Sarah Michelle Gellar has broken her silence on why the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is no longer moving forward.
“We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” the actress, 48, claimed in an interview People published on Monday, March 16. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé [Zhao].”
Gellar, who claimed one person was at fault for axing the potential series, continued, “So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”
She added that, after years of saying she’d “never” reprise her role as the titular character, the inspiration to return as the beloved vampire slayer was thanks to the show’s dedicated fans.
“They were the only reason we were doing this show in the first place,” she reflected. “We were doing it because everybody loves it. So how do you do a show that’s beloved with someone that doesn’t love it?”
Last week, Gellar announced that Hulu was not moving forward with the reboot. The actress, who portrayed vampire slayer Buffy Summers on the WB drama for seven seasons from 1996 to 2003, was gearing up to introduce a new generation of vampire hunters alongside Zhao, 43, who was tapped to direct the pilot.
While Gellar was previously adamant about not going back to her Buffy roots, Zhao presented her with an idea that made her rethink her stance.
“In one meeting, she makes me say ‘yes’ to something I never saw on my radar,” Gellar reflected. “That was because of the deep love and commitment and passion she had for this character. It was like I was stepping back in time.”
The reboot, titled, Buffy: New Sunnydale, would star Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new slayer. Faly Rakotohavana, Ava Jean, Sarah Bock, Daniel Di Tomasso, Jack Cutmore-Scott and Kingston Vernes made up the rest of the cast, with Gellar stepping back into Buffy’s stylish but affordable boots.
“I’d like to use this moment also to say that Ryan Kiera Armstrong is a superstar. I’m gutted that no one will see her as a slayer,” Gellar confessed to the outlet.
On Monday, Gellar revealed that she learned about the news of Buffy’s fate moments before her appearance at SXSW Film & TV Festival premiere of her new movie Ready or Not 2: Here I Come on Saturday, March 14.
“I was just about to take the stage in front of all the fans,” Gellar recalled to the outlet. “Hulu had decided not to move forward with the Buffy revival. Let me tell you, nobody saw this coming.”
Gellar shared on Monday that she and Zhao — who learned the news ahead of her appearance at the Oscars for her award-winning film Hamnet — were disappointed with the network’s decision.
“We don’t want to let the fans down. That hurts. Saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled,” Gellar said. “But I just said to Chloé, and I was very specific, I said, ‘Sunday night, you put that crown on and you walk that red carpet and you take in all that love for what you worked for and forget the other stuff.’ It’s important to me that this doesn’t take away from what we achieved and what she’s achieved. And there’s always more to do.”
