Sarah Michelle Gellar was stunned by Hulu’s decision to scrap the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot at the streamer, noting “nobody saw this coming.”
The “Ready or Not 2” actress was promoting her latest film release at SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas over the weekend when she got the call that the series, penned by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman and directed by Chloé Zhao, would not be moving forward.
“I was just about to take the stage in front of all the fans,” Gellar told People in an interview published Monday. “No one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight [Pictures].”
The production company behind her new film “Ready or Not 2” as well as the intended “Buffy” reboot on the television side shelved the series Saturday. Gellar noted that one executive in particular made it known that he had never seen the original series or planned to as they shot the pilot. The titular star blamed him for the series’ demise.
“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,” she explained.
“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,” Gellar added. “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.”
Gellar was particularly disappointed in the timing of the cancellation. The announcement came the same weekend that Gellar premiered her latest horror sequel “Ready Or Not 2” and as Zhao attended the 98th Annual Academy Awards, where her film “Hamnet” received eight nominations.
“For them to call us on the Friday of what should have been Chloé’s victory lap for an incredible film, and my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is — that says something,” she said.
“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.”
The cancellation comes a year after Hulu ordered a pilot for the reboot, tentatively titled “Buffy: New Sunnydale.” Academy Award winner Zhao, a self-proclaimed lifelong “Buffy” fan, was set to direct with a script from the Zuckermans (“Poker Face.”)
Zhao’s involvement specifically made Gellar want to return to her breakout role.
“I’ve been asked since the day I left to return to Sunnydale,” she said. “Four years ago, Chloé, the witch that she is — and I say that as a good thing — comes into my life. In one meeting, she makes me say ‘yes’ to something I never saw on my radar.”
Gellar was set to return as the series’ titular character, and the focus of the series would have been on finding a new slayer in Ryan Kiera Armstrong. The leading actress noted that as it stands today the project cannot go elsewhere because Disney owns the IP.
“I’d like to use this moment also to say that Ryan Kiera Armstrong is a superstar. I’m gutted that no one will see her as a slayer,” Gellar added.
The series regular cast also included Faly Rakotohavana, Ava Jean, Sarah Bock, Daniel Di Tomasso and Jack Cutmore-Scott, with Chase Sui Wonders as a guest star.
The reboot was produced by 20th Television and Searchlight TV. Representatives for Hulu declined to comment on the cancellation
