Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2000)—"Oz"

SG: Great experience. Lot of work. Tons of hours in make-up. But a good time. I got to be a foot-kickin’, zombie-stabbin’, guitar-playin’ werewolf! That was a pretty cool show!

AVC: Did you have any input into the character?

SG: Not in creating it, but I think in defining it. Over time, I got to add my flourishes and ideas or suggestions along the way, but Joss Whedon and the writers on that show had really great ideas, and I felt that if I could just interpret them, I’d be in good shape.

AVC: When he left the show, how much of that was your impetus and how much was theirs?

SG: There was a point at which I approached Joss and just said I was really… I felt like we hadn’t done anything that we had talked about. I felt like the character’s potential vs. what we actually were doing were in drastic opposition. And I was getting other opportunities, so I asked to be let out, because I spent an entire season as a regular on the show, not doing or saying anything. They’d bound me to a series-regular contract, yet the character didn’t really necessitate being in every episode and every scene, so I found myself forced into scenes contractually that I really had no place or role in. So I’d spend five days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, to be in a scene with nine other people, and hopefully get to say "I think Buffy’s right!" I was like, "This isn’t what we talked about." And I had another opportunity to do a movie, so I requested being let out for six episodes to do it, and it was just… As much as the character was peripheral, to get me off for six episodes apparently would’ve caused too much turmoil, so they just found a way to make me exit gracefully.