Sarah Michelle Gellar has revealed she has no interest in returning as Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, despite the rumours circulating of a possible revival. The actress, who played the titular character throughout the 1990s and 2000s on the hit teen television fantasy, is focused on her latest role in Paramount’s new series, Wolf Pack.
Speaking to SFX Magazine, as Movie Web first reported, Gellar has made it clear that she has no intention of reprising her role as Buffy. “I’m not [going to return]. I am very proud of the show that we created and it doesn’t need to be done. We wrapped that up,” Gellar said, happy to have left Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2003, which spurned a spin-off series, Angel (starring David Boreanaz) from 1994 to 2004. “I am all for them continuing the story, because there’s the story of female empowerment. I love the way the show was left: ‘Every girl who has the power can have the power,’” she said, giving her blessing for a potential reboot. However, she went on to express that her age is not suited to an adolescent role. “It’s set up perfectly for someone else to have the power. But like I said, the metaphors of Buffy were the horrors of adolescence. I think I look young, but I am not an adolescent.”
Gellar’s comments come after she previously described working on the set of Buffy as being "toxic." “Women were pitted against each other” to prevent them from becoming “too powerful,” Gellar claimed during The Wrap’s Power of Women Summit in Los Angeles in December, where she joined fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase) in calling out creator, Joss Whedon. “[I believed this is] what all sets were like. Now that I’ve had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be,” Gellar said.
Rumours of a potential reboot of the hit fantasy series have circulated for years, with the most recent attempt being put on hold in 2022. In 2018, a reboot series helmed by The CW veteran Monica Owusu-Breen (Midnight, Texas) and Whedon was set to star a black female lead in a modern update of the Buffy franchise. However, the project, set to build “on the mythology of the original,” was allegedly put on hold in August last year, with Owusu-Breen revealing she didn’t want to try to recreate the magic of the original series, including replacing the show’s cast.
Gellar is currently focused on her new project, Wolf Pack. Rather than a teenage vampire slayer, Gellar will be taking on the role of Kristin Ramsey, an arson investigator described as a “highly regarded expert in her field and no stranger to personal loss.” Set to premiere this month, the Paramount series is a spin-off of Teen Wolf: The Movie, telling the story of four teenagers who are attacked by a mysterious monster awakened by a Californian wildfire. The series will also star Amy Pietz (The Sex Lives of College Girls), James Martinez (Love, Victor), and Rio Mangini (Home Before Dark) amongst a wide cast.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is currently streaming on Disney+ whilst Wolf Pack is set to premiere on January 26, 2023 on Paramount +. Check out the official teaser trailer for Wolf Pack below: