Sarah Michelle Gellar Breaks Silence on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot

Now that news of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival is out, Sarah Michelle Gellar has addressed fans directly on Instagram. The actress will reportedly reprising her role as Buffy Summers, picking the story back up rather than rebooting it. In the past, Gellar has been generally opposed to the idea of returning to this show, feeling that it had a satisfying ending that shouldn’t be messed with. Now, she assures fans that she has only changed her mind because this revival has the chance to tell an exciting new story. She also acknowledged the hunger among fans for more Buffy on screen, and she hoped that this would live up to their expectations. The revival still only has a pilot order, but it sounds like hopes are high for a full-on series.

“So… you might have heard some news this week, but I realize you haven’t heard from me,” Gellar began. She then explained how she got involved in this proposal — producer Gail Berman persuaded her to have a meeting with acclaimed filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who wanted to pitch her Buffy idea. Gellar admitted that she was excited about the idea of working with Zhao, but she still had her doubts about the idea of a Buffy revival.

“I told Gail that I just didn’t see a way for the show to exist again. We’d always been aligned on that, but this time I heard something different in her voice,” Gellar wrote. She found a friend and fellow superfan in Zhao, and agreed to continue discussing this idea further. She explained, “These conversations did, in fact, continue over the next few years and eventually we added the incredible Nora and Lilla Zuckerman to our little tribe until ultimately, one day, we landed on an idea.”

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“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right,” Gellar went on. “This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there. I feel so lucky to be on this journey with these four unbelievably talented women, all of whom love Buffy as much as I do. And as much as you do. Thank you to all the fans who never stopped asking for this. This will be for you.”

The Buffy revival is in the works, but it hasn’t been ordered to series yet. In the meantime, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are both streaming now on Hulu.