Posted in: Paramount+, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy, buffy the vampire slayer, paramount plus, sarah michelle gellar, wolf pack

Buffy Star Sarah Michelle Gellar Addresses "Extremely Toxic Male Set"

As the year comes to an end and 2023 fast approaches, this February will mark two years since Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star Charisma Carpenter went public via social media with accusations against series creator Joss Whedon alleging years of unprofessional & abusive behavior. Following Carpenter's disclosures, many others connected with both shows (and other Whedon projects) voiced their support for Carpenter (and sometimes posted their own accusations against Whedon). One of the most important figures adding their name to the conversation was "Buffy" star Sarah Michelle Gellar. "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," was the statement that Gellar posted at the time. Since that time, Gellar has touched upon aspects of what production was like for Evan Ross Katz's book (Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts) as well as a recent The New York Times interview where she explained how she applied what she learned from "Buffy" to make sure that didn't happen to her young co-stars on Paramount+'s Wolf Pack. But this week, during The Wrap's Power of Women Summit in Los Angeles, Gellar elaborated on how the "extremely toxic male set" drove home the importance of working with supportive women and allies.

"For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set, 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," Gellar shared during the event's "Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable" session. "And 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, but … 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"

Back in September, Gellar shared why she chose not to discuss specifics about her time working with Whedon. In addition, she shared what she learned from her time growing up in Hollywood and how she applied it to the production of her upcoming Paramount+ series, Wolf Pack. During The New York Times profile, Gellar explained the difficulties she had as a young woman in the industry as she was coming up. "It was really hard. There weren't great female roles when I came up. It was the girlfriend role, the wife role," Gellar explained. "That's why 'Buffy' was so spectacular, because she really had something to do, and then we had 'I Know What You Did,' where it was the women figuring things out. That was all a new turn of events." But as difficult as things were when it came to roles, it was even worse for a young woman trying to develop a career in an industry flowing with toxic misogyny. "Growing up in New York, I had a little bit of street sense going into it, which is helpful. But no, it was not easy. And I've had my fair share of experiences; I have just chosen not — I don't win by telling my stories, emotionally, for me. I look at people that tell their stories, and I'm so impressed. But in this world where people get torn apart and victim blaming and shaming, I just keep my stories in here."

As an executive producer as well as a star on Paramount+'s Wolf Pack, Gellar's able to take what she experienced and make sure younger actors these days are better protected on set. "I have these two young girls and two young boys [acting] on it ['Wolf Pack']. I have made it very clear from Day 1 that if there are things the production wants to talk to them about, I want them to go through me," Gellar explained. "Because I've been there. And I want [the performers] to always have a safe space." Also, being an EP allows the Do Revenge star to set a respectful tone on the set. "I always try to come in with a smile on my face and set a tone on a set. We're all equals. It doesn't matter what job someone does, they get treated exactly the same," Gellar explained. "When I was on 'Buffy,' I made sure that I did every job at least one time so that I understood what everyone did. I held the boom; I tried to mix sound — I was really bad at it; focus pulling. I think a lot of young actors go, 'My job is to show up and say my lines.' Not really. Your job is to be part of the whole team."

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