Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar spoke about the on-set tension and drama between her and her co-stars in a new book about the beloved teen drama.
"I think that unfortunately, the set we were on and the world we were in was pitting us against each other," Gellar said, per Entertainment Tonight, in the new book Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Heart by Evan Ross Katz.
Gellar said she believed that she would have had a very different experience with her castmates if the show had been made today, but qualified that they “have a great relationship now.”
The Buffy actor also touched on the jealousy she felt for her co-stars, including Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, and Nicholas Brendon, who she felt had less work to do than she did as star of the show.
"I was the one that was always working and sometimes I would be resentful of the fact that they didn't have to work all the time," Gellar said, adding that she “didn’t know how to handle the stress that I was under. I was really young, and I didn’t have any outside life”.
The working conditions on the set of Buffy have faced scrutiny in the past. The show helped launch the career of its creator Joss Whedon, who has since become infamous for the allegations made by Justice League stars about his toxic on-set behaviour.
In 2021, Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase on Buffy and the spin-off Angel, tweeted about the environment she said Whedon created on the supernatural teen drama: “Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly... He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval.”
Gellar supported Carpenter’s sentiment in her own statement, writing on Instagram: "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon. I am more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic currently, so I will not be making any further statements at this time. But I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out."
Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Heart is out now.
