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CAST/CREW NEWS - SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR |
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End of Buffy only makes Gellar stronger Entertainment Weekly interview Gellar exits Buffy in May Gellar gets Romantic Gellar, Prinze wed in Mexico Gellar goes to Harvard Scooby-Two set for 2004 Buffy the bachelor slayer? SMG on Scooby-Doo - again SMG on Scooby-Doo SMG strikes a pose Gellar wants to avoid McBeal fate Gellar "not into" Buffy movie The resurrection of "quippy Buffy" SMG swaps spit with co-star Cardellini SMG's arse doesn't light up Scooby-Doo FPJ and SMG move in together Gellar, Prinze voice N'Ever Scooby Doo trailer to debut on Harry Potter SMG 29th in celebrity bodies poll SMG's father found dead Compromising position SMG faces life without the Frog SMG in FHM Tricks of the trade for a perfect face SMG's old pals act EW: "Go for indie flick" Scooby Doo producers attempt to debunk rumours Nobody's perfect Seventies kids' shows make a comeback Harvard Man Gellar to play McGregor's sidekick? SMG on Buffy SMG gets engaged TV's young actresses flex acting muscles Grosse Pointe and Scooby Doo Buffy herself on bad girls and driving naked Prinze all excited by his new Doo The lady is a vamp Scooby Doo cast pic Grosse Pointe snippet Previous SMG news |
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OF BUFFY ONLY MAKES GELLAR STRONGER Next week, Sarah and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. are due to head to Vancouver to start production on the Scooby-Doo sequel. Work on the film immediately follows the end of production on Buffy, which is shutting down after seven seasons - five on The WB and the last two on UPN. Without going into specifics, Prinze hints that the later seasons of Buffy may have been rough for his bride. "A lot of people owe Sarah a lot for doing that show," Prinze says, "ahnd she doesn't always get the credit she deserves. She's a very strong woman, ecause she deals with a lot of nonsense, and instead of that nonsense, she should be thanked - and she's not. That's the reason she won't be coming back." "Sarah's the most appreciative person in the world, and if that environment would have remained the way it would six years ago, she would go back, because she's loyal. But things change, and people's egos get in the way sometimes. They make poor decisions." "I don't agree with it, but I understand it, and I just pray I'm never guilty of it." Prinze asserts that, whatever happened, Gellar gave 100 percent. "And even if she's not, nobody knew, because she commits. She's badass." The series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs on UPN Tuesday, 20 May, at 8pm ET. BACK TO THE TOP ENTERTAINMENT
WEEKLY INTERVIEW As revealed below, Sarah Michelle Gellar told Entertainment Weekly that she was quitting Buffy, here's the interview in full: Entertainment Weekly: Why now? Why is this the right time? Sara Michelle Gellar: I hope it is the right time. This is so weird. This is like the first time I've really said it. Joss and I always [said] from the beginning, as long as we can give 140 percent, we'd always be doing it. You always worry about being the show that's been on too long - especially when you're a cult hit. Last year, a lot of people were ready to tear us down. [So when] we started to have such a strong year this year, I thought, "THis is how I want to go out - on top, at our best." I was 18 when I started the show; I'm 26. I'm married. I never see my husband. This has been the longest span of my life in one place. There've been times where that's been difficult - you want to pick up and go, try other things, live in different places. It feels right, and you have to listen to that. The show, as we know it, is over. Why do you say "as we know it"? I know they are planning a spin-off, and I would love to come back [for some episodes] - assuming, of course, that they don't kill [Buffy]. The moment I say all this, I'm going to get the last script and go, "Oh, my God!" Look, this is so scary. I love this job, I love the fans. I love telling the stories we tell. This isn't about leaving for a career in movies, or in theatre - it's more of a personal decision. I need a rest. Teachers get sabbaticals. Actors don't. What was it like announcing your decision? At the beginning of this season, Joss and I had a conversation outside my trailer. We both kind of felt that this was the end, that we should make that decision and say it publicly. And then...we didn't. We didn't even talk about it for a while...[But] the fact the show's been so good [this season] decided it for us. It was a realisation that we all came to. If the show had stronger ratings, and had received more mainstream acclaim - as in Emmys - would you have stayed? No. Our show never had top 10 numbers, but everyone talked about it. Joss and I disagree on this. People are always, "How sad are you that your show never won any awards?" I think it's great! This is the cool show, the show the voters don't get. I've won an Emmy. Okay, it's a Daytime Emmy, but it's still an Emmy. It doesn't mean nearly as much to me as my Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favourite Female Butter Kicker. Was money an issue for you?I Money? No complaints. Never. I'll be honest: Buffy on UPN has always seemed like an odd fit. I knew this question was coming. Do you feel the switch from The WB to UPN in 2001 hurt the show? It was a hard transition. This is a hard question because UPN has been very supportive of the show. They gave us a home. But I will always have a loyalty and a very, very deep appreciation for the support that I felt at The WB. The WB and Buffy were synonymous. They made each other. So now it's on to a big career as...Daphne in Scooby-Doo? [Laughs.] I get a lot of "Scooby-Doo?! That's why you're leaving?" Scooby-Doo was interesting. The reviews were scathing, and I took it really hard. [But] Freddie said to me, "Scooby-Doo isn't for reviewers. We're not making it for them." And when all these children came up to me to say, "Scooby-Doo is my favourite movie," that was great. But for a weird time in between, I took everything really personally. Do you have a clear post-Buffy plan for making it in the movies? If I did, I'd write a book, cash in, and retire. My movie experience has shown me you can't plan. Simply Irresistible was a major flop. Do you have something to prove at the box office? No. Simply Irresistible was [just] a bad choice - and for that it was a great [learning] experience. I wasn't ready to make that movie. I was too young. The script was not ready. I knew in my heart before I left [to make it] that I should back out. Have you ever had any fear that you would be trapped by your Buffy image? Of course. You run that risk with anything you do. [But to] be greatly identified with anything is a mark of success. My biggest fear right now is that people will blame me for [ending] the show. People are going to think that it's my fault that their favourite show is going off the air. And God knows we're always looking for someone to blame. Do you think people will hold it against you in a way that will hurt other things you want to do? No, it's more personal than that. Less professional, more personal. I love the fans. We were a midseason replacement on The WB called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on a movie that was a flop. People were like, "Don't worry, you'll get a pilot nextr season." People pitied me - PITIED me. We couldn't pay directors to come here. Nobody wanted to be on our show. And look what happened. Time for some exit interview questions. Has there always been a Buffy master plan? Joss has had certain episodes planned from the get-go. I knew Dawn was coming two years in advance...Willow was always supposed to go bad. Willow was supposed to go bad a year before she did, but Joss loved Tara and Willow, so that story line was pushed a year... I honestly believe his original intentions was to put Buffy and Xander together. I really do believe that. Favourite episode? I loved The Prom. It stood for everything Buffy was about: the fact that she so badly wanted to be part of the other kids' lives. I think The Body is pretty amazing. I loved the episode in which Buffy and Faith switched. That was one of my all-time favourites because I thought Eliza was so great. And also when Buffy realises she has to kill Angel and she kills him and he comes back. Those are my favourites. Least