Sarah Michelle Gellar thought she was "too old" to play Buffy the Vampire Slayer again: "It’ll be Buffy with a walker"

Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer — (Image credit: Paramount)

Sarah Michelle Gellar says she never saw herself playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer again, let alone returning for the upcoming Hulu reboot.

"It was not a place that I ever saw myself, so it definitely felt very surreal," Gellar told Variety. "But this is why you never say never, and I'm sure I said 'never' many times, and I’ve learned my lesson because I'm sure someday you’re gonna go back and find all the times I said, 'No, never. I'm too old. It'll be Buffy with a walker.'"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer began with the 1992 film of the same name, originally starring Kristy Swanson. After a TV series based on the film was greenlit over at 20th Century Fox Television, the story went into a different, darker direction, and Gellar replaced Swanson as the titular slayer. The show premiered in 1997 and lasted for seven seasons (with two seasons of the spin-off show Angel running at the same time), before finally ending in 2003.

The actor developed the new revival season of Buffy with filmmaker Chloé Zhao and writing duo Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, who serve as head writers. The series takes place in New Sunnydale, where Buffy ends up mentoring a new young slayer named Nova (played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong). The cast also includes Faly Rakotohavana (Unprisoned) as Hugo; Ava Jean (Law & Order: SVU) as Larkin; Sarah Bock (Severance) as Gracie; Daniel Di Tomasso (CSI: Vegas) as Nova's single father; and Jack Cutmore-Scott (Frasier) as Mr. Burke.

Continued Gellar: "This is a show that will cater definitely to the [original fans]. There will always be Easter eggs because there were Easter eggs in the original…but we also want to introduce it to people that maybe haven’t seen the show."