After revealing that Hulu would not be moving forward with the planned reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, star Sarah Michelle Geller has spoken out about the way in which it was cancelled.
The actress got the call on Friday as she was preparing to appear at SXSW to promote her new film, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.
“I was just about to take the stage in front of all the fans: Hulu had decided not to move forward with the Buffy revival,” she told People in a new interview. “Let me tell you, nobody saw this coming.”
The revival was announced in February 2025 with Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao at the helm. While Gellar was initially reluctant to portray the vampire slayer again, she eventually agreed to return to the role after teaming up with writing duo Lilla and Nora Zuckerman.
“I’ve been asked since the day I left to return to Sunnydale,” Geller told People. “And it never occurred to me that it was something I was going to do. Then four years ago, Chloé, the witch that she is — and I say that as a good thing — comes into my life. In one meeting, she makes me say ‘yes’ to something I never saw on my radar. That was because of the deep love and commitment and passion she had for this character. It was like I was stepping back in time.”
Zhao filmed a pilot episode for the reboot, which planned to introduce Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a new slayer alongside Geller’s Buffy. “Chloé and I talked a lot,” Geller said. “The dialogue flew off the tongue. When I was on set, it was craziness. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re here. We’re doing this.’ I loved the duality that we had this new, younger slayer who was where Buffy was when the show started, and then we would pick up with where Buffy was now.”
Geller noted that not only was the timing of her call inappropriate, but it felt unfortunate that the decision came ahead of Sunday’s Oscars, where Zhao’s film Hamnet was up for numerous awards, including Best Director.
For them to call us on the Friday of what should have been Chloé’s victory lap for an incredible film, and my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is—that says something,” Geller noted.
She explained the cancellation came from one specific executive. “We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” Geller said. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”
Geller added that both she and Zhao are feeling “disappointment.” “We don’t want to let the fans down,” she said. “That hurts. Saddened at how it was handled and when it was handled. But I just said to Chloé, and I was very specific, I said, ‘Sunday night, you put that crown on and you walk that red carpet and you take in all that love for what you worked for and forget the other stuff.’ It’s important to me that this doesn’t take away from what we achieved and what she’s achieved. And there’s always so more to do.”
The actress took to social media on Saturday to share the news directly with fans. “So I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me. Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” Gellar told fans in a video posted on Instagram. She added, “If the apocalypse comes, you can still beep me.”
Michaela Coel in ‘The Christophers.’Claudette Barius/NEON