The 'Shocking' Way Alyson Hannigan Found Out 'Buffy' Was Over

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Buffy Summers

Yataro
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Alyson Hannigan found out that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was over in an interesting way: by looking at an Entertainment Weekly cover.

"The day that the Entertainment Weekly cover came out ["Buffy Quits", March 7, 2003] -- that was the day we all found out 'Buffy' was over. I was devastated. I was just very shocked," Hannigan told EW.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the series finale. The show aired its last episode on May 20, 2003. "I'm incredibly proud of that show -- proud of everybody on it, of what we did ... You can't be prouder of that show. It still holds up in reruns and I'm blessed every day ... I've been pretty lucky," Sarah Michelle Gellar told HuffPost TV.

Source: Huffington Post
 
I don't understand how that happens. EW had to know about it weeks in advance to do a cover story on it, but nobody bothered to tell the stars? People are lucky Alyson isn't the type to carry a grudge. That's not just insensitivity, it's downright disrespect.
 
Yeah I remember one of the other cast members (or maybe it was her, I can't remember) saying this a few years ago. It is disrespectful, I think it was between this and the not going to the wrap party that started all those "SMG doesn't get on with the cast" rumors.
 
That is so terrible! I can't imagine finding out you are suddenly out of a job (I know they had other projects going on, but this had to be their main one) at the same time to rest of the world. That's so disrespectful and out of line.
 
I
itssmiletime
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How the hell can that even happen... Like really, you let a magazine know before some of the main stars from the show. Unless the magazine got a scoop that not even the producers knew, this is very disrespectful to the cast.
 


If anyone wants a read of the original article it can be found here:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,422783,00.html

She says it's one of the first times she's said it to someone else, so I think it was an exclusive. She says her a Joss talked about it at the start of season 7 then didn't mention it again.

It's sad how they talk about the Faith spin off like it's definitely happening! 🙁

She also mentions that Willow was supposed to go evil in season 5, but Joss delayed it cuz he liked Willow and Tara together, which I've never heard!

This was interesting:
Least favorite episode?

I had trouble with the one [in the sixth season] where Buffy had sex with Spike on the balcony while watching their friends. I really thought that was out of character. And I didn't like what it stood for. That was the moment that I had the most problems with
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Completely agree, worst scene of the series.

Love that she thinks Angel is the coolest villain of the show, and that her depression and sexual obsession with Spike in season 6 was not the character people loved and not the character she loved.
 
thetopher
thetopher
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That really is a shit way to find out. I wonder what the reasoning behind it was, I doubt SMG went to EW before Joss & the producers to let them know for sure she was leaving....if she had gone about it that way I'm sure someone would have called her on it. I wonder if they kept quiet in hopes of having something more concrete with the spin off that they could offer some of the others.

I never knew that SMG had promised to make guest appearances on the Faith spin off, bummer it never actually happened!
 
It could be that EW jumped the gun and ran the story earlier than SMG expected, before the time she planned to break the news to the cast. At least, that's what I hope happened.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
True, it does seem like that would be a hard cover story to keep under wraps.
There used to be an interview on Youtube from around 2003/2004 where she talks about how annoyed she was with the way they found out. She talks about stealing parts of the set during the final episode too. I've been looking for ages but I can't find any trace of it online.
 
I remember Alyson talking about that in an interview a few years back... She said that the entire cast was very hurt that they weren't told before Sarah did the interview, and it caused a lot of bad blood between a lot of them. :\

I still have my copy of that EW issue. My husband came across it and brought it home, and I actually cried that the show was ending. LOL
 
Wasn't Joss planning from at least the beginning of S7 for it to be the final season? I didn't think anyone was surprised -- or, for that matter, that SMG made a decision to "quit," as opposed to the series just being over.
 
Joss planned for season 7 to be the final season because SMG told him she didn't want to do it anymore. Her contract was up and she wasn't going to renew it.
 
I think it was terribly handled! I just don't understand how the EW gets the exclusive before the other cast members. Disrespectful to say the least and I would have been pissed too had I been the others. It's a nice interview though, I enjoyed reading it and I understand why SMG quit. I just think it cold have been handled more delicately in respect to her co-workers.
 
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
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Where was Joss in all of this? Truly, shouldn't it have been a joint announcement between him and Sarah? She says in the interview that she and him decided it was the end and just didn't talk about it anymore?

