Sarah Michelle Gellar has revealed the Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot was cancelled because of one executive who was not "a fan of the original".
The 48-year-old actress was set to reprise her role as Buffy Summers in planned revival Buffy: New Sunnydale, but announced over the weekend that the plans have been scrapped and the series won't be going ahead.
Explaining why for the first time, Sarah told PEOPLE magazine: "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.
"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 [Zhao, director].
"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."
Sarah was about to head on stage at SXSW Film and TV Festival for the premiere of her new movie Ready Or Not 2: Here I come, while the Hamnet filmmaker - who had joined her to work on the Hulu and Searchlight Television Buffy revival - was preparing for the Oscars where she was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars.
Sarah added: "Chloé and I are feeling the same things. Disappointment. We don't want to let the fans down. That hurts.
"Saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled. But I just said to Chloé, and I was very specific, I said, 'Sunday night, you put that crown on and you walk that red carpet and you take in all that love for what you worked for and forget the other stuff.’
"It’s important to me that this doesn't take away from what we achieved and what she's achieved. And there's always so more to do.”
Sarah admitted "no one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight", while she doesn't know exactly what the future holds for the project.
She added: "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."
Meanwhile, PEOPLE noted that sources claim the door is still open for more Buffy, with Hulu trying to figure out what the next step should be.
However, an insider said: "Disney owns the IP. As it stands today, it can't go elsewhere.
"But that doesn't mean the team behind the reboot, including Sarah and Chloé, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman [the screenwriters and executive producers], can't take their talent and ideas elsewhere.”
The cancellation has prompted emotional responses from the cast, including 16-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who was set to lead the series as new Slayer Nova.
She became visibly emotional as she admitted she was “really proud” of the project and disappointed fans would not get to see it.
She said on Instagram: “It doesn’t take away from the amazing experience that I had.
“I also want to say thank you to all the fans who believed in this new chapter, and who believed in me, so thank you guys. Thank you to the cast I worked with. You guys are awesome."
