Ally and Sarah?

[SoBlind]

ok i've been reading about stuff and i was never sure what to believe so i thought i'd ask around here. did alyson and sarah really stop being friends during season seven cos sarah didnt discuss leaving buffy with the other members of the cast? i just heard that alyson got really pissed off at her for that.

what do u know?

 

[Washburne]

Sorry can´t help you, I don´t know more than you do. I can understand that Alyson (or anybody else) got upset then they found out. You can get pissed of on a friend but if you´re really good friends most of the time you´ll work it out. But I don´t know how good friends they were to start with. Not everybody gets along on a show, especially then it runs as long as seven years. It´s not all fun and games.

So it would be nice if anybody can shed some light of the situation.

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

Uhm, I read an interview in a magazine once with Aly (sry, would scan it but it's German anyway) and there she said that they don't really talk off screen anymore and that Sarah and Joss planned the ending alone and the rest of the cast didn't know it was going to be over until the last day.

 

[white avenger]

Uhm, I read an interview in a magazine once with Aly (sry, would scan it but it's German anyway) and there she said that they don't really talk off screen anymore and that Sarah and Joss planned the ending alone and the rest of the cast didn't know it was going to be over until the last day.

I've read in several places that Joss said something to the effect that "we had always known" that 7 seasons was as far as they would go. Maybe the "we" in that statement was just he and Sarah. I know that she once said that she didn't want to play Buffy anywhere but on the WB (this was before they canceled the show) and she might have just not liked the idea of "stepping down" to the smaller network.

Then again, maybe it was just her plan to walk away from the show before she became type cast as Buffy (obviously, if that was her intention, she waited WAY too long!). Possibly it was just a contract obligation, as in "12 episodes with the possibility of 3 years and the option of 3 more." Remember, she made the first season never even imagining that the show would sell. It was just easy money.

I remember hearing somewhere that when the show was canceled after Season 5, there was a rumor that the original cast would stay on, minus Sarah, and bring Faith back somehow (parole, good behavior, pardon, etc) to take over as the title Slayer. That was sort of the beginning of the "Faith the Vampire Slayer" series that never got made.

Anyhow, back to the original question: no, I think that most or all of the cast was planning on a Season 8 and even beyond that. When Joss announced that the show was over (not canceled by the network) it took them by surprise.

 

[Kean]

Ok WA I have to correct you there, the show was not cancelled. The WB were not willing to give the show the money Joss and the producers felt it deserved and felt they needed so they left. It was the end of their contract with them, they couldn't come to an agreement so it was a mutually agreed departure. Nothing was cancelled. Sarah did say she wouldn't play Buffy on anything but the WB because they gave them their chance but she later came out and said that she made those comments in the heat of the moment. Also it was during season 7 not 5 that the talk of going on without SMG was going around and I have also read and seen conflicting interviews about what went down at the end. AH admits at being annoyed that the decision was essentially made by Sarah but she went on to say it was the right time and that everyone knew that season 7 would be the last season on tv.

Does anybody remember that utterly ridiculous rumour that Holly Valance was going to play Buffy after SMG?

 

[white avenger]

Ok WA I have to correct you there, the show was not cancelled. The WB were not willing to give the show the money Joss and the producers felt it deserved and felt they needed so they left. It was the end of their contract with them, they couldn't come to an agreement so it was a mutually agreed departure. Nothing was cancelled. Sarah did say she wouldn't play Buffy on anything but the WB because they gave them their chance but she later came out and said that she made those comments in the heat of the moment. Also it was during season 7 not 5 that the talk of going on without SMG was going around and I have also read and seen conflicting interviews about what went down at the end. AH admits at being annoyed that the decision was essentially made by Sarah but she went on to say it was the right time and that everyone knew that season 7 would be the last season on tv.

Does anybody remember that utterly ridiculous rumour that Holly Valance was going to play Buffy after SMG?

Bad choice of words, Miss K. I should have said "when the show ENDED after Season 5," and the contract that I was referring to would be between Sarah and Joss, not between Sarah and the WB. And I realize that the "Faith The Vampire Slayer" show was purposed at the end of Season 7, but it was speculated on after Buffy died at the end of Season 5. At least the "coming back next season with a new Slayer" part was, maybe I just THOUGHT that Faith was the one being referred to, since she WAS the only "other Slayer" that I knew of.

HOLLY VALANCE was going to replace Sarah as Buffy? Who came tp with THAT nightmare?

 

[palabravampiress]

^ I don't know who that is, but I kinda think it would have been neat to see how Buffy fans handled a recast.