favourite episode? I had troublew with the one where Buffy had sex with Spike on the balcony while watching their friends. I really thought was out of character. And I didn't like what it stood for. That was the moment that I had the most problems with. You've mentioned how much you disliked the sixth season. Why was that? And how did you feel about Buffy's depression, and her sexual obsession with Spike? It wasn't who Buffy was, or why people loved her. You don't want to see that dark heroine; you don't want to see her punishing herself. You want to see her killing vampires and making quips. It didn't feel like the character that I loved. Joss always explained that season as being about your 20s, where you're not a kid anymore, but you don't know what you want to do [with your life]. He always said that I didn't understand last year because I've always known what I wanted to do, and I didn't have that confusion, [that] dark, depressive period. But I think the heart of the show lies in the humour of the drama. I felt like Buffy's spirit was missing last year. Who do you think was the best Buffy villain ever? Angel. Angel and Spike. Why? There was so much heartbreak when Angel went bad. This is the love of her life and now her job was to kill him! That's heartbreaking. Not to mention the poor girl has sex for the first time and, you know, turned him bad. I've heard of turning [someone] gay, but... So, how would you like the show and your work on it to be remembered? I hope positively. One thing about the show was it was never categorised. It was drama, comedy, action, horror, all of those things combined. And I just want people to remember it as a fabulous run, a fabulous seven years. Do
you know what youre last scene in the last episode will be? I
can't even imagine. All I can say is that I really hope I have
the last line... Even talking to you - I don't know how I seem
to you, I don't know if I seem once removed from it, [but] I
don't think the enormity has hit me. BACK
TO THE TOP GELLAR
EXITS BUFFY IN MAY It's been a rumour for months, but now it's fact - Sarah Michelle Gellar will be hanging up her stake come May. While Gellar has given Entertainment Weekly an exclusive regarding her departure for its 7 March issue, sources close to the series have confirmed that the actress will not be part of the cast should Buffy return in the fall. Much about the fate of the show remains up in the air. Rumours of a possible spin-off still run rampant, although the most likely cadidate - based on Eliza Dushku's character Faith - now seems iffy at best since Eliza Dushku has signed on for the Fox drama pilot Heroine about a young woman who finds that she can go back in time and relive single days. Gellar's
last appearance, and for now, the season finale, will air on
8pm ET on Tuesday, 20 May. BACK
TO THE TOP GELLAR
GETS ROMANTIC According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sarah Michelle Gellar is in negotiations to star in Romantic Comedy for MGM and director Joel Gallen. The film will centre around best friends Max and Kate (Gellar). Kate, a translator for the UN, is oblivious to Max's true affections for her. Max tries to win her love by copying romantic comedy movie moments. Bob Cooper, Chuck Weinstock and Marc Platt are producing. Rob Green, Lance Khazei and Laura Lichstein are co-producing. Gallen will work from a script by Khazei, Jeff Lowell, Barra Garant and Bob Harting. Production will begin in August after Gellar wraps her role in Scooby-Doo 2, and this timing must surely be another strike against the possibility of an eighth season of Buffy. BACK TO THE TOP GELLAR,
PRINZE WED IN MEXICO First came Scooby-Doo, now comes "I do" for Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. The couple, who appeared together in this summer's talking-dog comedy Scooby-Doo, were wed Sunday at an undisclosed location in Mexico, their spokeswoman, Leslie Sloane, said Tuesday. The bride wore a Vera Wang gown and the groom sported a custom-made linen suit, she said. A group of friends and family attended the ceremony, which was kept a closely guarded secret from the public. Gellar announced the engagement at her 24th birthday party in April 2001. The couple met on the set of the 1997 teen slasher flick, I Know What You Did Last Summer. They dated for nearly a year before becoming engaged, and are signed to star in a sequel to the Scooby-Doo adaptation, in which Prinze, 26, played brawny, mystery-solver Fred and Gellar portrayed sweetheart sleuth Daphne. BACK TO THE TOP GELLAR
MAY STUDY ABROAD Sarah Michelle Gellar may be ready to pull up stakes. Variety reports that the actress may be heading to England for A Semester Abroad, a comedy being developed for her to film in spring 2003 after the next - and last? - season of Buffy wraps. Gellar would play a tough gal from Queens, New York, who wins a scholarship to an elite university in London, where she knocks some of the stuffing out of the stuffy British scholars. (Think Legally Blonde, but with a heroine from tough-talkin' Noo Yawk instead of sunny California.) Producing the film is Deep River, the company behind Pierce Brosnan's upcoming romantic comedy, Laws of Attraction. Gellar already has some experience disrupting elite universities; she stars in the current indie movie Harvard Man as a mafioso's daughter who entices her undergraduate boyfriend to throw a Harvard basketball game. In any case, the star of Scooby-Doo has indicated that she's growing restless and may leave Buffy after the 2002-03 season, so she'll certainly be looking for something else to do. BACK TO THE TOP GELLAR
GOES TO HARVARD Now that Sarah Michelle Gellar has arrived with a summer blockbuster - Scooby Doo - just wait till you see her in her dark changeup role. That's the word from filmmaker James Toback, who directed Gellar in the small, independent flick Harvard Man, which gets a New York opening Friday (28 June), LA on 5 July, and a slow roll-out release pattern to follow. In it, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star is player a cheerleader-seductress-mob daughter. The film, which has already been garnering critical raves, would not have been made without her, Toback adds. "The money to make Harvard Man came into place after she came aboard, but not once did she try to exploit her centrality to the financing of the movie. A lot of times in cases like this, actors will be quick to point out on the first day of shooting that they're the reason the film got financing and that it's their show." Not so with Gellar, even though Toback insists "she was well aware that she was the deciding factor in getting the film's $6 million budget approved." He also notes, "It seems that people are generally excited to see her in films. Scooby-Doo's opening box office proves that." As far as he's concerned, the young actress he deems "smart, funny and a real professional" is sitting in the driver's seat when it comes to her career. BACK TO THE TOP SCOOBY-TWO
SET FOR 2004 The surprising $54 million North American opening for Scooby-Doo has cranked up the schedule for the inevitable sequel, Variety reports. The film's studio, Warner Bros., has already locked up the cast - Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini - and is finalising a deal with director Raja Gosnell. Scooby 2 is being written by the original film's James Gunn. It will start shooting early next year and be in theatres in 2004, Variety reports. "We promised audiences a summer movie the whole family could enjoy together, and they gave us a tremendous opening weekend," Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Warner Bros.'s president of worldwide productions, told Variety. "We're certain we've got another great Scooby-Doo story to tell in movie theatres two years from now." BACK TO THE TOP BUFFY
THE BACHELOR SLAYER? Are they or aren't they? Married, that is. Because tongues are wagging that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. tied the knot three weeks ago in a private ceremony far from prying paparazzi eyes at Las Vegas' Little White Wedding Chapel. A rep for Gellar deneied the delish Scooby marriage scoop. "No way," she explained, "because I'm invited to her wedding, and I want to be there." But sources at the celeb-friendly chapel paint an entirely different picture: "It was a midday ceremony," dish a rep who officiated the event in question, "but I have to respect their privacy. I can't give out all the details." Of course not. Meanwhile, members of the Buffy babe's inner circle think this whole Sin City wedding sounds pretty fun - and plausible. Engaged since April 13, 2001, the delectable duo [E! Online's words, not mine] have gone to great lengths to conceal any wedding word while promoting their Scooby-Doo flick - especially when costar Matthew Lillard slipped up and referred to his good buddies as newlyweds. (Surely he'd know the real scoop, wouldn'tcha think?) So, were Sarah Michelle and Freddie just feeling spontaneous and got hitched on a whim? Guess the Prinzes are the only ones who know for sure. BACK TO THE TOP SMG
