Sarah Michelle Gellar gives a few new details on the upcoming “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series where she reprises her iconic role …
There are still a lot of questions about the new “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series that seeks to restart the beloved show that ended all the way back in 2003 after seven seasons but at least now we’ve got a title.
Sarah Michelle Gellar — who is reprising her iconic role as Buffy Summers — revealed the title along with a few details about the plans for the show, which initially came from Oscar winning director Chloe Zhao. It was her idea that sparked enough belief in Gellar that she decided to return to play Buffy again after spending the better part of the past 20 years saying she never expected to pick up a wooden stake again.
“It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation,” Gellar said on the ‘Shut Up, Evan’ podcast.
“So it’s not a reboot, it’s not picking up with all of the same characters right away. It is not like a sequel… That’s why the name was even important to me — ‘Buffy: New Sunnydale.’ It’s Buffy, but it’s also something else.”
While Gellar admitted that she’s been approached plenty of times with ideas about restarting the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” universe, it was the vision from Zhao that convinced her it might be worth exploring this idea. The new series has been ordered to pilot by Hulu with designs on a full season pickup.
“Chloé Zhao came to me and not just her passion, because I’ve seen people with passion before, but she knew how to go into the world,” Gellar said. “She knew what the world was, and she knew the way. And that was the first time I said, ‘Maybe, could I possibly do this?
“And this went on for three years now … me and Chloé going back and forth, saying I could do it, saying I can’t, and really spending the time to develop what it is and why it is.”
While “Buffy: New Sunnydale” has been in the works for several years now, Gellar vowed that if she was going to return to play Buffy again, the entire design for the series had to work out just right, which is why they’re taking so much time getting this series together before actually releasing anything to the public.
“I know this seems like it’s taking a long time, and it’s because unless we are sure that it is exactly what we set out to do and that it makes sense to do it, we don’t want to sell you the legacy by not,” Gellar said. “When I know it’s perfect, then it will be out there, but I won’t do it unless I know it can be that.”
“Buffy: New Sunnydale” has cast several roles for the show including Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who plays Nova, the newest in a long line of slayers born with the ability to hunt and kill vampires and monsters crossing over to haunt our world. As of now, none of the other legacy characters or actors from the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” cast have been confirmed to return, although it seems likely that would happen if the show gets picked up to series.
