Buffy’s The Vampire Slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar Admits That Men Don’t Take Her Seriously On Set
The OG regarding vampire slaying, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played the strong Buffy Anne Summers in the hit show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has admitted that she, too, has experienced and been a victim of sexism in Hollywood.
The petite blonde star stated that men on film sets still don’t take her seriously. And as the 45-year-old actress makes a comeback following a career break, she has finally spoken about the burnout she experienced as a teen while doing the 90s hit series.
Sarah told The Guardian that she moved to the West Coast after graduating from high school in New York at the age of 16. And the pressure of working gave her little to no time to be young.
Sarah honestly mentioned, “22 episodes burn everybody out, not just the writers… We live in a world where TV can be eight to 10 episodes and not murder you.”
After finishing her role as Buffy Anne Summers in 2003, Sarah’s next notable role was as Sydney Roberts in the 2013 sitcom, The Crazy Ones, where she starred alongside Hollywood royalty and comedian Robin Williams.
The series ended in April 2014. It was about a father and daughter tandem, played by Robin and Sarah, who ran a creative agency while they struggled to maintain the different facets of their lives.
Unfortunately, four months into the show, the then 63-year-old Robin took his life, and the traumatic incident caused Sarah to rethink and reset her life. She admitted, “When we lost Robin, it was this whole reset for me. Everything’s going by fast, and I’m missing it.”
Sarah explained, “When I did the pilot for The Crazy Ones, my son was two months old – it was nonstop, and I needed to be home for a while.”
And being part of the industry for more than 25 years, Sarah admitted that men on sets still don’t take her seriously, narrating, “I still feel the need, sometimes, to read [out] my résumé, like How many of these shows have you done? How many experiences have you had at 2 am with 250 extras, a late shot, a stunt – all of these things? I not only have produced it, but I’ve also been in it. Listen to me because I know where I’m coming from.”
Sarah recently returned to the cameras with a new action and supernatural drama, Wolf Pack. And it has become her personal goal to create a safer and more conducive environment for the younger actors on set, and not the same toxic environment she grew up and got used to.
The wife of 90s teen heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr. also wants to protect the cast. This stems from allegations that bullying was common on the set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
She further explained how important it is to her to protect the show’s material, so she became an executive producer. But more than that, she also wanted to ensure that the cast felt secure.
This need to protect came from her experience. Sarah admitted that the young actors had a difficult time back in the day when she came to Hollywood. She was also honest enough to admit that she was not keen on accepting Wolf Pack’s role.
Sarah mentioned that she didn’t even intend to read it, but after sharing conversations about the script and learning that mental health is also one of the social issues tackled on the show, she became interested. And she was amazed how the werewolves were the metaphor for teenage anxiety.
Here’s hoping Buffy can make a change!
