all I’m going to say because nobody wins. Everybody loses.”

Joss Whedon felt a “tremendous amount of resentment and animosity” towards Sarah Michelle Gellar

That said, Gellar’s husband Freddie Prinze Jr. isn’t quite as tactful. “She had to deal with a lot of bullshit on that show for all seven years it was on,” he said. “The stuff they pressed upon her, without any credit or real salary, while she was often the only one doing 15-hour days … yet she was still able to get the message of that character out every single week and do it with pride and do it professionally.”

No one’s really saying the name “Joss Whedon,” although I think we all know he’s who they’re talking about. “It was obvious that Sarah lacked the support to be the leader she needed and wanted to be,” said Gellar’s old Buffy castmate Emma Caulfield (Anya), who has since gone on to find a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “There was a tremendous amount of resentment and animosity [toward her] from a certain someone — and I suppose now we can all guess who.”

That reminds me of something that Buffy cast members James Marsters (Spike) said about Whedon while speaking on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast. “I remember he backed me up against a wall one day, and he was just like, ‘I don’t care how popular you are, kid, you’re dead. You hear me? Dead. Dead!’ And I was just like, ‘Uh, you know, it’s your football, man. OK.’”

The idea of a showrunner being resentful of actors on his own show blowing up and succeeding sounds so…weird. But no one said toxic people can’t sabotage themselves. It actually might be a requirement.

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