Sarah Michelle Gellar

PART TWO

Crowd member: Hi Sarah and Jason. Sarah you are my all-time favourite actress and I loved you in Buffy. And Jason...you are an amazing actor and were great in Roswell. Sarah and Jason both, but mostly Sarah. Do you ever turn to...

[Crowd giggling]

SMG: I feel like there’s a private joke I missed out there.

Girl: I don’t know...

[Crowd laugh]

Girl: Do you ever turn to any of the characters you’ve ever played to solve any of your problems in everyday life?

[Sarah has a confused look on her face. Crowd making “huh?” noises. Crowd laugh]

SMG: Y..Y..You know they’re not real right?

[Crowd laugh]

I’m sorr...You know what...the answer to that is “yes”. I mean...specifically for me...Buffy was an inspiration...

Girl interrupts: She was for me too. Like...whenever I had a problem...

[Members of crowd shouting “noooooooo”. Unsure what to make of this]

SMG: I hope I did you okay then boy, ‘cause that’s a lot of pressure. No, I, I, I totally hear what you’re saying. For me to play teen years and like early twenties....it’s so hard, and especially being a female. And one of the things that I loved about Buffy was that...she was okay with who she was, and to me that’s the most important lesson you can ever learn...is that it’s okay if you’re not the smartest or the brightest or the most talented or the prettiest, but the most important thing is to be confident with who you are and I think...I know I certainly could take a lot from that. Although my character in ‘Cruel Intentions’...I don’t know how much I learned except how to dress [I think].....and maybe how to kiss a girl I don’t know. [Think someone may shout something at this point. Not sure] Thank you Paris Hilton what?

Crowd member: Um...just wanted to ask what you guys think of Comic Con? Have you gotten to see anything? Especially you, Sarah. They’ve got a lotta booths around. A lot of you around here.

SMG: [Hits table with fist] Just not damn enough. [laughs] They haven’t let us out of a cage yet actually. I think they’ve been letting us sort of pace until we could come out, so I haven’t had a chance to see anything yet.

Guy: It’s fun. You guys should try it. It’s cool.

SMG: Anything in particular we should look for?

Guy: Uuuuum. You’d quite like the Buffy stuff.

JB: I hear they have the Ju-On DVD out there somewhere. Yeah? Has anyone seen it?

[Some cheers]

Just curious.

SMG: Just asking. I saw it. Did you like it? I saw it...

JB: I thought it was amazing.

SMG: Me too.

JB: But wait until you see The Grudge. Even better.

Crowd member: Hi Sarah. Hi Jason. I’m right here [they spot her]. I just wanna first tell you that I absolutely love you Sarah.

SMG: Thank you...

Girl: The question I wanna ask is in the action in The Grudge was it anywhere close to the action in Buffy?

SMG: You know, in a sense for me it was actually harder... It’s almost harder to not...to look like you don’t know what you’re doing. And I remember one scene in particular...which was just a running scene and I was just racing to get somewhere [gestures to Jason] for him and they kept making me do the scene over and over and over again. I was getting really exhausted, and finally I was like “What am I doing wrong?” They said, “Because you’re running like a superhero, and if you could just like...flap your arms a little more.” [flaps arms around] And they thought the more they kept making me do it, the more tired I would get...maybe like, the lamer I would look...

JB: She didn’t know that Shimizu kept all those outtakes and showed everybody.

SMG: No, but I did know you paid him like 20 bucks to keep me doing it.

JB: Yeah, she knows everything...

[laughs]

SMG: So, it was h...It was definitely physical, and I think one of the things about it too which is Japanese filmmaking is sort of a very different style. American films and, you know...please don’t let it out of this room of a few thousand people, but um...we cheat a lot. You know, I don’t really lift those guys. I’ve got wires, I’ve got stuntmen, I’ve got all sorts of help. And in Japanese films, you just kinda do it. And you know they say, “Go through that glass window,” and it’s like “how do I get through that?” “Well break it first...and then go.” It was very eye opening. I’m not the lazy actor I once was.

[Sarah offers Jason chocolate or something]

Crowd member: I know they’ve been telling you a lot, but you’re my idol. I’ve followed your career for years now and...okay, here’s my question.

SMG: Thank you.

Same woman: How did you get involved in the film...like did you just read the script and were like, “wow, this is great,” or did you think about it a lot, or....?

SMG: Pretty much that. I had come home from Vancouver and a little sort of disillusioned...not reading anything that...to me was really interesting and worthwhile. And I got a phonecall on a Thursday night from a friend of mine that’s actually here...somewhere....I don’t know where, and she said, “I’ve read this script, and you’re gonna love it, but here’s the deal...you have to read it, watch this film tonight ‘cause you’ve gotta go meet tomorrow because you’ve been gone for so long. So mistake number one was watching the original Grudge at 10 o’clock at night in a house by myself. [Crowd respond] Not one of my brighter moments. And I just loved it...I loved visually the shots. I loved the style. I loved the story. And um...I went in and met with them the next day and then I...um stalked Sam Raimi for some time. The restraining order should be lifted anytime soon. So, you know...it was great. And here I am.