Some shows, like Dr. Who, build-in ways to handle recasts in order to allow for longevity. Also for the sake of longevity, soap operas require viewers to accept occasional recasts and the fairly insane plot twists that must be dreamed up in order to explain why so-and-so now has a completely different face or is 10 years older than he was before (strangely, they also sometimes recast a character mid-scene, as with GH's Carly, without ever once addressing the issue).

I don't think that would have gone over very well on Buffy. We seem able to adapt to a complete format change (TV to comic book) in which we lose all of our actors, but I don't think we could ever accept a non-SMG live-action Buffy. I don't really know why I think that, but I do. I think a pre-season-3 recasting of a minor character like, say, Joyce or Harmony could have worked. I think Hank could have been recasted at any time. Willy could have been recasted. Characters who appear in heavy makeup, like Clem, could have been recasted. Non-human characters for whom an insane plot twist would have worked, like Glory, could have been recasted. I don't think any of the core 4 or their love interests could have been recasted, though. I think fans would have stopped watching if one of their favorites was no longer played by the original actor.

 

[Kean]

^ I don't know who that is, but I kinda think it would have been neat to see how Buffy fans handled a recast.

Some shows, like Dr. Who, build-in ways to handle recasts in order to allow for longevity. Also for the sake of longevity, soap operas require viewers to accept occasional recasts and the fairly insane plot twists that must be dreamed up in order to explain why so-and-so now has a completely different face or is 10 years older than he was before (strangely, they also sometimes recast a character mid-scene, as with GH's Carly, without ever once addressing the issue).

I don't think that would have gone over very well on Buffy. We seem able to adapt to a complete format change (TV to comic book) in which we lose all of our actors, but I don't think we could ever accept a non-SMG live-action Buffy. I don't really know why I think that, but I do. I think a pre-season-3 recasting of a minor character like, say, Joyce or Harmony could have worked. I think Hank could have been recasted at any time. Willy could have been recasted. Characters who appear in heavy makeup, like Clem, could have been recasted. Non-human characters for whom an insane plot twist would have worked, like Glory, could have been recasted. I don't think any of the core 4 or their love interests could have been recasted, though. I think fans would have stopped watching if one of their favorites was no longer played by the original actor.

She was a very minor star. She was on one of Australia's best loved soaps 'Neighbours' and then then left to pursue a singing career. She had one hit 'Kiss Kiss', mostly becuase she was naked in the video. So basically, a Slayer she was not, never mind THE Slayer!!!

Also, I will say without question that I wouldn't have accepted a cast change at all. No way, no how.

 

[white avenger]

She was a very minor star. She was on one of Australia's best loved soaps 'Neighbours' and then then left to pursue a singing career. She had one hit 'Kiss Kiss', mostly becuase she was naked in the video. So basically, a Slayer she was not, never mind THE Slayer!!!

Also, I will say without question that I wouldn't have accepted a cast change at all. No way, no how.

She's also in a chop-sockey epic called "D O A" which I've seen the trailer, but know nothing else about. Oh, and she looks good in a bikini.

 

[ckg927]

Just to add to PV's post: Had William Hartnell not become too ill to continue as Doctor Who,we might very well not have celebrated its 45th year of being a part of the sci-fi universe. See,when Hartnell was forced to leave the role,the producers had two choices: Adapt or die. They chose the former,and it turned out very well.

As for soaps....yes,they have struck gold(3 times over)with GH's Carly...the problem is,that's the exception to the rule. More often than not,a recast doesn't work out(ranging from not being able to bring the original actor back to the show where they became famous,or the recast is just playing the same beats the old one did). Let's not forget that soap fans,on the whole,are very resistant to change. Oftentimes,a recast has to work for years to get the audience to accept them in the same role. (And PV mentioned recasting mid-scene;one of the characters on All My Children switched performers mid-clinch!)

 

[angelchick182]

I remember hearing the Holly Valance rumor, and I was happier with the show ending than that option. I can't remember exactly how the news actually broke, but didn't SMG make the announcement herself or was Joss with her? I don't know where they were in their filming schedule when the news broke, but I can imagine that there were probably some tensions with some of the cast. I also remember Joss saying that they pretty much knew that seven seasons was going to be it. Whether it was just he and SMG that knew that, I don't know. I also remember hearing that regardless of what happened, Emma Caulfield wasn't planning to return for an eighth season.

