Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar Weighs In on Potential Hulu Sequel Series, Assures Fans ‘This Will Be for You’
Skeptical about Hulu’s potential Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival? Allow Sarah Michelle Gellar to attempt to allay your fears.
Three days after news broke of a possible Buffy sequel series in the works at Hulu, Gellar — who is in talks to reprise her iconic role of Buffy Summers in the project — has shared her perspective on revisiting a series that once seemed indefinitely wooden-staked.
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“Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman,” Gellar wrote in an Instagram Story on Thursday. “She told me that she wanted me to sit down with [Nomadland director] Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential Buffy revival. I was blown away that Chloé even knew who I was, but, as I’ve always done, 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. I eventually agreed to go (mainly just to meet Chloé) and our 20-minute coffee quickly turned into a four-hour adventure. We laughed, we cried, but mostly we both talked about how much this show means to us.
“While I didn’t agree to anything at that meeting, I did shock myself by agreeing to continue the conversation,” she shared, adding that Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face) — currently attached as writers, showrunners and executive producers on the project — eventually joined the Buffy talks “until ultimately, one day, we landed on an idea.”
“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 revealed. “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.”
As first reported by our sister site Variety, the potential Buffy sequel series is now circling a pilot order at Hulu. The as-yet-untitled continuation is said to be focused on a new Slayer and “the next chapter in the Buffyverse,” with Gellar appearing in a recurring role rather than a leading one. (Representatives for Hulu and 20th Television declined to comment to TVLine.)
Zhao will direct and exec-produce, while Gellar and original Buffy EPs Berman, Fran Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui and Dolly Parton are all on board as executive producers. Not involved in the new iteration is writer/director Joss Whedon, who created the original series and oversaw its seven-season run from 1997-2003. Whedon was later accused of creating a toxic work environment on both Buffy and its spinoff series Angel by stars Charisma Carpenter, Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg, among others.
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