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Sarah Michelle Gellar had pure intentions for stepping away from Hollywood.
The actress, 48, reflected on why she “took a lot of years off” from acting after finding massive success on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for seven seasons.
In 2013, Gellar starred in the CBS sitcom “Crazy Ones” opposite Robin Williams. The pair played father-daughter duo Sydney and Simon Roberts, respectively, for one season.
A year later, in 2014, the “Mrs. Doubtfire” actor died by suicide at age 63.
“I started ‘Crazy Ones’ when my son was three months old,” Gellar explained while on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast earlier this month. “I mean, I was breastfeeding the entire time and then Robin passed away and everything just sort of hit me. It was like the postpartum hit me. And that loss was so huge and I felt a little directionless for the first time in my life.”
She added, “And I thought maybe that’s my sign that like I’m not living in the moment enough because they can go away so quickly. And at that point, I just said I needed to take a break.”
Looking back, Gellar knows she made the right decision.
“I’m so glad I did on so many levels. I’ll never get that time back with my kids,” the “Ringer” actress detailed. “I didn’t miss a show, a performance, a first step, a lost tooth. Like, there was every moment I was able to be there for, and that’s not something you can do as a working actor. Our days are long. We travel a lot.”
Now, Gellar is ready to slay the industry once again.
“I think I feel like I’m first getting my sea legs back now and like ready to work now that my kids are older,” explained the Emmy winner, who shares daughter, Charlotte, 16, and son Rocky, 13, with husband Freddie Prinze Jr.
Gellar recently had a cameo in the 2025 sequel “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” a role in “Dexter: Original Sin” and led the show “Wolf Pack” in 2023.
Now, Gellar is set to star in the upcoming horror comedy, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.”
More notably, the New York native will reprise her iconic role as Buffy Summers in the upcoming Hulu series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.”
“I also didn’t want to be that person that all of a sudden then my kids left and then I was directionless again. Because when you do step away from acting, you never know if there’s going to be a career to go back to,” Gellar said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Sometimes audiences move on and that’s okay. Like that’s acceptable. I’m very, very grateful that I have found that’s not been the case [for me] and there’s still a place for me.”
The “Do Revenge” star also revealed she doesn’t feel like she has anything to prove anymore.
“I also pick my projects differently now,” Gellar shared. “I used to have this, like, I need to know what my next job is. I have to work—work to find how I thought of myself.”
She noted, “But now work is just a part of how I think of myself. And so now I pick jobs because I really want to work with that person. Or I think this would be so much fun. I don’t have this desire to prove stuff that I used to have.”
In August, pictures circulated of Gellar on set filming the long-awaited “Buffy” revival. The “Cruel Intentions” star was dressed in a ruby red mini-dress with pink stilettos and a Yves Saint Laurent Sac de Jour handbag.
The original series ran on the WB for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003.
Gellar first confirmed the news and her return via Instagram last February.
“So… you might have heard some news this week, but I realize you haven’t heard from me,” she wrote. “Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman. She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential ‘Buffy’ revival.”
“I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right,” Gellar added. “And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”
English (US)