The 'Toxic' Set Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Impacted Sarah Michelle Gellar's Vision Of Life On Set
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is one of the best TV shows of all time, but by this point, the Joss Whedon series is as infamous as it is famous. The seven-season coming-of-age series is about finding family and support as much as it is about slaying vamps, so it's always hard to reconcile the show fans loved with the hypocritical behaviors apparently on display on set.
In the years since the show has ended, several actors and colleagues have spoken up about alleged mistreatment from Whedon. Charisma Carpenter, who played mean girl Cordelia, released a statement alleging that the series writer-creator was "casually cruel" to her on several occasions, especially with regards to her pregnancy. Whedon's ex-wife Kai Cole also penned a blog post for The Wrap calling the writer, who was lauded as a groundbreaking feminist voice of television, a hypocrite for hiding "multiple affairs and a number of inappropriate emotional ones that he had with his actresses, co-workers, fans and friends." Spike actor James Marsters, Dawn actor Michelle Trachtenberg, Tara actor Amber Benson, and stunt double Sophia Crawford have also spoken up about negative on-set experiences with Whedon, according to Vulture.
'If women became friends, then we became too powerful'
In contrast, Gellar, who was only 19 when the series started, has kept her own "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" set experiences private until now. She vocally supported her co-stars when they spoke up in 2021 with a statement that simultaneously made it clear that she wasn't going to speak in detail. In an Instagram post, she said the following:
"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."
Now, nearly two years later, Gellar is sharing more about her experiences on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" set, and how they shaped her relationship to set life. At The Wrap's Power of Women Summit, Gellar attended an event called Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable, where she spoke about the series without mentioning it by name.
"For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set," Gellar said, per The Wrap. "And so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like, and that women were pitted against each other — that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down."
Luckily, Gellar's also had better experiences
This is a statement that hits hard on a lot of levels. As a fan of Gellar, it's disheartening to know that the talented actress, who would go on to star post-"Buffy" in films like "The Grudge" and shows like "The Crazy Ones," had a bad set experience early on, one that influenced her perspective on the industry that should have welcomed her with open arms. As someone who's endured hostile work environments myself, though, it's unfortunately unsurprising.
And as a "Buffy" fan, Gellar's words feel like the missing puzzle piece, the explanation for why Whedon's behaviors went unchecked for so long. People who want to control and manipulate others often attempt to divide and conquer, shutting off potential allegiances that might threaten the power structure in place. Gellar's words also feel like another bit of painful irony, as a show that's best-known for its empowerment of women was, according to its cast, apparently disempowering behind the scenes.
Luckily, Gellar's set experiences don't begin and end with Whedon. She also spoke about how it feels to have a positive, equitable set experience. "Now that I've had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be," she shares. Gellar appeared this year in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's sharp teen dramedy "Do Revenge," and is set to produce and star in the Paramount+ series "Wolf Pack." The actress and producer notes that, when it comes to empowering actresses, the best way to do it may be by having women in positions of power. "Unfortunately, we're still in that place where all of those departments a lot of times need to be women for us to have a voice," Gellar shared.