ON SCOOBY-DOO - AGAIN Sci-Fi Weekly talked to Sarah and Scooby-Doo co-star Matthew Lillard recently. Here's an excerpt: Adapting one of the most beloved children's cartoon series into a live-action feature film is no small task. It takes a certain dedication and love for the source material, while at the same time striving to create something new and fresh that audiences have not seen before. In the upcoming live-action feature Scooby-Doo, co-stars Matthew Lillard and Sarah Michelle Gellar bring to life the well-known characters of Shaggy and Daphne and carefully walk the line between faithfulness and innovation. Gellar was not ... an obvious choice for Daphne, whose role in the Scooby gang is often that of damsel in distress. She is most recongisable to fans as the very capable title character of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But she, too, impressed the filmmakers with her dedication to the role. During filming on Scooby-Doo, seven-day work weeks and extreme jet lag were common for the busy actress, who often found herself flying back and forth from the set in Australia to Los Angeles, where Buffy is filmed. Her one consolation was being able to work with her real-life love interest and fiance, Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays dashing yet arrogant Fred Jones in the film. What did you go through to get cast for this film? Gellar: In the beginning ... they were sceptical. I think that [director] Raja [Gosnell] is the one that was saying, "You know, I just don't know. Do we hire a girl that people will expect to be the antithesis of this character? Does it ruin what is essentially the essence of this character?" And I really had to go in and sort of sell myself to Raja specifically. I went in and did how I thought she would walk and what her voice would sound like and her mannerisms and it was a big old sell job. I think it was more, not so much was I capable, but would people be willing to suspend that disbelief initally. ... Would people be saying, "Why would you have her as Daphne?" Once you were cast, what did you do to prepare for the role? Gellar: I did a lot of [research], you know, watched all the episodes of the cartoon. And I think for me the main thing was the physicality. [Daphne's] voice, her cadence, isn't as specific in people's heads as Velma's or Shaggy's was necessarily. I studied the way she posed, because Daphne always posed. ... They'll be running, and then when they stop running Daphne poses. Like, it just doesn't stop. And I was like, "Am I going to remember? ... Am I going to be in the middle of a scene and just find myself just, you know, hanging loose and not remembering to always [pose]?" But I will say that once we got into costume and you looked around and you had these giant sets, it was so easy to remember where you are and what you were doing. What would you do for a Scooby Snack? Gellar: Let me tell you how nasty [they are]. That's dog food. And I won't do anything for those things, I'll tell you that right now. It's a misconception. Because they, like, sell these like Scooby snacks in the store and they're like cinnamony graham crackers. They're really good. And our costume designer would have this fox and every time I would go for a costume fitting I'd be all, "Oh, yeah." So we get to the scene on the beach where we all have to eat them and I'm thnking that's what we're getting so I didn't eat breakfast that day thinking I'm eating me some. This is my perfect excuse. I'm eating me some Scooby snacks. But they weren't those same Scooby snacks. They were this concoction that looked good on camera. Lillard: Because I eat them the whole movie, early on they asked me, "What do you want the Scooby snacks made out of?" And I said, "I eat them the whole time so make them somewhat healthy." That was a mistake. Gellar: So you're the reason they tasted like that? Lillard: It was like cardboard. Gellar: The first couple takes we would all be like, "Mmmm." And by the third, fourth take we were like, "Someone get a spit bucket." Do you feel the film adaptation was true to the original cartoon? Lillard: It's actually been a very interesting adventure for this film. Because they made two versions, quite frankly. They made a version that was more adult and they made a version that is traditional - what you see now, which is a family film. And at some point there was a fork in the road and they had to make a decision. We can either play to an older, skew older, teenage crowd, or we can make it what it is for the franchise, what it is in the history of the cartoon, which is a family-orientated thing. And so that's the decision they ended up going with. Gellar: And on that some note I have to say that I agree with the decision. And I think that family films are [something] that people overlook. Actors don't seem to always want to make family films. Studios don't want to produce them. And, first of all, children are our movie-going audience of tomorrow. I remember when I was younger and I would see E.T. or Princess Bride or any of these movies ... that were family films that my mother went to and loved and I loved and we could talk about them. And I always say that I blame multiplexes for the ruin of family films. Because it's so easy for families to split up, so you can make a kids movie and then the older kids can just go across the way and time a movie out so you guys all get out at the same time. And it's so important to have films - to have a film where everybody can go and the parents love it and the older kids love it and the younger kids love it and I'm really proud of the decision that they made. Lillard: It's not as sexy either. I mean, you want it to be funny, you want it to be sexy, [to] play for teenagers. Sarah, what was it like shooting a film with your significant other? Gellar: Coming into what is eseentially supposed to be a gang, a group that had so many experiences and has such a relationship - is basically a family - to come in and to not be on the first day saying, "Hi, I'm Sarah, what's your name? Where are you from?" [was great]. ... I was really excited to get to know Linda because she was the question mark, she was the missing one of the group. And just at the end of the read-through, as all women do, Linda and I excused ourselves to go to the ladies room and we started bonding as ladies do in the bathroom. And we're talking and talking. And I came out and I said, "Freddie, Matthew, you guys, Linda is so great, you're going to love her." And they went, "We know." And I went, "What are you talking about?" And they're like, "We heard you from the bathroom. We heard the whole conversation. She's great. Talk quieter next time." Did you kid Sarah and Freddie when they were shooting the kissing scene? Gellar: It was such a non-scene. It was one of those mornings we were so behind. Literally, it was one take. We had to get on to the big part of the day. I literally think that scene was filler so they could get all the extra ready to get to the next scene. I swear to God, they wrote that in because, like, "OK, well, we can get Sarah and Freddie ready on turnaround and then that gives us 30 extra minutes to light for the rest of the extras coming in." Lillard: "Make out!" Gellar: "Make out! Quick guys, roll. And go." What did you think of Freddie as a blond? Gellar: I think he looked like Fred. ... I prefer the brunette. I've said it. There. You've all heard it. Earth-shattering. Freddie is an admitted Scooby fan. Did he make you watch any of his favourite episodes? Gellar: We have every episode on tape in our basement. And not because we called Warner Brothers to get them when we decided to do the film. Because we had them. I don't know if he picks one. I probably say this now and he probably has a favourite and I just don't know it. BACK TO THE TOP SMG