I never did hear anything(not to say that it didn't happen) about rumblings within the main cast, but I do remember hearing some guest/recurring actors commenting on how different SMG was during seasons 6 and 7 from previous seasons, but who knows. As for UPN, it may have been a good thing that the show ended - I read an article somewhere several years ago talking about how they never really fully recovered, financially, from picking BtVS up(acquiring licensing, etc.). That could've been just speculation, but I think I remember reading it from a usually reliable source.

 

[bufsum]

I think a True Hollywood Story is in order, we got one for Dawson's Creek... and 90210... it's about time. We all want the answers!

 

[Fake Shemp]

I keep reading stuff about them not getting on from season 6 (but i thought it was how they as characters had drifted apart and plus i dont believe most of anything i hear, read... etc anyways,) but we're not really going to find out the whole truth anyways imo.

 

[Lou]

Now, this is just kind of amusing.

What I had heard...and for the life of me I can't imagine where except that it wasn't here because I remember discussing this the first time I watched Chosen...but it was revolved around SMG 1.) having a drinking problem in the later seasons and 2.) deciding that she didn't want to be typecast and that she wasn't coming back and actually talking to her agent about finding her new work before she told Joss and that he had found out kind of through the backdoor from her agent or SMG talking about another project....or something like that.

I HAD heard that Joss wasn't totally heartbroken because he HAD kind of decided that S7 would be the last season before hearing it from her, but that the whole cast was a little miffed that she would just decide she wasn't coming back and acting on it before telling anyone else. And kind of double miffed because they had to deal with more than they should have already because of her drinking.

And that she didn't even go to the wrap party...the theory being (and this part I'm pretty sure was just stone rumor) that she had just left the set because she was "too good" to mess with the wrap party with all the other people who were sad the show was over.
I remember even when reading that part that it seemed a bit like over the top conjecture since I'm SURE she didn't give a quote on that one or it would be all over the place. For all we know, she had a dinner date with her parents or had a tummy ache.

Either way, I think her distain for the show became rather obvious over time...which, personally, I find a bit tacky. But, it may be because I think any job that skyrockets you into being an immortal icon isn't something you should boo-hoo later. It upsets the fans. As for being type-cast, that just goes back to her acting skills, I think.
It's like Mark Hammil vs. Harrison Ford. Mark Hammil will always be Luke Skywalker, but he's a weaker actor than Harrison Ford. Which is why Harrison Ford will ALWAYS be Han Solo and Indiana Jones...but can still get plenty of work.

But, that's just my input. Who knows where I saw it. Probably in a 24 awake stupor browsing for Buffy crap online...before I found this place.

 

[white avenger]

I've never heard anything about any sort of drinking problem, and if Sarah was worried about being typecast as Buffy, she waited about 3 or 4 years too late. I do know that she wanted to get more into movies, but the shooting schedule for the series (obviously) made that difficult if not downright impossible. Also, while I have heard the one about her not attending the wrap party, it was because of her obligations to begin shooting "The Grudge."

One of the other actors, and it might very well have been Alyson, did give the impression that the only ones who knew in advance about the series ending were Joss and Sarah, and that the others were kinda left hanging. If that was true, then it could have led to some ill feelings.

One thing is certain, however. The shooting schedule for a series like this has to be, at the least, grueling, especially considering that Sarah was in almost every scene of every episode, and to add to that, the role of Buffy has to have been extremely physically demanding with all of the fight scenes. Maybe, after 7 years, she just needed a rest. There have been rumors, both here and at other places, about Sarah either returning to, or being interested in returning to television for another series, and she wouldn't be the first tv star to find out that a career on the big screen just doesn't pan out. Series like "CIS-Miami," and "NCIS" prove that.

 

[BepperGirl]

she wouldn't be the first tv star to find out that a career on the big screen just doesn't pan out. Series like "CIS-Miami," and "NCIS" prove that.

And for every one of those, it currently looks like Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars is proving to be an exception.

 

[Primal Slayer]

well she hasnt had to many movies yet to saying she has staying power as a movie-star. As much as I love KB, it is way to early to tell.

As for Sarah losing interest in the show, you have to also consider that S6 and 7 were a very busy time in her life. She was getting married and was filming Scooby Doo1 and 2 in Australia and The Grudge in Japan. So it was hard for her to make it to some things. I remember them saying that SMG had to fly back to either Australia or Japan after Buffy finished filming since they already have to shoot around her schedule while she is on Buffy. So they wanted her back ASAP.

And I remember her trying to appear on Angel but she couldnt since she was still in Japan filming The Grudge. So her movies took up a lot of her time espically since they were so far away.