'Buffy' star Sarah Michelle Gellar addresses the show's complicated legacy: 'I'll never tell my full story' - Yahoo Entertainment

For an full procreation of pop-culture addicts, the narratives of Buffy Summers and Sarah Michelle Gellar volition everlastingly beryllium intertwined. But that narration betwixt histrion and quality has been hard to negociate successful caller years, arsenic caller reports person pulled backmost the curtain astir what went down connected the acceptable of Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its seven-season tally arsenic a cult TV favorite. Allegations of "toxic" behaviour by the show's arguable creator, Joss Whedon, person been documented by Buffy co-stars similar Charisma Carpenter and Amber Benson. And portion Gellar has publically referred to Buffy as an "extremely toxic antheral set," she's avoided speaking astatine magnitude astir what she experienced during her years-long collaboration with Whedon.

In a caller interrogation with The Hollywood Reporter, Gellar indicates that her soundlessness volition apt continue. "I’ll ne'er archer my afloat communicative due to the fact that I don’t get thing retired of it," says the 45-year-old actress, who is returning to the tiny surface this period arsenic a formed subordinate connected the Paramount+ series, Wolf Pack. "I’ve said each I’m going to accidental due to the fact that cipher wins. Everybody loses."

Gellar hasn't mentioned Whedon by sanction since a 2021 Instagram post that followed Carpenter's nationalist allegations. "While I americium arrogant to person my named associated with Buffy Summers, I don't privation to beryllium everlastingly associated with the sanction Joss Whedon," she wrote astatine the time, adding, "I basal with each survivors of maltreatment and americium arrogant of them for speaking out."

Speaking with THR, Gellar reiterates her pridefulness successful creating a quality that made a demonstrable interaction connected television. "I volition ever beryllium arrogant of Buffy. I volition ever beryllium arrogant of what my castmates did, what I did. Was it an perfect moving situation? Absolutely not. But it’s OK to emotion Buffy for what we created due to the fact that I deliberation it’s beauteous spectacular."

Still, she admits to person her ain analyzable feelings astir the bid aft precocious re-watching it with her 2 children with hubby Freddie Prinze Jr. According to Gellar, the household watched the archetypal 5 seasons successful their entirety, but took a clip retired erstwhile they reached the divisive Season 6, which features an attempted rape and different mature taxable matter. "I person occupation with [season] six," she admits. "It wasn’t due for them astatine the time, and I conscionable don’t privation to rewatch it."

While Gellar declined to stock her "full story," Prinze provided a tiny model into what she ran up against. "She had to woody with a batch of bulls*** connected that amusement for each 7 years it was on," the histrion tells THR. "The worldly they pressed upon her, without immoderate recognition oregon existent salary, portion she was often the lone 1 doing 15-hour days … yet she was inactive capable to get the connection of that quality retired each azygous week and bash it with pridefulness and bash it professionally."

Meanwhile, Gellar's co-star, Emma Caulfield, suggests that Whedon was jealous of his star's illustration during the people of the show. "It was evident that Sarah lacked the enactment to beryllium the person she needed and wanted to be," says the actress, who precocious appeared successful the Disney+ hit, WandaVision. "There was a tremendous magnitude of resentment and animosity [toward her] from a definite idiosyncratic — and I accidental present we tin each conjecture who."

Rather than look backwards, Gellar spends overmuch of her THR profile looking forwards, pointing retired however she turned her ain antagonistic experiences into affirmative alteration for the caller procreation of actors she's moving with connected Wolf Pack. "I anticipation that I’ve acceptable up an infrastructure, a information nett for these actors that I didn’t have," she remarks. "My procreation conscionable didn’t person that."

Wolf Pack premieres Jan. 26 connected Paramount+