Sarah Michelle Gellar Offers BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: NEW SUNNYDALE Update and Says It's "Not a Sequel" or "Reboot"
While diehard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans are super stoked about the return of the show with the follow-up Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, some may have noticed that it’s taking a while for production to get started, despite the cast and crew assuring us that it’s moving forward.
But Sarah Michelle Gellar has some updates, including what the holdup is, and why this series isn’t a “sequel” or “reboot.”
The actress clarified on a recent interview on the Shut Up, Evan podcast, “It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation.”
Gellar said the series will answer the questions of where Buffy “is now in this world and what is this world that Buffy lives in with her and without her,” adding, “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.”
SMG went on to say that she “learned a hard lesson in life” about the saying, “never say never,” as she was initially opposed to revisiting the character.
“I will eat my words, and I’m OK with that — I learned my lesson,” she said. “I never saw how and why it could be as good [as the original series]. I’m not trying to be better. I just want to hold and honor the memory and what we created.
“I know sometimes that memory is conflicted for people about how they’re supposed to feel about it, but a lot of people put their blood, sweat, and tears into making what I think is an incredibly great show, and I’m incredibly proud of it.”
Gellar noted that director Chloé Zhao’s passion for the project, was the turning point that ultimately led her to sign up to revisit Sunnydale.
“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. She knew what the world was, and she knew the way,” Gellar said.
“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.”
Gellar said they are still developing the series and “still working on that, why and how,” adding, “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. 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.”
via: Deadine