Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a campy and colorful film before it was remade as the long-running horror series on The WB. In 1992, the first iteration of the iconic vampire slayer hit the silver screen. The film bombed at the box office but developed a cult following over the years. Kristy Swanson played the titular character alongside Luke Perry and Donald Sutherland.
Five years later, Joss Whedon developed his quippy heroine for the small screen. Whedon had been vocal about his feelings about the film and jumped at the chance to remake Buffy his way. The hit series ran for seven seasons and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar. Some fans of the film wondered why Swanson was recast.
Kristy Swanson Enjoyed Playing Buffy
Kristy Swanson remembers her time as Buffy the Vampire Slayer fondly. When she spoke with Fox News, she recalled that Luke Perry had recommended her for the role. “[Luke Perry] read [the screenplay] and goes, ‘Oh my gosh, I know exactly who should play Buffy,’” Swanson said. “He went to the studio, got the director and producers together, and was like, ‘Kristy Swanson is Buffy. You have to meet her.’ Then he calls me and is like, ‘You’re gonna love this project. And I’m totally pushing you for it because you will kill this role. You have to do it. You will do so good in this.’”
“[Luke Perry] read [the screenplay] and goes, ‘Oh my gosh, I know exactly who should play Buffy,’” Swanson said. “He went to the studio, got the director and producers together, and was like, ‘Kristy Swanson is Buffy. You have to meet her.’ Then he calls me and is like, ‘You’re gonna love this project. And I’m totally pushing you for it because you will kill this role. You have to do it. You will do so good in this.’”
After several callbacks and a few chemistry reads, Swanson got the part of Buffy. Speaking to SFX Magazine, Swanson was asked about working with Donald Sutherland, who played Merrick. Joss Whedon famously had issues with the actor on set. Swanson recalled, “Donald and I got along so well. I absolutely adored him and learned a lot from him.” Her co-star Luke Perry was also filming at the time, so he would shoot days on 90210 and nights on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Despite Sutherland’s tension with Joss Whedon and Perry’s jam-packed shooting schedule, Swanson “had a ball” and just “a really fun experience” working on the film.
Related
The Season 5 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Body, gets more attention, but its follow-up was just as powerful and moving for fans.
Why Was Kristy Swanson Recast in the TV Show?
The 1992 film is not, to Joss Whedon, considered canon. His original script and the Origin comic are what he counts as Buffy’s beginning. Whedon hasn’t hidden his dislike of the Buffy film. He cites the director’s differing vision for the story and one actor rewriting his lines “so the dialogue would not make sense” as his major issues with the film. It’s possible that Whedon didn’t want to bring anyone from the film to make his show as fresh and different as possible.
“This is going to be really great. Young girls will now have Buffy to watch on TV every week. Hopefully, it lasts.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the series, retcons a lot of moments from the Buffy film, but it does seem to take place after the events of the movie. One thing that changed from script to screen was the end of the Buffy film. According to Whedon, in the original script, Buffy was supposed to burn the gym down. In the series, it’s mentioned that Buffy was expelled from her last school for doing exactly that. Casting the same actress to play two different iterarions of the character would have definitely confused the two versions of the story and prevented them from standing on their own as two beloved—but very different—versions of Buffy.
The lighter, fluffier Buffy admits that she had only seen the first episode of the TV series but recollects her initial reaction to the remake was nothing but positive. When they announced it, Kristy Swanson thought, “This is going to be really great. Young girls will now have Buffy to watch on TV every week. Hopefully, it lasts.” The actress said that she was not surprised she wasn’t offered the series as she was already 22 in the movie and was almost 30 by the time the show came about. As a popular film star of the ’80s and ’90s, Swanson was also busy shooting films at the time. Both of these factors, no doubt, contributed to Swanson’s recasting.
Related
When Do Buffy and Angel Get Together? Their Complete Relationship Timeline
Buffy’s big first love was Angel, the 240-year-old vampire with a soul. Buffy and Angel were star-crossed lovers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Considering the toxic set from the Buffy series, it’s also possible that Kristy Swanson wasn’t interested in working with Whedon if she had experienced anything similar. While Swanson hasn’t really spoken about the accusations laid against the series creator, she did quote-tweet a news story about Charisma Carpenter’s experience with Whedon, saying, “Terrible, but not surprised.”
