Being a young woman in the entertainment business, according to Sarah Michelle Gellar, “was not easy,” but “victim blaming and shaming” prevents her from sharing those stories in public.
The 45-year-old former Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor, who took a sabbatical from acting after The Crazy Ones co-star Robin Williams’s passing, did so in order to be with her family and Freddie Prinze Jr. She has a headmaster-related position in the dark comedy about a high school called Do Revenge, which is currently available on Netflix. She is also currently appearing in and executive producing the Teen Wolf spinoff Wolf Pack for Paramount+. She claims to be in her “adult career” at this point, and it’s very different from where she started, as reported by the New York Times.
It’s been a journey for her in terms of where she started and what she went through. Gellar, who won a Daytime Emmy at age 18 for All My Children, was asked by the site if she had generally positive experiences as a teenager and young lady in the profession. Gellar responded, “No. It was quite difficult. Great female roles weren’t available when I was growing up. It was the wife and girlfriend roles. That’s why Buffy was so amazing—she actually had something to do—and then we got I Know What You Did, where the women were the ones solving the problems. That entire turn of events was novel.”
Just one part, that. The other was improper conduct that took place behind the scenes, which she mentioned but made it plain she wasn’t going to go into detail about.
She continued, “There’s the other side of being a young female in business. “I had some street smarts coming into it because I grew up in New York, which is beneficial. No, it was not simple. And while I’ve had my fair share of experiences, I’ve opted not to share them because I believe that doing so will not benefit me personally. I’m very impressed when I see individuals sharing their story. But I just hold my stories in here in this world where people are torn apart and victims are blamed and shamed.”
Buffy, which aired from 1997 to 2003, was fantastic in terms of her performance, but we now know that some of the female cast members felt threatened by showrunner and EP Joss Whedon. Alumni Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Amber Benson accused Whedon of misbehaviour on the set in 2021. At the time, Gellar stood alongside the victims and expressed her pride in them for speaking out.
Early this year, Whedon ended his quiet about the Buffy set claims and other allegations of misconduct. Gellar posted on social media two days later with the caption, “I can’t take the past back, but I can fight for the future.” When asked whether she wanted to elaborate in her NYT interview, she mentioned her efforts to establish “a safe environment” for young actors on the sets she is working on in light of what she has discovered and gone through.
I approach my work like an executive producer, especially lately, she remarked. “for instance, the Wolf Pack. These two young boys and these two young girls are [acting] on it. Since Day 1, I have been very clear that if the production has any questions for them, they must contact me first. I’ve been there, so I know. Furthermore, I want [the performers] to constantly have a safe space.”
Gellar also discussed her relationship with Prinze, with whom she recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.
She declared, “I think we live in a very disposable world right now. “When I was a child, you transported your broken TV to the repair shop to have it mended. Nowadays, you buy a new TV if your old one breaks. I believe we occasionally view relationships in that way. You must be eager to put in the effort. We have always been prepared to do it. Even though there are ups and downs, you don’t give up.”
Gellar also discussed her part in the comedy picture Do Revenge and how Kathryn Merteuil, a character she played in Cruel Intentions, served as the inspiration for her character in Do Revenge. She played the young star in numerous aughts films, but now she serves as the wise headmistress to the teens portrayed by celebrities like Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke.
Gellar stated, “I wouldn’t want to be 17 again for anything. “32, perhaps, but not 17,”
Charlotte Prinze, who is 12 years old, attended a movie screening in Hollywood this week with Gellar. The couple’s kids, including son Rocky, 10, are also rarely seen because Gellar usually covers their faces in her social media photographs of them.
