Everything about Sarah Michelle Gellar totally explained
Sarah Michelle Prinze, (born
April 14,
1977) better known by her birth name of
Sarah Michelle Gellar, is an
American actress. She is best known for her role as the character
Buffy Summers in the acclaimed
television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for which she won the
Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Actress and received a
Golden Globe Award nomination. She won a
Daytime Emmy Award for her role in
All My Children.
She has since become known as a film actress, starring in the
family film Scooby-Doo (
2002) as
Daphne Blake, and the American remake of Japanese horror film
The Grudge (
2004) and its sequel
The Grudge 2 (
2006). Earlier establishing roles include the teen drama
Cruel Intentions (
1999),
slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer (
1997) and the independent film
Harvard Man (
2001). Most recently she played an ex-porn star in Richard Kelly's
Southland Tales (
2007) and as part of an ensemble cast in
The Air I Breathe (
2008). Her many horror roles have established Gellar as a "
scream queen".
Biography
Early life
Gellar was born in
New York City, the only child of Rosellen (
née Greenfield), a nursery school teacher, and Arthur Gellar, a
garment worker. Both of her parents were
Jewish, though Gellar's family had a
Christmas tree during the holidays while she was growing up. In 1984, her parents divorced and she was brought up by her mother on the
Upper East Side.
Gellar was estranged from her father from this time until his death from
liver cancer on
October 9,
2001. She attended
New York's
Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School and the
Professional Children's School. Gellar held a straight-A average and became a competent
figure skater. Her best friend was
Melissa Joan Hart, who later was the star of the series
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. She also became close friends with
Lindsay Sloane, who (in September 2002) would be her bridesmaid at her wedding.
Television career
At the age of four, Gellar was spotted by an agent in a restaurant in
Uptown Manhattan. Two weeks later, she auditioned for a part in
An Invasion Of Privacy, a
made-for-television film starring
Valerie Harper,
Carol Kane and
Jeff Daniels. At the audition, Gellar read both her own lines and those of Harper, impressing the directors enough to cast her in the role. A short while later, she got a part in a controversial
television commercial for
Burger King, in which she criticized
McDonald's and claimed to eat only at Burger King.
This led to a
lawsuit against Burger King,
ad agency J. Walter Thompson, and Gellar herself, who appeared in court as a witness for the defense. The dispute was eventually settled out of court. Gellar continued to make commercials while appearing in acting roles, including playing Emily in an episode of the TV series, appearing in a minor role in the
Chevy Chase starring comedy
Funny Farm and in the movie
High Stakes, and filming in Europe for the TV series
Crossbow. In 1991, she played a young
Jacqueline Bouvier in
A Woman Named Jackie.
Gellar got her first major break in 1992, when she starred in the serial
Swans Crossing and was subsequently cast in the soap opera
All My Children, playing
Kendall Hart, the long-lost daughter of character
Erica Kane (
Susan Lucci). In
1995, at the age of eighteen, she won a
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series for the role. It was on the set of this
soap opera that she met
Michelle Trachtenberg who would later join the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Gellar left
All My Children in
1995 amid rumors of a strained working relationship with Lucci, and landed the lead in the
1997 TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing a teenager burdened with the responsibility of fighting a number of mystical foes, mostly vampires. The show was well received by critics and audiences alike, spawning a spin-off series (
Angel), which featured two episodes in which she notably guest starred. Throughout its seven seasons and a total of 144 episodes,
Buffy, and by extension Gellar, became cult icons in the
United States, the
UK and
Australia, particularly as archetypes of "empowered" women. Gellar sang several of the songs during the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "
Once More, with Feeling", which spawned an original
cast album.
During the show's later years, Gellar expressed dissatisfaction about certain aspects of the show. Shortly after the show's end, Gellar stated that she'd no interest in appearing in a
Buffy feature film, although since then she's said she'll consider it if the script is good enough. She didn't appear in the final season of
Angel, causing the intended episode ("
You're Welcome") to be rewritten for the character of
Cordelia Chase. Gellar has said that she was willing to appear in the episode, but scheduling conflicts and family problems prevented it. Gellar has declined to lend her voice to the various
Buffy video games, and another actress voiced Buffy for an animated series based on the show, which never aired.
Magazine covers and other appearances
Gellar has appeared on the covers of
Cosmopolitan, Glamour, FHM, Rolling Stone, and other magazines. She was featured in Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" list in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008 and in FHM 's "100 Sexiest Women" of 2005. She was voted number 1 in the magazine's 1999 edition. In 1998, she was named one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People (in the World)". Gellar has appeared in "
Got Milk?" ads as well as in the
Stone Temple Pilots music video "
Sour Girl". In 2007, she was ranked #54 on
FHM Hot 100 List and was a celebrity spokesperson for
Maybelline. Wearing a black lace
brassiere, she was on the cover of the December 2007 issue of Maxim magazine and was named Maxim magazine's 2008 Woman of the Year. In 2008 she ranked in the top 5 of Maxims "Hot 100" list.
Film career
Gellar attempted to capitalize on her television fame with a motion picture career, and had intermittent commercial success. After roles in the popular thrillers
I Know What You Did Last Summer and
Scream 2 (both 1997), she starred in the 1999 films
Simply Irresistible, a romantic comedy, and
Cruel Intentions, a modern-day retelling of
Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Cruel Intentions, with a kiss between Gellar and co-star
Selma Blair that won the two the "Best Kiss" award at the 2000
MTV Movie Awards, was a modest hit at the box office, grossing over $38 million in the U.S. Critic
Roger Ebert stated that Gellar and co-star
Ryan Phillippe "develop a convincing emotional charge" and that Gellar is "effective as a bright girl who knows exactly how to use her act as a tramp".
