Sarah Michelle Gellar is finally back on TV and in a Hollywood Reporter profile released on Wednesday, it’s easy to see why she’s been gone for so long.
The former “Buffy the Vampire SlayerThe star returns to his serialized horror/fantasy roots with the new Paramount+ show “Wolf Pack,” in which high schoolers battle monsters that serve as metaphors for modern teenage life.
And while Gellar said she’s happy to be on what looks to be a spiritual successor to the show that made her famous, she also made it clear she’s not interested in experiencing another bad work environment.
“We’ve gotten to a good place where it’s easier to talk about it,” Gellar told the magazine, referring to various accounts from her former “Buffy” castmates. on the supposedly toxic set of the show. “I will never tell my whole story because I will get nothing out of it. I’ve said everything I’m going to say because nobody wins. Everyone loses.
But her refusal to provide more details hasn’t stopped her husband, actor Freddie Prinze Jr. — or some of her “Buffy” castmates — from making more vivid allegations about what Gellar endured while working on serial.
“He had to go through a lot of crap on that show for the entire seven years it was on the air,” Prinze told the Reporter. “The things that forced her, with no real credit or pay, while she was often the only one doing 15-hour days…yet she was still able to deliver the message of the character every week and do it with pride and do it professionally”.
Gellar’s friend, former “Buffy” actor Seth Green, told the magazine that Gellar often used her power as the show’s lead star in an effort to protect herself and her co-stars.
“That show was just rough,” Green told the Reporter. “I was working crazy hours and a lot of things that were being pushed weren’t necessarily safe or in the best shape. Sarah was always the first to say “I agree it’s a 13 hour day and it’s 3pm – we need to wrap it up” or “Hey, this picture doesn’t look safe” when no one else would. props to the cast and crew.
Green said this led to negative consequences for Gellar.
“I’ve seen her called a whore, a diva, all these things she’s not,” she said. “Just because he took it upon himself to say and do the right thing.”
Emma Caulfield, who also starred in “Buffy,” supported Green’s allegations.
“It was obvious that Sarah didn’t have the support to be the leader she needed and wanted to be,” she said. “There was a huge amount of resentment and animosity [toward her] by a certain someone – and I suppose we can all guess who now.”
Jean-Paul Aussenard via Getty Images
Caulfield is likely referring to “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon, who has faced backlash from his former co-stars’ allegations of his harmful behavior on the set of “Buffy” and other productions.
In 2021, Charisma Carpenter, who worked with Whedon on “Buffy” and its spin-off series “Angel,” he tweeted a two-part statement in which accused Whedon of being emotionally abusive and creating “hostile and toxic work environments.”
“He was mean and prickly, openly disparaging others and often playing favorites, pitting people against each other to compete and fight for his attention and approval,” Carpenter wrote.
Shortly after Carpenter released her statement, Amber Benson, another “Buffy” alum, also spoke out: tweet that the set of the teen drama was “a toxic environment.”
“There was a lot of damage during that time, and many of us are still processing it twenty years from now,” Benson wrote.
Perhaps the most startling accusation came from “Buffy” actor Michelle Trachtenberg, who followed statements by Carpenter and Benson saying there was a “rule” on set that Whedon was not allowed to go into a room alone with her. Trachtenberg was a teenager when she starred in “Buffy.”
Gellar also talked about Whedon and the jobs he would host, albeit vaguely.
In 2021, Gellar released a statement on Instagram in support of Carpenter, Benson and Trachtenberg.
“While I’m proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers,” she wrote, “I don’t want to be associated with the name Joss Whedon forever.”
He also recently told the public to Wrap’s Power of Women Summit that she has been on “a highly toxic male set” for “so long”.
Gellar told The Hollywood Reporter that because of her experiences, it was important for her to serve as an executive producer on “Wolf Pack,” where the main cast members range in age from 19 to 21. She spoke to the media about an incident on the set of her new show in which a crew member allegedly made a cast member uncomfortable by rubbing her back. Gellar said the crew member was released as soon as he learned about it.
“I hope we’ve created an infrastructure, a safety net for these actors that we didn’t have,” Gellar told the magazine. “My generation just didn’t have it.”
To read Gellar’s full profile, head over to The Hollywood Reporter.
