Sarah Michelle Gellar is still shell-shocked that Hulu is not moving forward with the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot — but she is shedding light about why it happened.
On Sunday, Gellar told People that she received the call with the news right before she was about to take the stage at the SXSW Film & TV Festival to debut her “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” on Friday, March 11.
“Let me tell you, nobody saw this coming,” she said, before calling out the irony of the timing of the news being delivered. “No one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight. I got the call as we were stepping onto stage for the premiere of their own movie. And it’s also the weekend of Chloé [Zhao] going to the Oscars as a best director nominee for Hamnet. For them to call us on the Friday of what should have been Chloé’s victory lap for an incredible film, and my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is… That says something.”
Searchlight produces both “Ready or Not 2” and the new “Buffy” reboot for Hulu.
Gellar, who played the titular role of Buffy Summers for seven seasons on The WB series, says there was one executive who killed the reboot, “New Sunnydale,” which was led by Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new slayer.
“We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” she said. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”
Gellar shared the devastating news on Instagram Saturday morning.
The next night, Zhao told Variety and CNN that she was “not surprised” the show was axed. “I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah [Michelle Gellar], with all the cast and crew doing this. And we, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show,” she said on the Oscars red carpet. “Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans. So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery. And what this might lead us to.”
Gellar added that they’re both feeling “disappointment” and worry about letting fans down. “That hurts. Saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled,” she said. “But ‘Buffy’ is timeless. And the one thing I do want all these fans to know is that legacy is still there and this doesn’t diminish it. It doesn’t change it. That legacy is still there — for them.”
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