ON SCOOBY-DOO On being a fan of the Scooby-Doo cartoon: Matthew Lillard: I grew up with it. I had a weird kind of relationship like many kids who were latchkey kids. I'd come home from school and I'd turn on the TV like most American kids and, you know, that started the relationship. So that brought a lot of pressure to all of us, because we all grew up with the cartoon and we didn't want to be the guys that screwed it up. SMG: Yeah, like, "Those are the four kids that ruined that franchise!" I think for me, also, I found cartoons to be so gender-based when I was younger. They were for boys, like G.I. Joe or Transformers, or for girls, like My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake. I fell in the middle somewhere. I needed something that was a little more esoteric. In Scooby-Doo, they solved mysteries; they worked together as a team. On working with a computer-animated co-star: SMG: Sometimes it's so hard, you know. You do a movie a year ago, and then you put it into the hands of the animators ... and I think that I can honestly say that everybody's so proud of the way it turned out. On the capture-prone Daphne standing up for herself in the movie: SMG: I think that was important. I think in the cartoon, watching it, you always said, how come nobody else ever gets captured? Does she just nominate herself, "Ooh, ooh, let me be the idiot!" On her fiancé Freddie Prinze Jr.'s newly blond look: SMG: He whined about having to get his hair coloured all the time, and I'm thinking, that ain't nothing. You try doing it for six years for a television show. On making Scooby-Doo more family-friendly: SMG: I think that family films are so important. On Matthew Lillard's preparation for the role: SMG: Matthew locked himself in a dance studio for two weeks just to work on the walk, because it was so important to him to pay homage and - I know it sounds strange to say - keep the integrity of a cartoon character. There are millions of people across not just America but across the world that love this character and love the show, and he worked every day on the voice, on the walk. I don't think Academy Award-winning actors work harder on their roles ... I felt like a pathetic, lazy actor compared to him. On her preparation for a fighting sequence: SMG: I feel like Cirque du Soleil might be calling me. On a kiss scene with Velma that was cut: SMG: The kiss got cut. Personally, I don't see how that's inappropriate for children, because I think it's funny, but apparently others did not. And there goes my MTV movie award for Best Kiss. I thought, Oscar, Emmy ... who cares? I wanted that two in a row, the MTV Best Kiss. I thought, I'm going to be the first person and now it's down the drain. On their favourite part of the movie that was cut: ML: There's a scene where Velma does a torchlight song and starts singing and ends up coming down to her skivvies. SMG: You know what, though? There's always DVD. BACK TO THE TOP SMG
STRIKES A POSE Sarah Michelle Gellar and fiancé Freddie Prinze Jr. already share a home - do the lovebirds really want to be together at work too? Surely no couple is that cozy. "It depends on the project," admits Gellar, who plays Daphne to his Fred in Scooby-Doo (opening tomorrow). "There was no concern [Scooby] was ever going to cross over into our real life," she laughs. "It wasn't heavy and dramatic, like we're taking it home. Freddie and I were obviously quite familiar with each other, and I've known Matthew Lillard" - who plays Shaggy - "for eight years. So it was nice not having to say, 'Hi, I'm Sarah' on the first day." That freed up Gellar to deal with Daphne's "physicality" issues. "I studied the way Daphne always posed [in the cartoon]," she says. "Her body's constantly at an angle. I'm telling you, Daphne must have some chiropractor because, seriously, it hurt! "I would be standing in my Buffy trailer running these Scooby lines with James Marsters, who plays Spike," Gellar recalls. "At the same time, I'd try to adjust my body and make [the posing] natural. Daphne poses and it just doesn't stop!" Gracious as she is, there's one Daphne-related query you don't want to ask Gellar: "What would I do for a Scooby snack?" she sasses. "That's dog food. Let me tell you how nasty that is. I won't do anything for those! On the set, they were this nasty concoction that looked good on camera - but by the third or fourth take, we're like, 'Someone get a spit bucket, please!' They're not going to be able to market those things with the nasty things I've said!" BACK TO THE TOP GELLAR
WANTS TO AVOID McBEAL FATE Sarah Michelle Gellar wants to make sure what happened with Ally McBeal doesn't happen with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She wants Buffy to leave the air with a bang. "This year was a little bit of a frightening year. A lot of shows that were very, very strong kind of went out not with a bang but with a whimper," Gellar told reporters. "It is very important to us that eventually when it is time to go, that we go out strong. We don't want to be that show that got cancelled that people say, 'Oh that thing should've been off three years.' We have continually been a strong show and we want to be remembered with a bang," she said. Buffy the Vampire Slayer just finished its sixth season. The series' deal with UPN is for one more season with the chance there could be more. Gellar said she doesn't know how long the show will last. "I don't have an answer to that question, honestly," she said. "I always say that if you would've told me in the beginning this show would have been on seven years, I would have laughed at you." However long the series lasts, Gellar wants to make sure Buffy doesn't overstay its welcome. "You always want to challenge yourself. You want to constantly keep it fresh. And if it's not fresh and it's not exciting and its not something you passionately want to do, then the audience is going to know that and it's not fun for anybody else," she said. BACK TO THE TOP GELLAR
"NOT INTO" BUFFY MOVIE Nothing particularly new in this report from Ananova (thanks to Ross for posting it to the Angel/Buffy list): Sarah Michelle Gellar says she wouldn't want to be a part of a new film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The TV series is based on the 1992 film of the same name which starred Kristy Swanson. Gellar says she "wouldn't feel committed" to a film version of the show. "I'm not in to it, it was a movie, but it didn't work as a film," she tells www.moviehole.net. "We battled for so long, just getting out from underneath what was essentially a failed feature film. "I feel like we make a movie every week. So to take one episode and expand it, it's kind of a waste." BACK TO THE TOP THE
RESURRECTION OF "QUIPPY BUFFY" Over the course of its first year on UPN, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has gone from wonderfully witty to downright depressing. However, leading lady Sarah Michelle Gellar promises that after the finale (airing tonight at 8pm/ET), the series will resume - as the title heroine would have put it in cheerier times - making with the funny. "[This season] was a little dark even for me," she admits to TV Guide Online. "So I think we're going to go back to a much lighter Buffy. This whole arc was, she was buried alive, she got out, and now she realised that she wasn't living and she wants to. So I think it's going to be - and I'm hoping for - the funy Buffy. I miss quippy Buffy." The rising movie star - who will hit the multiplex next opposite fiancé Freddie Prinze Jr. in Scooby-Doo (opening June 14) - won't reveal whether she plans to continue on as Buffy after 2003. "Everything is one day at a time," she insists. "That [decision] is about everyone sitting down and [evaluating whether] there's story to tell and if I think it'll be, you know...interesting." Yet she believes that the show could - and should - forge ahead, even if a new Slayer must be chosen. "Absolutely," she says. "I don't know if it would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer per se, because you kind of need Buffy for that. But it doesn't mean that there's not Dawn and Anya. There are a lot of character that could easily go on, and I'd hope that they would." As a matter of fact, she hints that the powers that be may already have started to set the stage for a changing of the guard. "I think next year is really going to focus on Buffy teaching Dawn," she suggests. "Of course, this is totally speculation, because I really have no idea. "I could tell you it's about Buffy joining the Peace Corps, and it could be just as accurate," she adds