Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar, who reprises the role of Daphne in the upcoming sequel film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, told SCI FI Wire that her character goes through a process of discovery that sounds almost like her own. "I think the first story sort of revolved around Daphne finding her place, that same in-between [place] that I think a lot of teenagers and young adults find [themselves in], which is: Where do I fit in? What’s my place? What’s my purpose? What am I good at? Because everything to her was, she was the pretty one, she never really fit in," Gellar said in an interview during a break in filming on the movie’s Vancouver, B.C., set.

Gellar, who won worldwide fame for her starring role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, added about her Scooby role: "This one is more about public image, and how in the beginning, you find Daphne, and she is confident. She’s confident because she’s deriving her strength from what other people think, the press and the fans, and it’s about public image. And what she soon realizes is that the public image can change. It’s fickle, and you have to find your strength from within before you worry about how everyone else perceives you."

Beyond that, Gellar said that the sequel, which wraps its 71-day production schedule in about 10 days, is also more confident about what it is trying to be. "I think ... we weren’t exactly sure what our niche was the first time," she said. "Were we a movie for kids? Were we going to be a little more esoteric and go for a little bit of an older, more satirical audience? And we shot everything both ways. And it was really put together in the edit and really made for a family film. Now, coming in, you know we’re coming in to make a family film. We know our characters. The story is set. And it makes it much easier to just jump into a story."

In the sequel, Gellar and co-stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (Gellar’s real-life husband, who plays Fred), Linda Cardellini (Velma) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) take on a mystery in their hometown of Coolsville, which will feature the return of several well-known monsters from the classic Scooby-Doo animated TV series. Mystery, Inc.’s adversaries this time around will include the Black Knight Ghost, the Pterodactyl Ghost, the Tar Monster, the 10,000-Volt Ghost and others in an adventure that also marks the return of Jeremiah Wickles (Peter Boyle) and new characters played by Alicia Silverstone and Seth Green. Scooby-Doo 2 is in production with an eye to a March 26, 2004, release.