This interview took place around the launch of Season 4 of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

She stakes vampires every week, and she's certainly staked a claim in your hearts. Voted the sexiest woman in SF and fantasy in our 1999 Reader Awards, the girl you're bats about - Sarah Michelle Gellar, vampire slayer extraordinaire.
Gellar ran away with this category, raking in over 55% of the votes, trouncing all opposition in high-kicking, holy-water sprinkling, eyelash-batting style. We first tipped you off way back in February 1998, and since then the Buffy bandwagon has grown to feverpitch proportions. And a lot of that success can come down to two things... Erm, four if you count her eyes.
As Buffy the Vampire Slayer's third series gets underway, Sarah Michelle Gellar talks to Eric Blackmoore about the international hit, her new films, empowered women on television and how fame has affected her

SFX: What are your feelings about the departure of Angel [David Boreanaz, who's off to star in his own spin-off series] and how is it going to change Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

SMG: "I'm nervous. Part of the success of Buffy is David and my relationship with him, both on camera and off. He's incredible. He's grown so much and I trust him more than any guy that I've ever worked with. I'll miss him. I'm hoping Joseph Fiennes will replace David! [Laughs] No, I, as Buffy, go to college next year."

SFX: Is everybody going to come with you?

SMG: "Well, no. I had this great theory that we're actually all going to go to college, but Xander's going to work at the Peach Pit where he's going to be serving food there. Buffy did really well on the SATs [US exams] and Willow did as well, but Xander didn't. So, we go to an Ivy League school that's in California."

SFX: Buffy has been embraced as one of these empowered women on TV à la Xena, and there's been loads on the internet along the lines of "If Buffy were in a fight with Xena, who would win?". Who do you think would win?

SMG: "Buffy! Oh, I don't know. I don't think we need to compete. If we do, I'd hope it's in Xena's homeland. If we are going to cross over, let me go to New Zealand!"

SFX: And what do you think of the current trend on TV for portarying empowered women, be it La Femme Nikita, Xena: Warrior Princess or Buffy, The Vampire Slayer?

SMG: "I think it's an incredible trend. Growing up, the shows that I watched were Facts of Life, Growing Pains, Family Ties... In Growing Pains, you had Tracey Gold play a character who was supposed to be very, very smart and she was always pretending to be dumb because she wanted the guys to like her. Or Mallory was the popular girl on Family Ties but she couldn't add two and two. I think it's hard for girls to have somebody to relate to. I kept thinking, 'But that's not cool to me.' I think the wonderful thing about this trend is that young girls have something to look up to, that they can take care of themselves. "I also think that part of the appeal is that Buffy's an individual. She's not the most popular or smartest girl, but she's an individual. The hardest thing to learn as a teen is individuality."

SFX: Besides Buffy, who do you think are the other great women role models on TV?"

SMG: "Goodness. Ally McBeal automatically comes to mind. Xena's very cool. I think that all the women are strong. I was watching NYPD Blue and there's Kim Delaney and the week before she has this heart-wrenching episode where her husband dies a horrible death, but next week she's back at work and she's taking care of herself."

SFX: You got a lot of attention from Buffy and yet the films you did were generally horror. Why do you think, while Buffy relies heavily on humour, you aren't getting offered any comedy roles?

SMG: "The first break that I had from Buffy, was I got I Know What You Did Last Summer and it was an amazing opportunity. And then, at that point, the best roles that were being written were by Kevin Williamson, the Dawson's Creek creator who worked on Scream, Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer. And that's where the best roles were. I think, because of that trend, now we're finding it easier to get hired in other movies. I have a romantic comedy coming out called Cruel. I also have a remake of Dangerous Liaisons coming out."

SFX: What role will you be playing in that?

SMG: "I play the Glenn Close role. She's very different from Buffy."

SFX: Did you always envisage doing TV and movie work simultaneously? Usually, people leave TV if they have a viable film career.

SMG: "But how do I follow Buffy? You have the two most talented writers in Joss Whedon [creator of Buffy] and Kevin Williamson and, if they didn't have another television show ready, then I might not want to return to television because I can't imagine the experience being as wonderful. But, right now, it does seem like all the best opportunities and the best roles are really in television rather than film."

SFX: Do you have any difficulty going out in public now?

SMG: "In terms of your life changing, I think it's something that you're aware is going to happen. On the other hand, I don't think that you are aware of how quickly it's going to happen. Your life can change almost overnight and it takes a little bit longer to acclimatise. And last year, at this time, I was afraid. I was kind of scared. Everything was so new. Going outside and being recognised was new. And then it's just something that's part of your job and most of the time it's nice and people have nice things to say. On the other hand, when you're looking pretty bad and people comment on it, it hurts the ego a little."

SFX: Are you going to kill the Faith character in the show?

SMG: "I think you're not supposed to like Faith. That's what brings up controversy; everyone's talking about her. Personally, I enjoy the Faith character because it's made me dig a little deeper inside Buffy because she's just the juxtaposition; she's the exact opposite. And I think for my character it's been wonderful to have her."

SFX: Buffy wasn't an instant, overnight success, was it?

SMG: "The Warner Brothers network [which screens Buffy in America] were very supportive. Their ratings can't compete with the big three networks and, if we had our ratings on one of the big three networks, we would have been cancelled after the third episode. I think with the third season our show is finally coming into its own, and that's the wonderful thing about working for Warner Brothers - the support and the sort of growing together."

SFX: When does your hiatus period begin and how long do you have off to enable you to do other projects?"

SMG: "We end the beginning of April. My goal is to only do one movie this summer and I'd like to travel a bit. Actually, I have not had more than a week off since I started on Buffy two-and-a-half years ago. I found two projects I really wanted to do last year and Joss was nice enough to extend our vacation an extra two weeks so that I could finish the movie and they start without me."