wryly. "Designer Peace Corps." Hallelujah! Quippy Buffy is back! Wanting to continue the show if SMG leaves is one thing, but why does it have to involve the current cast? Wouldn't it be better to start afresh than continue with the increasingly annoying Dawn? BACK TO THE TOP 22.03.01 - According to E! Online's Ted Casablanca, Scooby-Doo producers filmed a scene in which SMG's Daphne snogs co-star Linda Cardellini, who plays Velma. "They did film it," Casablanca quotes a source as saying, "but the powers-that-be felt it would be too provocative." And what was the reason for the lip-lock? Well, something about ghosts travelling from character to character via kissing, or some such rubbish apparently. "The kiss was considered too titillating," said the source. "They felt it would make people chuckle and snicker." Of course, this wouldn't have been the first time that SMG had kissed a girl on-screen, as she snogged Selma Blair in Cruel Intentions a few years back. Back to the top SMG'S ARSE DOESN'T LIGHT UP SCOOBY-DOO 22.02.01 - Sarah's fiancé Freddie Prinze Jr has confirmed that Daphne Blake's nude scene in Scooby-Doo features a body double. Talking about the scene where Daphne runs through a tunnel naked, Freddie, who co-stars as Fred Jones in the film, says that it wasn't played by Sarah. It appears that Sarah is following in her fiancé's footsteps in insisting in a no-nudity clause as FPJ insisted on a body double for his two nude scenes in the film Summer Catch. "No one gets to see my butt except Sarah," he says. "I have a no-nudity clause in my contracts and it's non-negotiable." Back to the top 06.02.01 - According to Ananova, Sarah and fiancé Freddie Prinze Jr have moved into a new house together in Los Angeles. The £3m home has five bedrooms and four bathrooms, as well as a tennis court and a pool. The couple, who got engaged last April, have put their individual houses up for sale. Freddie's home, which boasts an acre of landscaped grounds and a tennis court, is on the market for £2m. Sarah's, worth just under £1m, is a one-storey traditional-style house, with a pool, spa, guest house, sports court, motor court and outdoor kitchen. They have yet to set a date for the wedding, reports the Daily Record. Back to the top 10.01.02 - Scifi.com, citing The Hollywood Reporter, reports that Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sigourney Weaver will voice the animated comedy movie Happily N'Ever After for Vanguard Films' John H. Williams (Shrek) and Berlin-based Greenlight Media. The movie is being shopped to studios for a summer 2003 release. N'Ever is inspired by classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales and is based on Greenlight's European animated television series SimsalaGrimm. Set in the fairy-tale land of Simsala, the project explores what happens when the balance of good and evil is out of whack, the trade paper reported. Gellar will voice the character of Ella, who is part of a love triangle that includes a prince and her unknown true love, the palace dishwasher (Prinze). Weavers plays the evil stepmother Frida, while Gerhard Hann will direct from a script by Rob Moreland. Back to the top SCOOBY DOO TRAILER TO DEBUT ON HARRY POTTER 02.11.01 - According to zap2it, Warner Bros. will be running the first trailer for Scooby Doo before Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. The trailer will feature the first official glimpse of the computer-animated Scooby Doo, as well as the rest of the cast - Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne), Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Fred), Linda Cardellini (Velma) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) in all their miscast glory. Scooby Doo opens in the US on 14 June 2002. Back to the top SMG 29TH IN CELEBRITY BODIES POLL
30.10.01 - A couple of years after topping various "sexiest women" polls, notably the UK FHM one, SMG only made 29th in a poll conducted by Celebrity Bodies magazine (see the top 10 on the right). Over 5,000 people took part in the poll and editor Alison Hall says it proves that thinness as a look is no longer desirable: "Jennifer Lopez has a sensational body, admired by men and women alike, and she proves curves are more coveted than thinness. The fact that voluptuous Catherine Zeta Jones is second and the super curvaceous Kate Winslet and Kelly Brook are also in the top 10 Best Female Celebrity Bodies reinforced the message that curves are in and thinness is firmly on its way out," she said. Back to the top 14.10.01 - From zap2it.com: Arthur Gellar, the estranged father of Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar, was found dead in his New York apartment Tuesday (Oct. 9). New York police found Gellar's body in bed at his home after being contacted by a friend who hadn't heard from Gellar, 60, for several days, the New York Daily News reports. Police are investigating the possibility of a drug overdose, as medication was found by Gellar's bedside. A friend told police he had cancer and was "suffering from depression." Sarah Michelle Gellar had no comment on her father's death. Her parents divorced when she was 8, and she has said in the past that her father "is not a person who exists in my life." Back to the top 21.07.01 - According to US gossip paper the Star, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. are suffering a pre-marital meltdown that may keep the couple from EVER walking down the aisle. It appears that Freddie has pretty old-fashioned ideas on marriage that aren't sitting well with the career-minded SMG. He's told her that once they tie the knot, he wants an at-home wife, and a family right away. Sarah wants to push ahead with her movie and TV work and put kids on hold. She realises family is important to FPJ because he was just an infant when his famed father, comic Freddie Prinze Sr., killed himself. But she's holding her ground and not giving in. Back to the top SMG FACES LIFE WITHOUT THE FROG 17.07.01 - After initially saying that she'd quit if Buffy left The WB and then being forced into an embarrassing U-turn, Sarah Michelle Gellar is now "excited" and "nervous" about the switch. SMG said that "UPN has made us feel so welcome. They've given us a new excitement about the show. It's like getting to start fresh. It's like getting to show all of these new people the show that we make that we're so incredibly proud of and proud to make and be a part of it, and it's exciting." Speaking of her earlier comments, Gellar said, "You have to understand that for five years we had a home. We had a place where we were supported, where we were able to make the show creatively the way we wanted to make it, and so the thought of making a move was scary." However, SMG then appeared to contradict herself by adding, "Unfortunately, The WB didn't want to make the show the way we wanted to do it. They didn't want to give us, or give Joss, what we needed to make the show the way it has to be made. And [UPN president] Dean [Valentine] has been incredibly supportive. He's been a fan of the show since before we were on the air, when he was at Disney, and tried to get it over to ABC." After the session, Gellar beat a hasty retreat, slipping away without chatting to the horde of journalists that descended on her cast mates and the production team. Back to the top
