Posted in: CW, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: buffy, joss whedon, paramount, preview, sarah michelle gellar, wolf pack

Sarah Michelle Gellar on Applying Her Buffy Experiences to Wolf Pack

Published Sat, 17 Sep 2022 19:05:12 -0500

by Ray Flook

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Back in February 2021, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) took to Twitter to publically accuse Joss Whedon of years of unprofessional and abusive behavior, prompting many others connected to both shows to voice both their support as well as their own accusations. One of those who issued a statement in support of Carpenter was "Buffy" star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who too took to Instagram to issue a statement: "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, a little more than 1-1/2 years later, Gellar offers some personal insight into why she's chosen not to discuss specifics about her time with Whedon. In addition, she shares what she learned from her time growing up in Hollywood and how she applies it to the production of Paramount+'s upcoming 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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