Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar was candid about why the highly anticipated sequel to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” isn’t moving forward, claiming it all came down to one Hulu executive who never liked the original series.
Gellar, 48, made the revelation during an interview with People published this week, where she reflected on the abrupt end of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale,” a project that had already shot a pilot. The actress rose to fame for starring in the original supernatural drama series, which began in 1997. She went on to appear in several films and then took a prolonged hiatus from Hollywood to raise her children.
“I’ve been asked since the day I left to return to Sunnydale,” Gellar told the outlet. “It never occurred to me that it was something I was going to do.”
That changed, she explained, after meeting Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, whose passion for the character convinced her to sign on.
“In one meeting, she makes me say yes to something I never saw on my radar,” Gellar said.
However, Gellar said the project did not move forward because one executive involved openly distanced themselves from the original series.
“We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, was proud to constantly remind us that they had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for them,” she said.
People reported that Gellar was at the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) in Austin on March 11 when she learned the project was off the table. “No one saw this coming,” she added.
Despite the setback, Gellar emphasized that her decision to return was rooted in the show’s enduring fanbase.
“The fans are why I wanted to do it in the first place,” she said. “Buffy was about chosen family, and that you may feel like you don’t belong in the world, but there’s someone out there that sees you. And for me, it’s always been about me seeing those fans.”
The sequel was first announced in February 2025 as a pilot order at Hulu, according to Variety. Zhao, speaking on the red carpet over the weekend, suggested the series could still get picked up by a different distributor.
“Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans,” Zhao said. “Things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery.”
Whether “New Sunnydale” finds a new home remains to be seen. For now, Gellar says she’s moving forward with the same resilience as her iconic character.
“I’m going to hold my head high and keep going,” she concluded. “That’s what Buffy Summers would do.”
