From Bbc.co.uk
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals the real reasons why she quit Buffy
Thursday 11 November 2004, by Webmaster
Sarah Michelle Gellar explains the real reasons she quit.
In the latest Big Issue, Sarah Michelle Gellar discusses why she didn’t want to carry on making Buffy.
"You think about it ever year for eight years (sic): when is the right time? But all the signs pointed to the eighth year. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I wasn’t being challenged in the way that I needed any more.
"I really didn’t have any [input]. Maybe I should have, ’cause then we wouldn’t have got so lost. It took me a while to work up the nerve to say something.
"It didn’t feel like Buffy. But it’s easy to be vocal now, because Joss isn’t going to be yelling at me tomorrow."
The Big Issue is sold by homeless people to support them in getting off the streets. 28
Forum messages
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11 November 2004 23:14, by ThisTime
Season 7 really did need improvement. I don’t like the idea that it would have been better if only Joss had listened to one of his actors. Then, they would truly have gotten lost. It’s his Universe, it’s his vision, and he stuck with it. They never got lost; they stayed right on track. Joss’s track.
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12 November 2004 00:08, by Ratman
Sarah acted Buffy she did not create her and I think her stardom went to her head just a little!
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12 November 2004 01:21, by Eduardo
SMG usually misses the opportunity to be quiet, huh?
This one is a good example.
shut up, smg.
=)
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12 November 2004 04:44, by SUSAN
Buffy couldnt go on for ever...That is a fact....Season 7 was excellent and a closure for me.....So I agree with Sarah that she needed to do some thing else,besides being known as "Buffy the vampire slayer",for ever.
See online : >Sarah Michelle Gellar Reveals The Real Reason Why She Quit Buffy
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12 November 2004 04:54, by chris
I agree with ThisTime. Buffy was Joss’ vision. Even if most of the fans think is "meandered" in Season 7, it went where it did with Joss’ blessing. If he didn’t like where it was going, it wouldn’t have gone there. I like SMG & I love Buffy, but I think saying that "maybe I should have, ’cause then we wouldn’t have got so lost" is a little egotistical. From what I’ve heard about Joss, he doesn’t take direction from actors as to where their character should go. Also, I think it shows that maybe she didn’t know her character as well as she thinks she did. If you think about it, the writer’s know the character better than just about anyone since their job is to eat, breathe, sleep the dialogue. Her job is to take what is on the page, figure out why her character would be saying/doing it and then bring it to life, just like every other actor on the show.
*sitting back, waiting for the flames*
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12 November 2004 06:02, by Schmemmm
Blah, that’s just good old smidge thinking about how in her opinion the show jumped the shark yet again. I remember being very disappointed with the plot elements that were not wrapped up, but now that I look back on season 7 I don’t much care. I have enjoyed watching now it’s all over.
If all the mystery surrounding the stakehouse spoilers was true and William the Poet really was one of the writers or creators and a member of mensa I doubt that SMG could have provided a story that warranted as much depth analysis as Buffy recieved no matter how witty and clever she is. I doubt she could have competed, but she might have brought something interesting to the show that had not been covered, I have read that she was very vocal in the first couple of seasons in terms of certian characters and what they would and would not do. No matter what season 7 felt like at the time of airing in the US it’s enjoyable for me to watch back now. I am getting the feeling that SMG really began to hate it, so I can not hold anything against her for leaving, nor have I ever.
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12 November 2004 11:09, by Larry’s Girl
"It didn’t feel like Buffy." I have to agree. The thing I LOVED about the first five seasons of Buffy was how character driven it was. Those last two seasons had their moments but I was frustrated a lot.
The characters became secondary to whatever "message" the writers were trying to get across. I get that the theme of season six was addiction. This does not go very far toward explaining Buffy and Willow’s uncharacteristic behavior. And The Bathroom Scene!!!! WTF?! Can you say the words "plot device"?
I think what Sarah Gellar MAY (and I don’t presume to be able to read minds) be saying here is that she regrets not being more forward spoken. Actors DO bring a lot to their characters and having played Buffy for five years she had undoubtably developed a feel for the role. If we, as fans, were confused and frustrated by Buffy’s sudden character shifts, I can only imagine how SMG must have felt about it.
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12 November 2004 13:45, by Bverji
everyone complains about season 6/7 even sara has complained about it, and then they complain the SMG says something like this. What I don’t understand is how these people can’t see the apparent contradiction in their thought process.