Picking up on the story below, the bizarre lighting, make-up and overall retouching actually makes SMG's nose look more prominent than usual! However, there are some nice photos of Roswell's Majandra Delfino to make up for this. Back to the top TRICKS OF THE TRADE FOR A PERFECT FACE 01.07.01 - Last Monday's Daily Express carried a feature on how various celebrities cover up facial flaws. Sarah Michelle Gellar's prominent nose saw her given this advice (not too sure about the stunning part myself though): You never see this stunning actress in profile. Even when she plays the all-action Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sarah is aware of her prominent and snubby nose. To minimise this feature, Sarah applies a powder or cream that is a shade darker than her skin colour to the sides of her nose. Putting a blob of slightly darker cream on the end of it, and blending it in, pushes back the tip visually and makes it appear both smaller and neater. Another way of drawing attention away from her nose is to focus on her fabulous eyes and lips. Also avoid applying blusher to the apples of her cheeks as it pulls the onlooker's eyes forward towards the nose. Back to the top 16.06.01 - Last year, it was pneumatic pop muppet Britney Spears who was supposedly going to star in Buffy because she was best mates with SMG, this year it's former Charmed star Shannen Doherty. According to this week's Ted Casablanca column on E! Online, "Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shannen are really good friends and...they've been talking about doing the show together, with Shannen as a recurring character." If being friends with SMG is a pre-requisite for being on Buffy, how much longer before Joss makes her executive producer, or a least casting director? Back to the top 02.06.01 - Entertainment Weekly's website is offering "helpful" career advice to various teen stars, most of whom aren't exactly teens. Alongside such as gems as telling Jennifer Love Hewitt to forget about the cleavage and concentrate on girl-next-door roles, they offer Sarah the following hints: Goal - A younger Gillian Anderson Obstacle - To many, she'll always be Buffy. Advice - Her first romantic comedy, Simply Irresistible, flopped. But Cruel Intentions showed her mean streak. Should follow Scooby-Doo with an indie flick that shows Buffy-style grit. Back to the top SCOOBY DOO PRODUCERS ATTEMPT TO DEBUNK RUMOURS 20.05.01 - Despite the UK Buffy magazine's belief that the forthcoming Scooby Doo movie (and SMG herself) looks great, there have been several scathing reports on the Internet. In an attempt to win over online film fans, Warner Bros. flew in five reporters from online movie sites to the film's Australian set, including Canadian site Coming Attractions and Australian site Dark Horizons. Variety reports that some of the sites invited for a tour of the set and meetings with the cast members have already posted optimistic advance reports on the film. The full power and influence of the online movie crowd was felt last year when Fox faced a firestorm of online disapproval from comic fans who were furious about the apparent portrayal of X-Men - although most ultimately gave the movie a thumb's up, and it went on to solid box office. Ain't It Cool News, which ran a story headlined "Scooby Doo is going to suck so hard its lips will have friction burns" wasn't invited because the site has been hammering the film, based on advance reports and an advance read of the scripts, although anyone who's saw the initial cast photo would probably have an equally dim view of the film. Back to the top 02.05.01 - The Sunday Express's magazine for 22-28 April carried a feature on the best-kept grooming tricks in showbusiness, using various celebrities as examples of long face (Sarah Jessica Parker), big ears (Zoe Ball), prominent chin (Jennifer Aniston), thin lips (Courtney Cox), square jaw (Minnie Driver), asymmetric face (Mariah Carey), close-set eyes (Nicole Kidman), round face (Martine McCutcheon) and snub nose (Sarah Michelle Gellar): It's not difficult to disguise a snubby nose such as Sarah Michelle Gellar's with make-up. The key is not to try too hard and to perform any make-up tricks by a window where you get the benefit of natural light. One of the oldest techniques is to apply concealer or powder a shade darker than your natural skintone to the end of your nose. Be sure to blend concealer or powder in well. Blusher can optically re-balance the nose too. Brush dark or mid-tone blusher from inner corners of the eyebrows down either side of the nose, and lighter blusher down the centre of the nose. Trick box staples Shiseido Brown/Beige Modulative Blusher, £18.50, department stores. Neutrogena SkinClearing Medium Concealer Stick, £5.99, from chemists. Back to the top SEVENTIES KIDS' SHOWS MAKE A COMEBACK 26.04.01 - If you as me, it sounds totally lame (and the cast looks even worse since most of them are the wrong height relative to one another), but EW Online seems to think that the Scooby Doo film has "hit" written all over it (perhaps they just missed off the "s"?): The live action remake of the popular '70s cartoon Josie and the Pussycats [which stars Seth Green], made a less than purrrrfect debut at the box office, taking in just $5.2 million. But the dismal box office of Josie won't deter Hollywood from preparing a new litter of projects based on kitschy TV series. Not only does DIC Entertainment have a new Josie cartoon in the works, but the WB has revealed that Markie Post (Night Court) and Anne Stedman (Space Cowboys) will star in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a remake of the ABC kids' TV show that aired for just eight episodes during the 1976-77 season. Like most of the other remakes and updates, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl isn't aimed at the Saturday morning cartoon viewer, but at the PG-13 audience, which may be familiar with the shows through reruns, Internet fan sites, and collectibles. A feminist takeoff on Batman, Electra Woman aired only eight episodes, but somehow its feisty journalist turned caped crusader heroine (Deidre Hall of Days of Our Lives fame) and her perky ponytailed assistant (Judy Strangis) has remained memorable enough to inspire a 21st century update. According to Randy Pope, a senior VP at Krofft Pictures, which produced the original series, the new version will sterr cleaf of kids stuff: Electra Woman (Post) will be transformed into a "disillusioned, foul mouthed, trailer park alcoholic" whose superheroine career has dried up since the original Dyna Girl (Stedman) left the biz to become a supermodel. "It's been completely revamped for a teen and adult audience," says Pope. "It's more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but funny." Movie versions of Scooby-Doo, H.R. Pufnstuf, and other kiddie faves of the bellbottom era are also in the pipleline. Read on for a preview of which ones are likely to score - and which might flop at the box office. What - Scooby-Doo When - June 14, 2002 Who - Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard, Rowan Atkinson. What's it about - Mystery solving teens Fred (Prinze), Velma (Cardellini), Daphne (Gellar), and Shaggy (Lillard) join their canine companion Scooby-Doo (a computer animated creation) in revealing Mondavarious (Atkinson) as a creepy bad guy. Verdict - "It's still a popular show in reruns, and, especially with this cast, it's perfect for a summer release," says Mediaweek analyst Marc Berman. Don't discount the drawing power of Buffy and her fiancé Prinze, either. "It's a title that remains hip, and with this cast you know the studio is going to use a fresh approach to the material," says Robert Bucksbaum of Reelsource. You can check out the other movies here. Back to the top 25.04.01 - The official one-sheet poster to Harvard Man is now online (sadly there's no trailer just yet). Back to the top GELLAR TO PLAY McGREGOR'S SIDEKICK? 19.04.01 - Ananova reports that Sarah might play Ewan McGregor and Rufus Sewell's sidekick in a futuristic £10 million film. Mondo Beyondo will focus on two friends who survive a nuclear holocaust that happens during a school reunion. The movie, due to be made next spring, will be produced by FilmFour and Good Machine, who were responsible for the movie Buffalo Soldiers. An insider said, "McGregor is the problem because of his Star Wars connection. He may not want to involve himself in a big special-effects movie so soon. "But, with Sarah, it is a dream combo." A £10 million budget for a "big special-effects movie"? Back to the top 18.04.01 - To celebrate the fact that the end of season five marks Buffy's 100th episode, E! Online has gone on a bit of a Buffy blitz. Here's some spoiler-free comments from SMG herself: You've made it to 100 episodes. How does it feel? It's overwhelming. I don't think it really hit me until we all cut into that cake. I mean, I've been here since five this morning. I've been working. It's one more episode; it's the next one to go; it's the next good script we do. And all of a sudden, it hit me: five years, 100 hours of television. It's really incredible. When you first started Buffy, did you ever think you'd come this far? You try not to even think about that. They almost shut us down when we were doing the pilot. We were the little show nobody thought could. And then we got picked up, and it was great. You have to understand - I celebrated my 19th birthday shooting the pilot, and next week is my 24th birthday. It's a huge chunk of time. How do you manage to keep it fresh, not get bored? I'm on this show because of the character - this wonderful character. Women in any industry, we all know we're still