Sarah Michelle Gellar Calls Buffy the Vampire Slayer “An Extremely Toxic Male Set”

Sarah Michelle Gellar has made many iconic films throughout her career ranging from I Know What You Did Last Summer to Scooby-Doo, but many fans know her best for playing the titular role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer throughout its seven seasons. Recently, some of the show’s cast members have been shedding light on what it was really like behind the scenes. Creator Joss Whedon started to come under fire after Justice League star Ray Fisher accused him of mistreatment on the movie’s set. Fisher’s decision to come forward inspired Buffy and Angel‘s Charisma Carpenter to do the same and she wrote a statement that claimed Whedon “abused his power on numerous occasions.” The post caused an array of actors from Buffy and Angel to offer their support and share their own experiences. Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku, J. August Richards, Anthony Head, and more have all made public statements in support of Carpenter. This week, Gellar took part in The Wrap‘s “Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable,” and mentioned the “toxic” Buffy set.

“For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set, and so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like, and that women were pitted against each other – that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down,” Gellar explained. “And now that I’ve had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be, but … unfortunately we’re still in that place where all of those departments a lot of times need to be women for us to have a voice.”

Is the Buffy Reboot Still Happening? 

Back in 2018, it was announced that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot was in the works with Whedon. At the time, it was revealed that Agents of SHIELD alum Monica Owusu-Breen was set to pen a script and serve as the showrunner, and it was reported a Black actress would portray the lead slayer. Previously, it was said she would be playing Buffy, but Owusu-Breen later clarified that the original show’s characters “can’t be replaced.” Little news came out about the project until August of this year, when executive producer Gail Berman appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast (via TV Line), and said the Buffy reboot is now “on pause.”

Details as to why the show won’t be moving forward were not shared, but Owusu-Breen hinted at some reasons while talking to the Slayerfest ’98 podcast (via /Film) earlier this year. “In the before-times, I was hired to reboot Buffy. I had a character I loved and I loved the world of vampires and I wanted to put a new girl up with vampires. But Hollywood being Hollywood and IP complications being what they are and a global pandemic, and whatnot… So the project is in the ether, I don’t know if anything will happen with it, but I love the story that’s in my head.”

All seven seasons of Buffy are streaming on Hulu.