She is the Slayer… again!
Sarah Michelle Gellar has officially returned as Buffy Summers for Hulu’s upcoming revival of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
In a surprising departure from the original series, newly released photos from the Los Angeles set of the reboot show Gellar, 48, dressed up in a radiant red mini dress with long sleeves, pink stilettos and a Yves Saint Laurent Sac de Jour handbag.
Although little is known about the upcoming reboot, Gellar’s Buffy appears to be walking to or from work in the fictional town of Sunnydale.
Other behind-the-scenes, never-before-seen photos show the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” star smiling and chatting it up with crew members as she enjoys her coffee and prepares to channel her beloved character.
Gellar first took on the iconic role of Buffy in the original supernatural drama, which ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003.
More than 20 years later, and following rumors of a potential revival, Hulu announced in February that it had ordered a pilot for a new, untitled “Buffy” project with Gellar set to reprise the vampire-hunting character.
The “Cruel Intentions” star confirmed the news and her return further with a surprising Instagram post on Feb. 6.
“So… you might have heard some news this week, but I realize you haven’t heard from me,” she began.
“Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman,” Gellar continued. “She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential ‘Buffy’ revival.”
After agreeing to a “twenty-minute coffee” with the Oscar-winning director, who worked as an executive producer on the original series, Gellar said that she and Zhao ended up enjoying a “four-hour adventure” as they discussed “how much this show means to us.”
“While I didn’t agree to anything at that meeting, I did shock myself by agreeing to continue the conversation,” she explained. “This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet.”
“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.”
The actress returned to Instagram in May to introduce Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the new project’s lead and Buffy’s right-hand vampire slayer.
“I know this process has been hard, and there’s been so many parts,” Gellar said. “There was just sort of one part of it that I just wanted to ask you, and I wanted to make sure that you were okay with: How do you feel about helping me save the world?”
“Good,” Armstrong, 15, responded.
“You want to be my chosen one?” Gellar continued as Armstrong broke down in tears. “Will you stand by my side and save the world?”
Gellar also teased a massive “Buffy” reunion in the reboot during an interview with Vanity Fair published in June.
“It will be lighter than the last few seasons of the original,” she told the outlet. “We will try to find a balance between new and old characters.”
“My dream is to bring back everyone who has died,” Gellar added, “but space will have to be made for new stories as well.”
Besides Gellar, who has been married to Freddie Prinze Jr., 49, since 2002, the original, Joss Whedon-created “Buffy” series starred Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Anthony Head (Rupert Giles), James Marsters (Spike) and David Boreanaz (Angel).
Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Gellar’s on-screen little sister, Dawn Summers, tragically passed away on Feb. 26 due to complications from diabetes. She was 39.
“Michelle, listen to me,” Gellar wrote in an emotional Instagram post after the “Gossip Girl” star’s death. “Listen. I love you. I will always love you.”
“The hardest thing in this world is to live in it,” Gellar added, echoing a scene from “Buffy” in 2001. “I will be brave. I will live … for you.”