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I cannot say I agree "everyone complains about season 6/7". Season 6 probably is my favourite after season 3. Loved the plot. Found the bathroom scene very believable - and necessary for Spike’s later change.
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12 November 2004 18:49, by Anonymous
I’m not surprised Sarah felt the show got lost. I really enjoyed the first 3 seasons the most. Season 4 with the Initiative and Adam was where it started going awry. I remember being so disappointed then. Adding Dawn wasn’t much better in season 5. Season 6 was a depress-Fest every single episode. Once More with Feeling was the best episode in season 6. Season 7 tried to do too much in too little time, and it wasn’t very good. It was just getting interesting by the final episode. Still, I looked forward to watching Buffy every Tuesday with my family, and I miss that. In my opinion, Buffy season 1 should have started over again with Buffy as a FRESHMAN in high school, and forgotten the movie completely. That would have arranged for season 4 to be her senior high school year, instead of her college one. And it would have been less boring.
Of course, taking Angel away from the show really hurt it a lot. They should never have made it so awful for Angel and Buffy to be together. Angel losing his soul and reverting to Angelus if he’s happy ? That hurt the show a lot.
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12 November 2004 22:31, by Buffyimmortal
What’s with this? Every interview up to this point Sarah has said nothing like this...I think this was fabricated! Either that or her comments were taken out of context, that seems to happen all the time an coincidentally overseas.
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12 November 2004 23:03, by WritersFriend
The actors weren’t the creator of BtVS. The viewer’s weren’t the creator. Joss was. Everything from Season 1 - 7 was done per his vision.
I wouldn’t change any of BtVS (despite imperfections.) From what I’ve heard of SMG’s thoughts on what went (supposedly) wrong, I CRINGE to think of Joss listening to her, and I, for one, am very, very glad he didn’t listen to her.
I wonder if she really said this, though.
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12 November 2004 23:43, by Hallie
This is getting annoying. The show is OVER, and she keeps complaining. She’s all like, "Oh, thank God I’m free to whine about how absolutely *miserable* I’ve been now that I don’t have this crappy crappy job anymore!" (forgive the temporary teenage reverting) How the hell is that supposed to make her fans feel?! Just take the high road and stop belittling the show you helped create (yes, creating a beloved character is a huge piece of input). We all appreciate you greatly for it. Can’t you just gracefully accept that and move on? [/endrant]
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13 November 2004 06:14, by Anonymous
God(Joss Whedon) writes the script and we (The cast of Buffy) just read the lines. Thats what it needed to be essentially. However, It would’ve been good if the actors gave input into thier characetrs because the writers don’t know what its liek to play these characters and if ideas from the cast and the directors were both combined, it would’ve amde a good show, especially when Joss wasn’t there much in season 6
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13 November 2004 07:12, by Anonymous
I think Sarah would be very happy to not talk about Buffy. She just needs for people to stop pestering her about the show, e.g., doing voice-over for the cartoon series.
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13 November 2004 07:26, by Anonymous
i have a feeling she keeps talking about it because people keep asking her. she’s entitled to her opinion. just because someone creates a show doesn’t mean that they themselves can’t get off track once in a while with certain decisions. i myself, enjoyed the series, it’s one of my favorite shows ever. while i was a bit disappointed in the finale, all in all it was a good ride. it’s a bit silly to try and not find fault just because you love a show.
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13 November 2004 10:13, by Anonymous
I think i’m one of the few that actually enjoyed BTVS throughout it’s entire run. Season 6 and 7 were weaker than previous seasons but the show was still great. Whenever I hear comments like these from SMG I really lose a lot of respect for her as a person and as an actress. She is an actor not a writer what input could she possibly provide that would stop the show from becoming lost as if it ever did?
It’s hard to take her seriously when she talks of not being challenged in those seasons when her performance was mediocre at best, David Boreanez brought his A-Game to the table with every episode he did as well as James Marsters, Alexis Denisof and everyone else on the cast of both shows. She’s just an ingrate, she didn’t make the show, the show made her.
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13 November 2004 13:20, by Sasha
I’ve read many official interviews with SMG and she has never made a statement like this.
There is no way she did an offical interview with ’The Big Issue’ so it looks like they’ve cobbled together a few quotes from her over the years and published them out of context.
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13 November 2004 22:07, by Angel Aficionado
Oh please! Homeless people will make up anything to make some money, half of them pretend to be ill, so that you throw pennies at them, that’s why i just walk past them.