fighting an uphill battle. And television character seem to be much more prominent for women. But as a young girl, it's even harder, because most of the time, you're either "the girlfriend of" or "the daughter of" or "the new wife of." With Buffy, she just is. She's this amazing character who's funny and witty and sad and sharp and all those things, and no other job would ever offer me the range I've gotten here over the years. So, that keeps it fresh. Let's talk about Angel. Does it make you proud that your Buffy compadres have gone on to create their own successful spinoff? Oh, it's been great. It was sort of like, Hey, we launched that. In my opinion, Buffy and Angel should be together forever, but I understand for storytelling purposes, it's not to be be. And I think it's great that there are more stories that can happen. So, you think Angel, not Riley, is the one for Buffy? Angel is Buffy's true love. They have something you can never repeat. I mean, I understand it when people say nothing is ever the same after your first true love. They were soul mates. And Riley and Buffy were at different stages in their lives; they were different people. Buffy never loved Riley the same way she loved Angel. Although I love Marc Blucas, and I miss him. When the show ends, would you be upset if Joss didn't pair up Buffy and Angel again? I would be terribly upset, but Joss doesn't necessarily believe in happy endings, so it probably wouldn't happen anyway. I'm not getting my hopes up. What has it been like doing the [Scooby Doo] movie? Oh, it's so much fun! The first time we all got together in costume and looked at each other, we were so excited. We were like, Oh my God. We're Scooby-Doo! I mean, everyone grew up with it, no matter where you grew up - it's worldwide. It's an honour. And it's tremendous fun. Your life must be a little crazed right now, filming Buffy and Scooby at the same time. I'm just excited. I get paid to do what I love to do. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that. We're having an amazing time filming Scooby-Doo. I'm doing two weeks in New York...wait, not New York. See, there's how much travelling I'm doing - I don't even know where I am. Um, two weeks in Los Angeles, two weeks in Australia, going back and forth. And it's great. I'm having a great time. And working with Freddie, how has that been? Easier than you thought? Harder? I'd say it's the easiest thing I've ever done. And it's not the first time we've worked together, so there was nothing new about the experience. It's very hard to be separated - in any industry, no matter what you're dong - and that's why we get the best of both worlds. I think he's an incredible actor, and I'm spoiled. And so are Matt Lillard and Linda Cardellini. We're just having so much fun. You'd think we'd all known each other for a million years. Although I have known Matt and Freddie for a million yeras, but Linda is new. It must be a little strange to celebrate Buffy's 100th anniversary without knowing where the show will be next year. How do you feel about the network negotiations? We just have to wait and see. I think everything happens for a reason, and everything will work out the way it's supposed to. But whatever happens, it won't affect the show we make. Looking back over the past five years, what's been the most rewarding thing about it for you? Being part of really good television. Being part of a strong feminine role. We made 100 hours of not just something television - we made 100 hours of what I think is really groundbreaking television. So, that has been the really incredible part. UK viewers in particular should beware that there are some spoilers for The Body in the rest of this part of the E! Online feature. Back to the top 17.04.01 - Citing Access Hollywood, TV Guide reports that Scooby Doo stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr., announced their engagement over the Easter weekend at a joint birthday party for Gellar and her ICM agent, Eddie Yablans. SMG's diamond ring is reportedly from jeweller Cathy Waterman, who has designed pieces for stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Meryl Streep and Meg Ryan). Probably a wise move on FPJ's part not to go with the cheapo claddagh ring included in Titan's Supernatural Defense Kit package... Back to the top TV'S YOUNG ACTRESSES FLEX ACTING MUSCLES 05.04.01 - Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar and Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel, for two, hone their craft. It's often been said that television is a kinder medium to women than the movies, in the sense that it offers a wider range of roles to middle aged actresses, as opposed to the New Young Thing mentality that rules the box office. (Characterization often goes deeper on TV too: Only snobbery would prevent you from admitting that CSI's Marg Helgenberger is a more interesting, fully realised thriller heroine than Julianne Moore is in Hannibal, for example. But it's increasingly true that TV is kinder to young actresses as well. Who knows yet what the true range of, say, a promising film performer like Kirsten Dunst is, since, post-Virgin Suicides, she's been marketed primarily in fluff like Bring It On and Get Over It? I'm not ascribing higher motives to the television industry; whenever they can get away with it, the networks peddle ingenues with hot bods, minimal acting experience, and (most important) scant salary leverage. But TV's demand for product - the sheer number of programming hours required to fill - often results in a diversity of roles, and the weekly workload can hone a young woman's talents more quickly than that of a film actress limited to doing two or three movies a year. Cases in point: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Sarah Michelle Gellar and Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel - gals with spunk even Lou Grant would have liked. The reverberations of the exquisitely shocking Feb. 27 episode of Buffy, The Body...are still being felt by the show's audience. A sombre yet fiercely emotional hour, The Body, written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, inspired an immediate grassroots Internet campaign to drum up industry support to secure an Emmy nod for this prize poor show. As terrific as Whedon's writing and directing were, the hour wouldn't have been as soul rocking as it was without Gellar's performance. Whedon gave her a showcase, and she ran with it: The shock, grief, revulsion and devastation Buffy went through in 60 minutes were precise and moving, and all the more impressive for the graceful way the actress also shared scenes of equally effective emoting by costar Michelle Trachtenberg... While Gellar must be the centre of her show, anchoring both its drama and its giddy horror humour, Alexis Bledel, over on Gilmore, is required to remain slightly off centre. As 16 year old Rory, she shares most of her scenes with the costar who plays her mom, Lauren Graham; together, they constitute the most sane yet wacky mother - daughter team in prime team...Add Gellar and Bledel to a list of top notch actresses such as all the female young 'uns on Once and Again, Felicity, and the scandalously undernoticed gaggle on Grosse Pointe, and you've got a new golden age of girl talent. Someone wake up the Emmy nominators. Source: EW.com. You can find the rest of the article here (which concentrates on Alexis Bledel), but there are a couple of spoilers for The Body which I've cut out here. Back to the top 28.03.01 - Three SMG snippets from E! Online's Wanda on Monday: Why did Sarah Michelle Gellar change that line about Freddie when she was on Grosse Pointe? Did they break up? A little WBirdie told me that Sarah wanted to change that line because if the show makes it into syndication some day (God willing), it might be inappropriate if she and Freddie have called it quits. Have Sarah and Freddie called it quits? No, they haven't. A good friend on the Scooby-Doo set in Australia assures me that Freddie and Sarah are definitely still together. In fact, they're so lovey-dovey-gushy-wooshy, it's making everyone sick. How is Sarah Michelle Gellar taping Scooby and Buffy at the same time? Will there be any episodes without her? Of course not...Joss Whedon is much too smart for that. She's definitely in the rest of the episodes. Right now, Sarah is living a crazed cross-continental life, shuttling back and forth between Australia and L.A. every two weeks. Back to the top BUFFY HERSELF ON BAD GIRLS AND