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The Cast of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Sinks Their Teeth Into a Reunion

Would you fly to Los Angeles for a Buffy the Vampire reunion? The question seemed rhetorical to fans of the hit show who came from far and wide to see the Scooby gang on stage at this year’s PaleyFest. Buffy-holics lined up hours before the sold-out panel to secure a seat close to the stage, equipped with memorabilia and heaps of nostalgia. When it comes to die-hard, vampires don’t hold a candle to these folk. But perhaps for good reason.

As Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Greenwalt, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield, Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg, Seth Green, and Amber Benson piled onstage it was obvious that they had missed each other as much as the fans had missed them. And Hollywood.com was there to capture the moment.

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Once More, With Feeling
After a viewing of the musical episode Once More, With FeelingJoss Whedon was asked if he would consider taking Buffy to Broadway. “I would love to take a Buffy to Broadway. But it would not be this,” Whedon says. “You would have to start from scratch.” Most of the cast raises their hand when asked who would be up for it, but Sarah Michelle Gellar shakes her head furiously, downplaying her singing talent. “I begged for Buffy – the rap.”

Blue Buffy
Season 6, when Buffy loses interest in living and fighting was as hard for Gellar as it was for fans. “It was definitely tough for me. It was hard to separate myself from her, so it was hard to see these situations and say “Buffy wouldn’t do this.” Marti and Joss had to talk me off the ledge a couple of times. It felt so far removed from me at the time. I was struggling to figure out who she was.”[PAGEBREAK]

Suffering Scooby Gang
Why did the demon fighting team have to go through such torture? “There’s nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it in very good looking people’s mouths,” says writer/director/producer David Greenwalt. “Joss always said he wasn’t happy unless Buffy cried,” Marti Noxon. And admittedly, neither were her fans.

Better Luck Next Time
“All of my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a mid-season replacement, on a network no one had ever heard of, based on a movie that wasn’t…all that. They’d say “At least you’re on a pilot–next time you’ll get one that will go!” Gellar remembers. But she tells the audience she felt a connection to her character from the first time she read the script. “You take all that is horrible about youth and all that is scary. We made them into monsters, but it was so relatable. That was the key to the show.” [PAGEBREAK]

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Return of Buffy
To so many people in the room, and around the world, dreaming about a Buffy reunion on the silver screen or the TV screen Whedon offered a glimmer of hope. “So many stars would have to align but there is a reason I worked with these people for so long. I think it would be really cool.” But would the older Buffy be into girls like in the comic book? “It’s not a life change, like [with] Willow,” Whedon says of Buffy’s one nighter with Satsu. “They had a lot of time on their hands.”

The Body
“It was like I was losing a part of myself,” Michelle Trachtenberg says about shooting the episode where their mother, played by Kristine Sutherland, dies. For Emma Caulfield’s Anya, it’s also the moment when she discovers how humans function. A fan asked her recently what she was thinking when she delivered her heart-wrenching monologue. “I had a real Anya moment where I talked without thinking. I said, ‘To be honest, I really had to go to the bathroom.’” [PAGEBREAK]

Gay means happy
“I had no idea that Alyson [Hannigan] and I were going to become lovers–I mean, not in real life!” Amber Benson corrects herself. “We were taken aside, three episodes in, like, ‘By the way, you guys have really good chemistry.You’ve got, like, a ‘thing’”. “A thing I’d like to watch,” adds Seth Green. “I’m pleased that Willow remained a lesbian [after I left the show],” says Benson. “I think it was one of the best relationships on the show.”

Cordelia moves to Angel
When Joss Whedon asked Charisma Carpenter to “take a walk” with him, she knew something was up. He told her he was moving Cordelia to his new show Angel. “I was worried that Angel would flop,” admits Carpenter. But when Whedon told Charisma she would always have a net with Buffy she was all for it. “We couldn’t do Angel without her,” expresses a grateful David Greenwalt.[PAGEBREAK]  

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Awards
“You don’t put the vampire slayer on thinking ‘I’m getting Emmys,’” cracks Joss Whedon. But neither he nor the gang are disappointed. “We had the fans. We won the fan awards and that was more important,” says Sarah Michelle Gellar. “I saw the best love scenes list this week–it was you and me, by the way,” says Gellar to Marsters and the crowd cheers. Again.

Curtain call
“I miss the show,” admits Nicholas Brendon in the middle of all the joking. “I miss arriving in my trailer every morning to find that David Boreanaz had already pooped in it,” says Seth Green. “I learned a lot from 14 to 17 from being on the show. It was the best high school and life experience I could ever ask for,” Michelle Trachtenberg remembers. “I miss the family. These people that we were with for eight years. That atmosphere you can never get back,” adds Sarah Michelle Gellar. “What I miss most is being in the writers’ room. I’ve never been around a group like that and I don’t think I ever will be,” says Joss Whedon. We think he might be right.

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