They can write what they like, its not like suing them would be any good, they’ve nothing to give!
If it’s not made up though, I wonder if Sarah would be so mouthy if she had been cast as Cordelia, she’d still be praising Buffy to the Heavens and she knows it, and if she hadn’t been cast at all, she’d probably be doing something on a pay per view channel.
But to be honest, it’s most likely made up, damn the homeless, causing all this trouble, go take a shower for Christ’s sakes!
One more thing: The masturbate on Spike? Could you be any more bitter? Spike was a rich character, why not explore him? I’m NOT a Spike fan, but I don’t get all pathetic and pissy just because he had a lot of storylines in the show. In the words of David Fury, "go watch some reality programming, this stuff’s wasted on you"
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16 November 2004 20:20, by ann
I don’t think anyone knows the whole story behind the truth besides maybe gellar and whedon. In my opinion something went astray once the show catapaulted off the WB. If you were to compare the satire and humor say in seasons 1,2,3 then look at 6,7. They got sloppy. Granted there were a couple eps that were notably good like Once more with feeling. I am not sure who or what I agree with , whether Smg should of stayed or should of gone, all I can say is that I was so happy the show gave what it did, which was something you can’t find on any other show and it made a mark and forever will it be known. Even though Gellar "quit" Buffyisms will never die.
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18 November 2004 04:09, by DL
i think at this point its gonna take nine years of mulder and scully trying to find the truth to figure out this mess. in fact its so convoluted i wouldnt be suprised to find multiple layers of government conspiracies in it somewhere.
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18 November 2004 04:27, by Lol
I don’t know, I liked season 6. It was about real life. The big bads weren’t Warren and his buds, they were Buffy, Xander and Willow. Not in Angelus-big- bad kinda way, well except for Willow, but in the screwing ups of 21 year olds. Buffy feeling so lonely and lost so she fucked the ’thing’ she hated the most to feel, Xander fearing of becoming his worst nightmare, hid dad, and hurting Anya eventually like his father did to his mother so he left her at the alter, Willow getting addected to magic like a normal 20 year old girl would get addected to drugs .... all this was something you would find in real life. I don’t know about you all, but I liked season 6.
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19 November 2004 01:08, by Anonymous
I agree they made the other characters look stupid for the sake of Spike
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19 November 2004 14:12, by Anonymous
I don’t think those were her real reasons
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21 November 2004 05:25, by Anonymous
Joss was yelling at his acters? No wonder SMG hated Buffy
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3 December 2004 23:07, by Anonymous
Sarah michelle geller changes her opinion quite alot on why she left the show. I didn’t mind season 6 or 7 but they weren’t one of the best. Joss is the creater of the show so it’s his choice on what happens. But during season 6 and 7 he wasn’t paying as much attention to the show like he did with the previous seasons.I think maybe he should have considered the actors opinion a bit more!!
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7 December 2004 16:24, by Pennsylvania—USA
All this talk about why Sarah quit Buffy and no one mentions the quote by Freddie Prinze about Sarah. He said ’one of the reasons she quit was all the SHENANIGANS going on the SET of Buffy". He never explained what he meant or talked about it again. Freddie did not want her to play Buffy for a eight season.As for the 6th sea. and all the SEX.What were they supposed to do after RILEY left in the middle of the 5th seas. Remember she came back from the DEAD and SPIKE was the only one who could talk to her. All shows have there SEXY episodes and so does BUFFY.Some of the SEX scenes were STUPID,I agree.On the balcony at the BRONZe was stupid,outside the Doulblemeat was stupid.Outside on the Grass was stupid and it made the show CHEAP.If that was what Sarah was tailking about then I agree. She had talked about the SEX scenes before in the 6th seas. It was just SILLY and STUPID.
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31 July 2005 00:14, by Edel
’they already had decided that Angel would get his own show before he was hooked up with Buffy’
To Anonymous who posted on November 12th 2004, it was only decided that Angel have his own show when Joss Whedon saw what a great performance DB gave as the woman ghost in I Only Have Eyes For You. He said that most male actors would be uncomfortable or make a joke of it, but DB didn’t, and that’s when Joss realised that this guy could carry his own show. So, it was not decided that Angel have his own show before he and Buffy met. And yes, Buffy did start to tank after Angel left... and I ain’t just saying that cos I’m a B/A shipper! :P also, wtf is this about SMG?! I mean, it makes her sound like she hated being on the show!
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