Crowd member: Hi Sarah. Hi Jason. Nice to meet you.

JB: Nice to meet you man.

Guy: This question is kind of for both of you. What is your favourite kind of movie and tv show genre to do and why is that?

JB: I still love The Simpsons. I could watch that for the rest of my life.

SMG: Cannott disagree with that one.

JB: I like cartoons. What can I say?

SMG: I think for me...Buffy spoiled me in a sense...just because it’s still hard to find really strong female characters where women can drive and women can really be active. So to me....I would never specifically say it’s one genre, but I just like doing things where women have a say and where women get to be a powerful character Even if they’re the victim, but where they really have three dimensional female characters.

Guy: Thank you.

Crowd member: Hi Sarah. Over here. I have a question. I watched you on Buffy 7 years...and I was wondering what the transition from being tv star to movie star...how that affected you?

SMG: Goodness. Um, I think the first thing was just sort of deep sadness. You know, that’s...that was a huge part of my life. It was the only part of my adult life that I had known was being on that show. So leaving it I think was incredibly sad and emotional, but at the same time it was sort of...it’s that next step and ...for me it was a transition I think that Buffy took also which was...leaving something safe and trying something out. Now for me it’s a little bit of freedom. I based all my movie choices for the last 8 years on a two and a half month hiatus, and that basically sort of determined what I did. And now, I get to sit back a little bit and do things because they really interest me or because I think I can learn something or bring something versus because they do shoot in my 2 month hiatus. So that’s pretty much the only change, but I don’t know...I don’t really....I try not to make distinctions between any...film, television, theatre. I love to be a part of the entertainment industry and whatever form that takes I’ll be happy just as long as I can continue to do what I love.

Woman: Thanks.

Crowd member: Um hi. Hi Sarah. Hi Jason. First I wanna say Sarah, I’m so glad you’re here. I’m...I love you on Buffy. You’re the best. We all know that you’ve done like a couple of horror movies. When you film them, do you have like nightmares sometimes? Do you get scared? I’m just curious....

SMG: My main work dreams are the ones I think everyone has like....I forget to get up in the morning. I go to work without any clothing on. Those are...those are my main....

[Calls from the crowd. Sarah laughs]

Gee I didn’t know that was coming. [crowd laughs] This movie in particular...there’s a particular scene where the woman that plays Kayako...who is the same woman from the original films...does this....um, we like to call it “the cockroach crawl”. And it was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

JB: Yeah, it’s one of those images that sticks with you.

SMG: One of those ones that’s embedded in your mind...burned there. There are times [to original questioner].

Guy: Thank you.

SMG: Oh, I hear someone in the front row doing that and somebody better stop. There is somebody in the front row doing the “Kayako croak”, which is different than the Kayako cockroach thing.

[Hear Kayako croak really loudly]

It’s not funny.

Crowd member: I’ve been watching the first two films for quite a while now. Like, the past month I’ve been watching them at a friends house. Um, which one did you two think out of the two theatrical films is the scariest? If you’ve seen both of them.

SMG: I think the first one is scarier, but I think the tone of the second one is pretty genius ‘cause the second one is a little more...sort of tongue in cheek. It reminded me...a little more of Scream in that sense almost. A sort of movie within a movie type. But I think...the images were so shocking in the first one because it was the first one and it was when you were introduced. [To Jason] You may disagree with me, but...

JB: No, I’m gonna let you speak...because everything you’re saying is true.

SMG: [She gives Jason a “yeah, sure” look] Yeah...

Guy: So the first one?

SMG: The first one. Imagine after all that I’m like, “no, the second one.” No, the first one.

J: Hi. I just wanna say thank you for coming.

SMG: Thank you for inviting us.

J: You mentioned in an interview that you wanted to be able to go back to Japan...

SMG: I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you. [Putting arm over eyes to try and see]

J: You mentioned in an interview that you hoped to be able to go back to Japan and carry out the promotional tour for The Grudge entirely in Japanese. How are your Japanese lessons going?

SMG: Not so great. It got a lot harder when I got home man. Speaking Japanese in Japan is a lot easier than trying to learn it in Los Angeles...boy. I’m working on it. I have until March. How about you? How’s your Japanese going?

JB: Same.

SMG: Yeah.

[People in the crowd shout out for her to say something]

SMG: [Says Japanese phrase] The most important words in the Japanese language. “Where is the bathroom?”

JB: [Says Japanese phrase] It means “I want a drink in Japanese...wine”. [Hard to make out]

SMG: That’s not really what it means.

N: Hi Sarah. Over here on the left. [Sarah and Jason look around and eventually find who they’re looking for] Konnichiwa Sarah and Jason.

JB: Konnichiwa.

N: My question is; what’s your strongest memory from Japan, and is there anything you learned about Japanese culture that you brought home?