Joss Whedon Didn’t Like the Buffy Movie
It’s well-known among Buffy fans that Joss Whedon was not fond of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. Whedon spoke with AVClub, saying, “It didn’t turn out to be the movie that I had written. They never do, but that was my first lesson in that.” Whedon recalled that he had been on-set for most of the shooting for the film but that he “eventually threw up my hands” because he “could not be around Donald Sutherland any longer.” Sutherland played Merrick, Buffy’s first watcher. When asked about it, Whedon had no qualms about elaborating on his issue with the Hollywood legend. “He was just a prick,” Whedon said. “He would rewrite all his dialogue, and the director would let him. He can’t write—he’s not a writer—so the dialogue would not make sense. And he had a very bad attitude. He was incredibly rude to the director, he was rude to everyone around him, he was just a real pain.”
“He was just a prick. He would rewrite all his dialogue, and the director would let him. He can’t write—he’s not a writer—so the dialogue would not make sense. And he had a very bad attitude. He was incredibly rude to the director, he was rude to everyone around him, he was just a real pain.”
Despite the director having a different idea of who Buffy was, Whedon’s contempt seemed to be reserved for Donald Sutherland alone. In SFX Magazine, he recalled a time on set when Kristy Swanson went to him, and said, “Please, tell what you want.” Whedon replied, “I can’t.” He says, “I treat film and TV like the army, and I’m very strict about it. I didn’t agree with the way the movie was going, but I kept my mouth shut because you respect the director.”
Whedon fondly remembers working with Paul Reubens, saying, “He was my beacon of hope in that whole experience, that he was such a good guy, and so got it. I mean, most of the people were sweet. Most of them were actively out there trying… They were good people. Paul was a delight to be around, trying to make it better. He actually said to me, ‘I’m a little worried about this line, and I want to change it. I realize that it’ll change this other thing, so if that’s a problem…’ I’m like, ‘Did I just hear an actor say that?’” It’s no surprise, considering Paul Reubens was the best part of the film.
Related
This Confusing Buffy the Vampire Slayer Storyline Hides a Sneaky Plot Twist
Plot twists can make or break a show, but for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the best was also one of the sneakiest.
Will Swanson Be in the Buffy Reboot?
Sarah Michelle Gellar recently announced a Buffy reboot series, but details are limited. This latest venture is not the first time the studio has planned to bring Buffy back. In 2010, the studio was all set to make a new Buffy film. Fans were understandably skeptical when it was announced that Joss Whedon would not be involved in the movie. It was originally set to be penned by Whit Anderson. At the time, she had no writing credits to her name but has since gone on to write for Daredevil, Ozark, and the dystopian sci-fi film Uglies. According to the Los Angeles Times, production on the film lost steam when Anderson’s script fell short of expectations. An unnamed “key player” in the films said, “[Anderson] came in with some great ideas, and she had reinvented some of the lore, and it was pretty cool, but at the end there just wasn’t enough on the page.”
“If they wanted me to be a part of it, I think that would be fantastic and that it would be a blast.”
The Buffy film was on indefinite hiatus until 2018, when a new reboot series was announced. Details were sparse, but it was meant to be an inclusive reboot with a Black Buffy. The project had Joss Whedon on board as a producer. This Buffy revival fizzled out as well. The recently announced reboot will see Gellar reprising her role and producing. Gellar has been upfront about the fact that Joss Whedon will not be returning.
Everyone has been very hush-hush about who else might be returning to the Buffy franchise. Back when the first reboot was announced, Kristy Swanson told Entertainment Weekly, “If they wanted me to be a part of it, I think that would be fantastic and that it would be a blast.” It’s possible without Whedon attached that other Buffy stars would be game to appear in the new Buffy series, but only time will tell.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
- Release Date
-
1997 – 2003
- Network
-
The WB
- Showrunner
-
Joss Whedon
-
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Buffy Summers
-
Nicholas Brendon
Alexander Harris
