Sarah Michelle Gellar has admitted that developing a revival of Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been “overwhelming.”
“It’s heartwarming and exciting and also incredibly nerve-wracking at the same time,” Gellar, 47, told People at the Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards on Saturday, February 15.
The actress confirmed earlier this month that she’s working with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao on a sequel show, where she would executive produce in addition to reprising her role as Buffy Summers in some capacity.
Gellar is not expected to be the lead of the new BuffyVerse project, as the script calls for a new Slayer to take a central role. This twist was made possible by Buffy‘s 2003 series finale where all of the potential Slayers in the world were woken up at once.
While attending the weekend gala at the Beverly Hilton, Gellar acknowledged that Buffy fans’ high expectations make reviving the property a challenge.
“I wish there was a better word than overwhelming,” she admitted.
Gellar added that the Buffy spinoff is particularly “nerve-wracking” because everyone involved is determined to “do it right.”
“I think we have this team in place that is legendary, from Chloé Zhao to the Zucks [producers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman], to [producer] Gail Berman. And I think people are going to be pretty impressed,” she predicted.
The Buffy alum has long resisted getting involved in a potential reboot or remake. In 2019, Gellar told Us Weekly that she didn’t see a reason why Buffy needed rebooting.
“I think that reboots are great to introduce someone to a story that maybe they don’t know, to characters they don’t know,” Gellar told Us. “I think the amazing thing about Buffy’s legacy is that people are still watching and discovering and it still resonates. The fact that it’s still important to people, it sort of means that it lives on its own. That being said, if you have more story to tell, that’s great. I don’t feel that I do.”
Despite her reluctance, Gellar eventually agreed to take a meeting about a revival concept with Zhao and her “mentor” Berman that turned into several hours of reminiscing about Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s immense impact. Once Gellar agreed to sign on as an executive producer, Hulu put the revival concept into development.
“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right,” Gellar wrote to fans via Instagram earlier in February. “This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”
Gellar originally starred as the titular Slayer for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003. The TV series was itself a reboot of creator Joss Whedon‘s 1992 cult classic horror movie of the same name, in which Kristy Swanson played Buffy Summers. Whedon has no involvement in this new version of Buffy.
The Buffy TV series was so popular in its heyday that cast member David Boreanaz got his own spinoff, Angel, which aired from 1999 to 2004. The continuity from both shows has carried over into a long-running comic book series from Dark Horse.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
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