DRIVING NAKED 24.03.01 - From loaded, Feb 2001: Buffy Summers is the chosen one. The Vampire Slayer. She's the kind of doe-eyed blonde who gets called 'kooky', but she has a life mission to track down undead creepies in her home town of Sunnydale and slay the fuck out of them. But is Sarah Michelle Gellar, the 23-year-old actress, voted loaded's sexiest woman of all time, who plays her a bad-arsed fighting machine? Or is her arse actually quite gentle? You were a child actress and a lot of them turned out to be bad girls, didn't they? I don't know...those are just the stories we love to publicise - we love gossip. For every Dana Plato [Kimberley off Diff'rent Strokes, died of an overdose in 1999 after a history of drugs and shoplifting], there's four or five of me. I grew up in the business and I've never robbed, murdered or maimed anyone. What about your fans and the public at large? Any evil levelled at you from them? Yeah, I've had some of the nastiest things said to me recently, and it's not something I'm getting used to just yet. Someone yelled at me recently, "We're going to ruin you. We're not going to watch your show any more." It's an awkward situation. Speaking of which, I heard a rumour you were caught driving to work naked - is that true? Er, sort of. I'd worked all night on Buffy and I was at cracking point. I got out a really pretty dress and slip and boots and the whole deal, and got dressed. I had a convertible at the time. I was driving to work and everyone was looking at me, so I was thinking, "Well, I must be looking good." And all of a sudden, people really started staring. I looked down and I realised I had put the slip on but never put the dress on. I pulled my car over and put the top up immediately. Could have been worse... Yeah, but the writer of the show was waiting for me in front of the trailer, wanting to talk to me. When I had to stand up dressed like that he was like, "What's happened?" When I told him what I'd done, he dragged me to the set to show everyone. I've never lived it down - but at least I wasn't driving naked! Back to the top PRINZE ALL EXCITED BY HIS NEW DOO 11.03.01 - Freddie Prinze Jr. solves the Scooby Doo mystery that has haunted cartoon fans for years: Which way does Fred swing? "Everybody makes jokes about him because he wears an ascot, but he's big into Daphne," says Prinze, who's currently shooting the live-action film of the '70s cartoon in Queensland, Australia. But the dark-haired heartthrob, blond for the role, is having his own image issues these days. "I get my roots done now," Prinze says. "It's not very manly." He's having better luck with Fred's psyche, because he's also big into Daphne, or at least the actress who plays her, Sarah Michelle Gellar. The two have been a couple "for a while," he says, making their time Down Under - his first visit - fairly uplifting. "It couldn't be better," Prinze says. "It's pretty much the easiest job I ever had to do: I don't have to be away from my girl, and our days off are well-spent." "She's a genius," Prinze says about Gellar. Director Raja Gosnell "put his hands together and bowed to her because she was so awesome. He does that pretty much after every take she does. He hasn't bowed to me, so I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but she's absolutely phenomenal." If that weren't enough, Prinze is a lifelong Scooby fan: "I have every episode made on tape in my basement at my mother's house. I watch Scooby Doo every day. I don't watch regular TV, just cartoons." Source: USA Today. Thanks to Simon Field. Back to the top 09.03.01 - Buffy's habit of producing some unusual publicity was shown by the Sunday Express featuring SMG in its Astro Profile slot last Sunday. Here's was Beverley Glick had to say: Last week, vampire slayer SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR was deemed too sexy by TV watchdogs. But does her birth chart smoulder too? Science fiction fans voted Sarah Michelle Gellar the sexiest star in the universe in a recent survey. But it seems she's too hot for the Broadcasting Standards Commission, which ruled last week that her cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was too sexually explicit for its early-evening slot. Rather appropriately, Sarah has the Sun and Venus in fiery Aries, the go-getting primary sign of the zodiac that so often produces great pioneers and born leaders. Aries is ruled by Mars, so it's no surprise Sarah is adept at martial arts - she has a brown belt in tae kwon do - and the are used as an integral part of Buffy's defence against vampires. With her Moon and Mars in otherwordly Pisces forming an aspect to its ruler, Neptune, it's natural Sarah would have chosen the path of the spiritual warrior. This Piscean energy softens her tough-girl side, giving her a tender and compassionate nature and a tendency to act on her feeling and intuition. It's also a hugely charismatic and seductive combination which contributes to Sarah's sizzling on-screen presence. (Rolling Stone magazine said she has "a physical charisma that in itself borders on a superpower"). An unusual aspect formation known as the Kite can be found in Sarah's chart. This is a highly creative and dynamic configuration, especially as it includes a Grand Fire Trine linking Venus in Aries, Saturn in Leo and Neptune in Sagittarius. It points to an individual with strong self-belief and great physical stamina, who engages in daring activities without fear. The pivotal aspect in her chart is an opposition from Venus to Pluto, which can be read on several different levels. One of them is the power of beauty; another is the power of money. Both are combined in Sarah's role as the face of Maybelline cosmetics. Another is the description "dead sexy"; another is the enchantress who exudes eroticism; an extreme variation but, just as plausible, is the young girl (Venus) who combats vampires (Pluto). Sarah reportedly sports a couple of tattoos, one of which shows a dagger piercing a heart. Venus/Pluto is the love to die for, the all-consuming passion. "When someone breaks your heart, it feels like the world is ending," she said in a recent interview. "And in Buffy's case, that's true. But everyone feels that." Including Sarah herself, I'd wager. Sexuality - especially of the young, female kind - is an integral part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which teenagers and vampires are united in being ruled by forces within them they can't always control. "There is a lot of Buffy's empowerment that's about learning to deal with sexuality," series producer Marti Noxon has said of the main character, "that if you open up to something, it will probably make you stronger but it's going to hurt." And that's a perfect summation of the Venus/Pluto challenge, which Sarah faces both on set and in her personal life. But with all that firepower at her disposal, the demons haven't got a hope in hell. Back to the top 07.03.01 - The first photo of the Scooby Doo cast is now out - click here if you want to see Freddie Prinze Jr (Fred), Linda Cardellini (Velma), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) and SMG (Daphne) in all their miscast glory. However, not everyone seems to think this way, as SFX (who else?) says, "the gang lood [sic] pretty damn good in the photo" and "look rather uncannily like their cartoon counterparts." Well, I suppose you could give the producers half a mark for the Mystery Machine. Ever alert, SMG has spotted one difference between the cartoon cast and the real-life cast: "I think her [Daphne] breasts are smaller now. My producer will kill me for saying that, but other than that she's pretty true to character." Except, of course, that Daphne is now a lot shorter than she was in the cartoon as well! Still, you wouldn't expect SFX to notice something like that would you? Back to the top 02.03.01 - A snippet from Eonline's Wanda column: Is it true they changed some lines on last week's Grosse Pointe with Sarah Michelle Gellar? Yes. As many of you noticed, Lindsay Sloane pulled a Bruce Lee in the February 16 ep. Originally, Marcy said to Hunter about SMG: "She's dating Freddie Prinze Jr." And the line was dubbed over to say, "She's dating a major movie star." Hmmm... Back to the top |
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15.07.01
- The August 2001 issue of FHM's UK edition features a
rather strange looking SMG on the front cover as well as a rather
strange looking SMG inside as well courtesy of some retouched
photos from Empire.