Hollywood hit TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer aired its first episode 23 years ago today (March 10).
The series, which followed Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers and her friends as they battled monsters and the drama in their own lives, was based on the 1992 film and became a worldwide sensation.
It launched the careers of huge Hollywood stars including Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz, as well as leading to a spin-off series called Angel, which ran for five seasons.
To pay tribute to the landmark TV series, Daily Star takes a look at where the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is now.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy)
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Sarah Michelle Gellar rose to worldwide fame as vampire slayer Buffy Summers in 1997, playing the role for over seven seasons until 2003.
She also reprised the role in Buffy spin-off Angel in 1999, as well as starring in films including I Know What You Did Last Summer and the live action remake of Scooby Doo.
It is not only fame she has found on set though, as she also found romance with her I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star Freddie Prinze Jnr.
The couple have been married for more than 20 years and they have two children together, called Charlotte and Rocky.
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Along with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sarah has also had leading roles in films such as Cruel Intentions, The Grudge and Possession.
As well as acting, Sarah has co-founded the cooking business called Food Stirs in 2015 with Galit Laibow and Greg Fleishman, as well as releasing the book Stirring Up Fun With Food.
It is no surprise with such an incredible career, that she has an eye-watering estimated net worth of over $30million.
Alyson Hannigan (Willow)
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Alyson Hannigan starred as Buffy Summer’s friend, and later witch, Willow Rosenberg in all seven seasons of the fantasy programme.
During filming for season three, she also met her husband Alexis Denisof, who played watcher Wesley Wyndham-Price in both Buffy and Angel.
Alyson also reprised her role as Willow alongside Alexis in series four of Buffy spin-off Angel in 2003.
The couple have been married for over 19 years and have two children together called Satyana and Keeva.
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Along with Buffy The Vampire Slater, Alyson has also had huge roles in The American Pie film series and in hit US sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
However, her home in California is just as famous as she is, having been used in the film Fracture and TV series Marvel: Agents of Shield.
She also allowed Disney+ series This Is Us to film in her home recently, telling People: “The people we bought our house from, I don’t know if they ever lived here. I think they just rented it out for film shoots. I think my house’s resume is longer than mine.”
Nicholas Brendon (Xander)
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Nicholas Brendon played Buffy’s witty friend Xander Harris in all seven seasons of the hit TV series, and was a much loved comedic character in the show.
Viewers may not know that in the season five episode The Replacement, Nicholas’ twin brother Kelly also appeared on screen as another version of Xander, with both characters coming face to face.
After Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the actor has also met fans across the world at conventions, as well as appearing in TV series such as Faking It, Criminal Minds and Hollywood Heights.
However, Nicholas has also spoken openly about his battle with alcohol throughout the years and announced that he had entered rehab in 2004, saying in a statement at the time: “After realising that I had a disease that was taking control of my life, I decided that the best way for me to regain my health was to enter a treatment facility.”
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It was also reported last year that the actor was suffering from Cauda equina syndrome which occurs when nerves in the lumbar spine are compressed.
He also pulled out of promotion for his latest film Wanton Want, with his close friend and manager telling Daily Mail: “[He has] deep-seated medical problems and immense pain.
“Right now he is concentrating on his health. He is not doing promotion for the film.
“This past week and a half, things have turned drastically worse,” adding: “He may have burst another disc or everything fell out of alignment.”
Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia)
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Buffy’s high school frenemy Cordelia was played by actress Charisma Carpenter, who after leaving Buffy in 1998, went on to play the character in spin-off series Angel.
From there she has had a highly successful TV and film career, starring in Veronica Mars, Charmed, The Expendables and, most recently, lent her voice to podcast series The Burned Photo.
However in 2021, Charisma released a statement accusing Buffy creator Joss Whedon of creating a “hostile and toxic work environment” after their time working together.
In a lengthy social media statement, the actress wrote: “For nearly two decades, I have held my tongue and even made excuses for certain events that traumatise me to this day.”
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She claimed: “Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers.”
Charisma also claimed that Joss had called her “fat” while pregnant, adding: “The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer. It is with a beating, heavy heart that I say I coped in isolation and, at times, destructively.
“Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly.”
Since Charisma released the statement, her fellow Buffy The Vampire Slayer co-stars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Benson, who played Tara, have publicly shown their support for the actress.
Away from acting, Charisma was married to Damian Hardy from 2002 to 2008 and they have one son together called Donovan.
Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)
(Image: Getty Images)
Throughout Buffy The Vampire Slayer, librarian and Watcher Giles, played by Anthony Stewart Head, guided Buffy on her destiny.
Anthony was already a huge star before landing the role of Giles, having appeared in theatre productions such as Godspell and The Rocky Horror Show.
He was also famous for starring in 12 adverts for coffee brand Nescafe, which showed a couple falling in love with one another throughout series.
After leaving Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Anthony Head went on to land the role of King Uther Pendragon in the hit BBC drama series Merlin, as well as the role of an evil headmaster in the Doctor Who episode School Reunion.
(Image: Getty Images for WIRED)
He has also most recently appeared in TV series including The Canterville Ghost and Ted Lasso, as well as the film Schools Out Forever in 2021.
When he is not entertaining audiences, Anthony lives with his wife Sarah Fisher in Bath and the couple have two daughters, Emily and Daisy.
Performing runs in the family too, as both Anthony’s daughters are actresses.
Emily has starred in TV series including The Syndicate and starred as Rebecca White in Emmerdale, while Daisy has starred in Netflix series Shadow and Bone.
David Boreanaz (Angel)
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David Boreanaz played brooding vampire and Buffy heartthrob Angel for three seasons of the programme, before landing his own spin-off series.
Angel ran for five seasons between 1999 and 2004, where David was joined by fellow Buffy co-stars including Charisma Carpenter and James Marsters, who played witty vampire Spike.
He has also spoken openly about missing his Angel co-star Glenn Quinn, who had become a close friend of the actor’s in the first season, but died of a suspected drug overdose in 2001.
David told Entertainment Weekly: “The story progressed and the friendship became amazingly strong to a point where when we’d work on set, we just knew where each other were going to be, we had fun.
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“The unfortunate circumstances of his plight and his choice took him into a different direction for which I was very oblivious to, but that was something that will always remain with me.
“I miss the guy, even to this day — just a remarkable human being and it’s sad the way it happened.”
When Angel ended, David landed another huge role as FBI Agent Seeley Booth in Bones, which ran from 2005 to 2017, and now appears in drama series SEAL Team.
During this time, the actor also had a cameo role in the music video for White Flag by Dido.
In his personal life, the heart throb has also been married twice – first to Ingrid Quinn from 1997 ti 1999, and then to his wife and former Playboy model Jaime Bergman from 2001, with whom he has two children.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
