Written by Duana


There’s a guy I knew in university. We were buddies, but he’s moved away. We don’t really keep in touch, per se, but every year, without fail, he posts some Buffy-related item on my wall on my birthday. That kind of kindness means we should probably talk more. But it also speaks to the pull that Buffy still has, all these years later.

That is the legacy Sarah Michelle Gellar deals with every day.

She hit the Television Critics Association media tour yesterday. Whether because TV guys like Buffy, or because she always treated the supernatural storylines of Buffy with gravitas, or because she’s been so absent from our screens for so long (i.e. – people miss Buffy), she is a B.F.Deal.

So yesterday she did promotion for Ringer. I’ve seen the trailer, not the pilot. It seems dramatic but I bet that there will be some humor eventually, because that is the gift of the SMG, pairing the absolutely dramatic with the kinda quirky. I certainly think that, since she’s taken eight years off, she has made the choice to return to something she actually cares about and can make dramatic and good, so I have high hopes. (Also, she’s not above humor. When asked what she thought about the move from CBS to the CW, she said she thought ‘Yes! I’m getting better clothing!” )

Here’s the thing. Gellar, when Buffy finished, was sniffed at as ‘cold’ and not part of the cool kids’ group, and I am so delighted that those shackles seem to be abating. She did some movies, and I’m sure that like all people, she thought a career in movies would be great – because you get to change things all the time, and try new characters, and TV is (sing it with me) a grind. It’s a wonderful, creative, expansive grind, but certain things are the same, day in and day out. And none of us in this business are known for our attention spans.

Which is why I’m so delighted that SMG is playing a dual role. I think it will give her time to have fun. For the uninitiated, when SMG’s character Bridget gets in major trouble, Bridget decides to pose as her own [dead] twin sister, Siobhan. Who may have been in more trouble than Bridget – and might also not be dead.

She also seems lighter. She’s going back to All My Children (not as Kendall) for a goodbye hurrah, she admits that she’s a lot easier in general now that she has had a kid and time to be a ‘gypsy’, she is clamoring to do her own stunts. I just get the impression that this girl is happy to be back in the game.

We discussed last night, Lainey and I, whether this and the article about Bell should be combined. And I don’t mean to always define people by comparing them to others. But I do think part of Gellar’s appeal is that despite being tiny and blonde, she has successfully defied the ‘tiny blonde actress’ clichés, at least in her TV roles. She has a steel that people really enjoy seeing onscreen. She is relatable partly because she has that brittleness. She’s prickly in the way your best friend might be when she hasn’t had coffee and isn’t enjoying her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend’s cocktail party.

She’s welcome back to the table and she doesn’t have to be sweet and cute and charming – at least, not onscreen (the TCA tour…yes, inevitably). That’s a great hand to have. She’s playing it well.


Photos from Wenn.com