Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy the vampire slayer

Buffy: Charisma Carpenter Answers Questions About Pilot Involvement

Charisma Carpenter answered fans' questions about her involvement in Hulu's Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot.

As filming on EP Sarah Michelle Gellar, Showrunners Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman, director Chloé Zhao, and EP Gail Berman's Gellar and Ryan K. Armstrong-starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series pilot for Hulu rolls on, BTVS and Angel star Charisma Carpenter has taken to social media to address questions from fans about whether she's involved in the pilot in any way. "Hey, I get asked this a lot: 'Are you doing the reboot?' And I thought I would address it," Carpenter shared. "I am not in the reboot. I am not in the pilot. I don't even know if the show has been picked up to go to series. I assume it will be."

What Carpenter does have going on is her "Buffy" rewatch podcast, The Bitch Is Back, which is its own thing and never intended to imply a connection with the Hulu project. "It was not intended to sound coded in any kind of way, alluding to the fact that I was admitting to being in the reboot. People were also then commenting, 'Oh is this… Are you saying?' like it was an easter egg à la Taylor Swift. Not at all," she continued. "I have not had a conversation with any of 'The Powers That Be' to include Cordelia at this point."

Joining Gellar and Armstrong for the pilot are Faly Rakotohavana (Unprisoned) as Hugo, Ava Jean (Law & Order: SVU) as Larkin, Sarah Bock (Severance) as Gracie, Daniel di Tomasso (Witches of East End) as Abe, Jack Cutmore-Scott (Frasier) as Mr. Burke, Kingston Vernes (The Survivor) as Carson, Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio) as Shirley, Merrin Dungey (The Lincoln Lawyer) as Ms. LaDuca, Audrey Hsieh (Found) as Keiko, and Audrey Grace Marshall (The Flight Attendant) as Jessica. Here's a look at the Carpenter's TikTok addressing the reboot pilot question:

@charisma_carpenter

Replying to @alanbodkelleher REBOOT? #thebitchisbackpodcast #buffythevampireslayer #fyp #foryou

♬ original sound – Charisma Carpenter

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sarah Michelle Gellar's "Dream"? Bring Back Everyone Who Died

Speaking with Vanity Fair Italia during the 18th edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, Gellar shared that she considered herself lucky to not have social media around during her run on "Buffy," adding how young actors today are put into positions of having to be social media personalities, too ("…asked to constantly post content and do silly dances on TikTok"). As for why she finally made the decision to return to the "Buffyverse" after all of these years, Gellar credits one person in particular for helping her make the move.

"For so many years, I said no to a possible return of the series. I didn't want to reintroduce something we had already seen. I waited for the right time to come. Then Chloé [Zhao], a big "Buffy" fan, proposed the project to me, and I accepted. The gestation was long. It's been three years, and we're still working on it," Gellar shared, though based on a recent Instagram post, filming on the pilot might just be in sight. As for what fans can expect from the revival, Gellar shared that, "It will be lighter than the last few seasons of the original. We will try to find a balance between new and old characters." Apparently, that includes characters who've passed on, if there's space and a reason. "My dream is to bring back everyone who has died, but space will have to be made for new stories as well," Gellar added.

Finding that right balance is key, a point that Gellar has been emphasizing since the news of the revival series pilot first hit. But as the show's continued success over the years has shown, "Buffy" has very diverse multi-generational fanbase. "One of the surprising aspects of Buffy is that it's always been a crossover series," Gellar explained. "We're trying to figure out how to modernize the themes of the series, especially what it means to feel like an outsider in a world dominated by social media. What we want to explore are the space-time boundaries that affect society today."

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