Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains Why Chloé Zhao Was the One to Lure Her Back to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Sarah Michelle Gellar played Buffy the Vampire Slayer for seven seasons, from 1997 to 2003, and when the fan-favorite series wrapped, Gellar was ready to move on to other roles. She has spoken positively about the show’s run, and has always been grateful to the fans who keep the series alive, but she was never one to entertain the idea of a reboot… until now.

The reboot has been in the works for quite some time, but it really only started gaining momentum over the last year, during which Gellar signed on to return to the beloved role, but it took some coaxing. Gellar said to Vanity Fair:

“That is all credit to the visionary Chloé is,” Gellar explained in an email, citing her talent for world-building and “an international eye which broadens the scope of what we can achieve.”

The director heard Gellar’s concerns, and yet, Zhao says, “I think we chose each other in that moment. No one knows Buffy better than Sarah Michelle Gellar…and that’s why I couldn’t do it unless she felt like we should,” Zhao says.

“The way the fans commune around her, that’s the energy we’re trying to bring out onto a small screen again.” That Zhao was one of them helped sway Gellar.

“This version is coming from the true fan that is desperate to revisit the world, not reinvent,” Gellar writes. She once told Zhao that she regretted not taking the class protector umbrella from the original series’ prom episode. On the last day of filming the sequel, Zhao presented Gellar with an exact replica.

When asked if the reports are true, Zhao says that Gellar plays a mentor to a new teen slayer, but she doesn’t tread into spoiler territory. All Zhao can say now is: “She’s very much in it.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale is expected to premiere in 2026.