Homepage > Joss Whedon Cast > Sarah Michelle Gellar > Spoilers > Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - (...)
« Previous : Sarah Michelle Gellar - ’The Grudge’ Movie - Extra Quality Promotional Photo 4
      Next : Angel Season 5 Set - Medium Quality Photos »

From Syfyportal.com

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - Spoilers

By Scott Nance

Saturday 13 November 2004, by Webmaster

Another actress, who actually has a name to care for is Sarah Michelle Gellar and there are not no many accomplishes films at her but an few I can probably enjoy. The talent agent found Gellar a young age and made her screen debut at 6 of each of the 1983 television film An Invasion of Privacy. With all the promise she showed, Barrymore starred as Hannah in the teen drama series "Swans Crossing" (1992) but it was her portrayal of a young and callous rich girl in Al-Lucinda Kendall Hart on ABC daytime soap opera "All My Children" (1993-93), that won her Daytime Emmy Award and spring-boarded her to stardom.

SMG’s real mark worldwide, however, was the character of Buffy Summers in the game-changing series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003). She won five Teen Choice Awards, a Saturn Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her role, establishing herself as a cultural phenomenon. Sarah Michelle Gellar likewise has the box office to back her up, with “I Know What You Did Last Summer” 1997), “Scream 2” (1997), “Cruel Intentions” (1999)and way movies like those that help prove she is also a bankable star as well over $570 million times worth crazy in global gross.

Beyond her cinematic successes, Gellar has made her mark on television, headlining shows such as "Ringer" (2011-2012), "The Crazy Ones" (2013-2014), and "Wolf Pack" (2023). She has also lent her voice to popular series including "Robot Chicken" (2005-2018), "Star Wars Rebels" (2015-2016), and "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" (2021).

In 2015, Gellar ventured into the entrepreneurial world by co-founding Foodstirs, an e-commerce baking company, and published her own cookbook, "Stirring Up Fun with Food," in 2017. Gellar is also known for her close-knit family life, married to actor Freddie Prinze Jr. since 2002, with whom she shares two children.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s commitment to her craft is matched by her dedication to personal growth and unique experiences. An accomplished martial artist, she studied Tae Kwon Do for five years, alongside kickboxing, boxing, street fighting, and gymnastics. Her dedication to authenticity in her roles is evident, such as her commitment to doing her own stunts in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," though she admitted her limits during filming "Scream 2."

Her career is also marked by interesting anecdotes, such as her role in a 1982 Burger King commercial, which led to a lawsuit from McDonald’s and a temporary ban from their establishments. Notably, she dyed her naturally brunette hair blonde for her role in "Buffy," and legally changed her last name to Prinze as a surprise for her husband on their fifth anniversary.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s legacy extends beyond her on-screen roles, encompassing her work in philanthropy and her reputation for safety and professionalism on set. She remains a beloved figure in Hollywood, admired for her talent, dedication, and the breadth of her contributions to film and television.

I saw a new “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode last weekend. Well, at least at first I thought it was a new “Buffy” episode. It was the same blonde figure, with the familiar inflections in her voice, facing off against supernatural beings of questionable origin and even more questionable motive.

But, then, it wasn’t really “Buffy” after all. We were sitting in a dark movie theater watching Sarah Michelle Gellar star in the new horror flick, “The Grudge.”

But throughout the film, I couldn’t help but have these feelings ... these, well, I’ll call them “Buffy flashes.” For those moments, I wasn’t watching Gellar’s character, Karen Davis, battle vengeful Japanese ghosts. I was watching Buffy Summers.

But then the illusion was broken just as quickly as it came. Because unlike the Slayer, except at the very end, Karen Davis never really fought back. As the monsters kept confronting Karen, I kept saying to myself, “Kick their ass, Buffy.” But until her boyfriend was already dead, Karen just took it.

These “Buffy flashes” were certainly just brief moments throughout the film — and in general, Gellar did a fine job of portraying a terrified young woman — but as fleeting as the Buffy flashes were, they were without doubt there.

Given Gellar’s ongoing public conflict with her television alter-ego, then it is surprising she would continue to take roles that are so similar to her work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Certainly, some of the antipathy between Gellar and the character that made her famous is simply manufactured by media looking for a quick story. Last spring, for instance, she was absent from the final episodes of the spinoff “Angel,” and many gossipmongers took it to be an intentional snub. It turns out that was way offbase. She simply was busy — way over in Japan, no less — shooting “The Grudge,” and couldn’t get away to reunite with the Fang Gang.

But other times, Gellar continues to vent so much spleen that it makes it actually seem as if there are some bona fide lingering bad feelings there.

In comments posted on the BBC Web site, the actress recently said, "You think about it ever year for eight years [sic]: when is the right time? But all the signs pointed to the eighth year. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I wasn’t being challenged in the way that I needed any more.

“I really didn’t have any (input). Maybe I should have, ’cause then we wouldn’t have got so lost. It took me a while to work up the nerve to say something.

“It didn’t feel like ’Buffy.’ But it’s easy to be vocal now, because (series creator Joss Whedon) isn’t going to be yelling at me tomorrow.”

Yikes! That’s a fairly gratuitous comment to make more than a year after the show went off the air — even if there is some actual truth to it.

The question to Gellar is: Why couldn’t you have just left well enough alone? Why do you feel the need to be so “vocal”?

Gellar’s ongoing, public struggle with an old character, of course, is nothing new to science-fiction.

Leonard Nimoy played out a similar feud with his celebrated “Star Trek” character, going as far as penning an autobiography to renounce the relationship with his alter ego, titled “I Am Not Spock.” Nimoy, however, had the good sense to realize that if you want to separate yourself from a past character, you actually have to take roles that are different from the character you’re trying to escape. After Trek originally went off the air, Nimoy threw himself in a variety of diverse roles, including Shakespearean work.