The Scoobies-falling-apart arc begins to take on a whole new light with this info, doesn't it?
 
I was always under the impression that this rumor was quashed and now I'm confused and wondering where I heard that from. :/

To be fair though, this is more Joss' fault than Sarah's. Yes, maybe she should have discussed it with her cast mates and informed them that she didn't want to come back for another season, but she might have been under the impression that Joss would be the one who would - and maybe should - be the one to tell them. Someone, somewhere along the chain of people working for the show, would have known that Sarah was doing an interview with this magazine - maybe even someone accompanying her to make sure the magazine didn't ask any questions that they felt were inappropriate or spoiler-ish - so I think someone MUST have known that this interview was going out there and what it was going to be about. It's not really Sarah's fault that no one thought to tell the rest of the cast or crew. Or at least, no only her fault.

I do feel bad for Alyson and the rest of the cast, though, if this was how they found out. It must have been devastating. Yes, they're actors and so are probably used to a certain amount of instability when it comes to their working life, but when they've been working solidly and happily for seven years, it must have been like getting the rug pulled out from under them.
 
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
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brinkster130
brinkster130
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Taake
Taake
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Kean said:
Where was Joss in all of this? Truly, shouldn't it have been a joint announcement between him and Sarah? She says in the interview that she and him decided it was the end and just didn't talk about it anymore?

The Scoobies-falling-apart arc begins to take on a whole new light with this info, doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Lyri said:
I was always under the impression that this rumor was quashed and now I'm confused and wondering where I heard that from. :/

To be fair though, this is more Joss' fault than Sarah's. Yes, maybe she should have discussed it with her cast mates and informed them that she didn't want to come back for another season, but she might have been under the impression that Joss would be the one who would - and maybe should - be the one to tell them. Someone, somewhere along the chain of people working for the show, would have known that Sarah was doing an interview with this magazine - maybe even someone accompanying her to make sure the magazine didn't ask any questions that they felt were inappropriate or spoiler-ish - so I think someone MUST have known that this interview was going out there and what it was going to be about. It's not really Sarah's fault that no one thought to tell the rest of the cast or crew. Or at least, no only her fault.

I do feel bad for Alyson and the rest of the cast, though, if this was how they found out. It must have been devastating. Yes, they're actors and so are probably used to a certain amount of instability when it comes to their working life, but when they've been working solidly and happily for seven years, it must have been like getting the rug pulled out from under them.
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I definitely agree that Joss should have been the one to sit down and talk with the rest of the cast and crew to let them know that Sarah didn't want to go on. Nobody should have had to find out through a magazine article. It almost kinda feels like a slap in the face to the rest of the cast; kinda like "You're not even important enough to find out before everyone else".
 
PassionBecoming
PassionBecoming
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I can't blame SMG at all. She really did an amazing job the entire run of Buffy and to be honest she could have had so many more opportunities if she left after season 3. Think about it, she was one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, she would have found work elsewhere. The others would have had a much harder time. I commend SMG for doing Buffy for 7 years more than I'd be mad at her for leaving to pursue other things in 2003. She had just gotten married and probably wanted to try other work before she was out of the prime of her acting career.
 
SMG does seem a little selfish and kinda a bitch by doing that. And then not going to the wrap party. I think at times she may think as she is the star of the show shes better than the rest of them. I mean how many times have you seen interviews with the cast.. and oh, she isnt there.

But, unfortunately for the rest of the cast, if SMG wants to move on with her career they cant blame her for the show ending.. what is she meant to do continue on with buffy till everyone else wants to finish too!?
 
brooke2707 said:
SMG does seem a little selfish and kinda a bitch by doing that. And then not going to the wrap party. I think at times she may think as she is the star of the show shes better than the rest of them. I mean how many times have you seen interviews with the cast.. and oh, she isnt there.

But, unfortunately for the rest of the cast, if SMG wants to move on with her career they cant blame her for the show ending.. what is she meant to do continue on with buffy till everyone else wants to finish too!?
Click to expand...


She wasn't selfish at all. Honestly she had a MUCH hotter career in 99-2003 than anyone else on the show, and she could have gotten other roles I'm sure, which might have made her star even bigger but she chose to stay with Buffy. I'm appreciative for that. I think that says a lot about her.
 
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