Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Nicholas Brendon and Bianca Lawson make time for a quick chat amid the Slayer-mania of NYCC.

Ten years after TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” premiered on the WB and four years after its final season on UPN, Slayer-mania remained in full swing at last month’s New York Comic Con as throngs of devotees clamored for a glimpse of their favorite cast members. In anticipation of Dark Horse’s Buffy Season 8, an ongoing series debuting this month with an arc written by Joss Whedon himself, we patrolled the Javits Center’s halls hoping for a few minutes with the “Buffy” luminaries to get their thoughts on the show’s enduring appeal.

Bianca Lawson (“Kendra”) and Juliet Landau (“Drusilla”) fielded questions during the “Slayer Tales” panel Feb. 24 sponsored by Diamond Select Toys, but notably absent from the proceedings was Nicholas Brendon, who played Buffy’s non-supernatural sidekick Xander for all seven seasons.

At his booth signing later that day, Brendon-jetlag evident in his raspy voice-explained that problems with his alarm clock caused him to miss his scheduled appearance. As he continued to meet and greet fans, he told us that the Buffy figures were “awesome” and among his favorites is the Xander variant based on his character’s appearance in the show’s final episode, “Chosen.” He wrapped our conversation by telling us that “words cannot describe” still being able to come to cons and still take part in Buffy culture. “It’s a blessing,” Brendon said.

We next spoke with Lawson. Into every generation, one slayer is chosen-or so we thought, until Kendra showed up in Season Two. Although the Jamaican slayer died early on in the series, Lawson has remained firm in the heart of Buffy fans around the world. We caught up with Lawson to ask about her upcoming role in “Don’t Fade Away,” starring Mischa Barton, as well as how it feels to still be famous for her “Buffy” role.

WIZARD: “Buffy” has such a strong fan following, but did you ever think you’d still be known as Kendra the Vampire Slayer six years after playing the role?

LAWSON: It’s amazing. I had no idea when I did it that it had the kind of fan following that it did. It was just another job, but, I mean, there is such a devoted fan following, even all these years later. I think it’s absolutely amazing.

Do you have any interesting convention stories?

LAWSON: No, but Juliet [Landau] does. Some guy came up to her at a convention and was like “I’m Kendra!”

Uh-oh...

LAWSON: And Juliet was like “No.” [And the guy] was like “No, no, I’m Kendra!” And he was very insistent that he was Kendra, and he wouldn’t even leave her alone until she said, “Okay, yeah, you’re Kendra.” But yeah, it’s become my story instead of hers.

What are some of your upcoming projects?

LAWSON: I have a film called “Don’t Fade Away” with Mischa Barton and Beau Bridges in the star role, and a thriller that was called “Primeval,” but now they’ve changed the title, and I don’t know what it’s called now.