But, whether it’s “The Grudge” or the “Scooby Doo” movies — in which, again she’s a member of a gang of kids fighting monsters — she keeps taking high-profile roles that invite easy comparison back to her years as Buffy.

That she vacillates between bad-mouthing Buffy and taking roles that are so akin to her makes for interesting psychological speculation. It also makes for yet another comparison, this time between Gellar and her erstwhile co-star, Alyson Hannigan.

Hannigan seems to made a peace with her “Buffy” character, Willow, that appears to have eluded Gellar. The redhaired actress made so much of a name for herself away from “Buffy” with her appearances in the successful “American Pie” comedies that — believe it or not — outside of sci-fi, Hannigan is arguably even better known as Michele, “the band camp girl” than as Willow, the lesbian witch.

Hannigan also seems confident enough with her success that not only has she not criticized her time on “Buffy,” she was — unlike Gellar — willing to reprise her role for the planned “Buffy” animated spinoff.

With her “American Pie” achievements to her credit, both creatively and financially, Hannigan clearly doesn’t need to hang on to “Buffy” forever to ensure the future of her career. However, she comes back to role clearly because she believes in her character and in “Buffy” as a quality project.

Meanwhile, back to Gellar. To find her own professional peace of mind, she doesn’t have to be the next Meryl Streep tomorrow. But a nice little romantic comedy might not be bad.


4 Forum messages

  • > Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - Spoilers

    15 November 2004 02:20, by schmemmm
    Obviously there is no sure way to know what is truth and what is fiction because we were not there and we all know the press loves a scandal... but when I read this I immediately thouught back to when the show was ending and Freddie started bad mouthing certian people saying SMG was under appreciated and taken for granted. I remembered that whilst I respected SMG’s decision and Joss’s decision to call it quits after 7 Freddies comments really grated with me. Then recently she has been quoted as saying things on behalf of her fans like the qoute about how they don’t want a cartoon and that really annoyed me too. That SMG may or may not have made these big issue comments is inconsequential, it’s the fact that she contiually has been dissing the show and it hurts to hear it. I myself was waiting with baited breath to hear her admit she had finished with the show but now I find myself wishing she had never opened her mouth about it. I remember a fan wrote an email to Fury during S7 and asked about Faith’s return and if Buffy was being built up by tearing Faith’s character down. The episode had not yet aired but spoilers were all over the net and he admitted it was so, because the show was called ’Buffy’ the Vampire Slayer. Thankfully when the episode aired the tearing down so to speak had lessened and I remember thinking, good, that’s no way to build someone up. That’s what I liken this to, Sarah is trying to break away and stand on her own merit, but she does this by tearing down Buffy the character she played for 7 years and when she does it comes across as resentment for writers and others involved. Lots of people worked hard on this show. She is entitled to her opinion just as fans are but lots of people worked their guts off on this show, not just Sarah and with that in mind I do find her comments mildly hurtful.

  • > Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - Spoilers

    9 March 2005 12:55, by michaelsd

    Yes, I was in the "middle" of the Save Star Trek mania. At least we got a box set of feature movies, and how many spin-off TV shows? 4, 5? (ok, STNG, ST-V, ST-DS9, and Enterprise). I guess that’s four (some might count "T.J. Hooker".

    I guess I’m not so tv web public, to hear of Sarah’s "public" airings. I never hear anything (that can believed to be real).

    The only Buffy DVD extra I saw her on, was the Once More, With Feeling featurette (and shocked me. Hey! Sarah. She never did comment or anything._

    I just miss her. Sarah, tell me, what would Buffy do?

    See online : I knew I’d miss her, Had to Keep her, She’s Buried in my Backyard

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - Spoilers

    10 November 2007 21:50, by pooper scooper
    wow you seem awfully harsh on sarah. i mean i get that you don’t think she should have said anything, but can we all just ignore how awfully buffy was written during the sixth and seventh seasons. i’m not talking her storylines, i’m talking her as a character. it seems as if they had forgotten who these people were, they were just blank slates who said their lines. i agree with SMG on that fact, they got so lost after leaving the wb that they buffy was no longer present in the show, and i don’t think that relaying that to her fans is a no no. if i recall correctly SMG was trying to keep the wb from cancelling buffy, even willing to take a pay cut, but joss was offended in the low budget for the show that he was unwilling to compromise. so don’t blame it all on her
    • Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ’Grudge’ Against Buffy - Spoilers 13 December 2008 02:21, by Gene Partlow
      ON A NOTE OF BUFFY Always curious about artist’s takes on their work, I want to lend her some support here. She had trouble with the sixth season of Buffy... the dark, twisted dive Buffy took in her relation with Spike went against Gellar’s strong intuition. Whedon pushed that on her in one of his rare mistakes. I’m with Ms Gellar here. While my wife and I had no trouble with Buffy’s growing sexual bond with the gilt-headed one, often funny and quite poignant, even inevitable, its explicit shame and tortured nature seemed gratuitous and off the mark in this otherwise jewel of a show. Once in a commentary, Whedon had the wit to acknowledge that "no one understands Buffy like Sarah". I wish he’d listened to his own words. Her artistic instincts are unfailing and fine. Among her gifts are a luminous clarity, where she is completely there in the moment and a generous ability to explore that moment and not hurry on to the next. An example: An early moment at the Bronze where Buffy is quietly facing Angel. A small moment. Yet she radiates love, strength, vulnerability, utter openness. A small miracle. In that moment we can see her embody the reason Angel fell for her in the first place... she carries her heart before her. And we know why the side of the angels chose her to carry her terrible gift and burden. Only such strong purity and love could survive and not be corrupted or reduced by it. It’s not too much to say that in these moments she is in a state of grace.