Gellar next played a lead role in
James Toback's critically unsuccessful
Harvard Man (2001) and starred as
Daphne Blake in
Scooby-Doo (2002), a live-action adaptation of the
cartoon series. Gellar also appeared in the
sequel, (2004). She starred alongside her husband, Freddie Prinze, Jr. in both Scooby-Doo movies. Gellar's next film was the 2004 horror film
The Grudge, which was a success at the box office. David Wirtschafter, the president of the
William Morris Agency (which represented Gellar), subsequently told
The New Yorker that the success of
The Grudge "takes our client Sarah Michelle Gellar, who now is nothing at all, and...makes her a star, potentially. Suddenly, the Sarah Michelle Gellar space is meaningful". The remark led Gellar to terminate her association with the agency.
Gellar appeared in the sequel
The Grudge 2, which opened in October 2006; in the film, she's a minor role reprising her character from the first film. Gellar next appeared in the thriller
The Return, which was released the following month. She then lent her voice to two animated films: the animated fairy tale
Happily N'Ever After, and
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She followed those with a string of films including
Southland Tales,
The Air I Breathe,
Suburban Girl (earlier known as "A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing"), and
Possession (a supernatural thriller based on the
South Korean film
Jungdok known to English language audiences as
Addicted).
Southland Tales opened at the
Cannes Film Festival in May 2006 and was released in the US in November 2007.
The Air I Breathe and
Suburban Girl were screened at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival.
Suburban Girl eventually went straight to video in early 2008, while
The Air I Breathe was released theatrically the same month to generally poor reviews.
The New York Times called it a "gangster movie with delusions of grandeur." However, Gellar's performance was praised.
DVD Talk Review noted that "her character here has the deepest emotional arc, and she hits all the right notes."
Possession has had a number of different release dates set, ranging from September 2007 to February 2008, but is still unreleased.
She was offered a role in
Stardust but turned it down to spend more time with her husband. Other roles she turned down include the role of Juliet in
Romeo + Juliet but had to turn it down because of scheduling conflicts with "All My Children", a role in
The Faculty. She was also offered the role of Brittany Foster in
The In Crowd but turned it down, it then went to
Susan Ward.
She is involved in the long delayed science fiction animation film "Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey" which Gellar provides a voice for alongside Lacey Chabert, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.
Possession, currently in post-production, will be released sometime in 2008. She is also currently attached to the film version of the video game
American McGee's Alice, which is still in the pre-production stage.
Gellar's next movie is : 'Veronika Decides to Die'. It was reported that Kate Bosworth was previously attached to the project. The film tells the story of a young woman suffering from severe depression who rediscovers the joy in life when she finds out that she only has days to live following a suicide attempt. Filming of the movie began on May 12 2008, in New York City.
Personal life
Gellar met future husband
Freddie Prinze, Jr., during filming of the 1997 teen horror film
I Know What You Did Last Summer but the two didn't begin dating until 2000. They were engaged in April 2001 and married in
Mexico on
September 1,
2002 in a ceremony officiated by
Adam Shankman, a film director and choreographer with whom Gellar had worked on
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar's bridesmaid was her closest friend of many years,
Lindsay Sloane.
In 2007, Gellar legally changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze, in honor of the couple's fifth year of marriage. Gellar realized that she needed clearance from the government to remove the sword from the country, and after eventually succeeding, stated that it was "incredibly difficult" to do.
Gellar has said in interviews that she believes in
God but doesn't belong to an organized religion.
Gellar graced the cover of
Gotham Magazine and featured as their main story in the March 2008 issue, in which she spoke about how passing 30 has evolved her style , Gellar said "It sounds clichéd, but when women turn 30, they find themselves. You become more comfortable in your own skin. Last night on
Letterman, I wore this skintight Herve Leger dress. Two years ago, three years ago? I'd never have worn it."
Gellar has also reflected on her choices as an actress; she frequently mentions how "proud" she's of her TV show "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" which became a worldwide popular hit. She has also been her own critic, talking about movie roles she's taken, saying, "
Simply Irresistible (1999) was just a bad choice - and for that, it was a great learning experience. I wasn't ready to make that movie. I was too young. The script wasn't ready. I knew in my heart before I left to make it that I should back out."
Gellar has four tattoos. She has a symbol for integrity on her lower back, a heart and dagger and a cherry blossom on her ankle, and two dragonflies on her back.
Filmography
Films
TV movies
TV series
TV appearances
Television voice acting
Gellar has
hosted Saturday Night Live three times.1997-1998, 1998-1999 and 2002-2003 seasons and had an uncredited appearance. Together with
Jack Black, she appeared in a spoof of the
Council of Elrond scene in
the Lord of the Rings. The spoof, informally known as
the Lord of the Piercing was aired at the 2002
MTV Movie Awards and is available as an
Easter egg in the Extended Edition DVD except for the British R2 extended edition.
Awards, categorized by type
- 1999: Won, "TV - Choice Actress" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2000: Won, "TV - Choice Actress" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2001: Nominated, "TV - Choice Actress" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2001: Won, Extraordinary Achievement Award
- 2002: Won, "TV - Choice Actress, Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2002: Won, "Film - Choice Actress, Comedy" — Scooby-Doo
- 2002: Nominated, "Film - Choice Chemistry (with Freddie Prinze Jr.)" — Scooby-Doo
- 2003: Won, "TV - Choice Actress, Drama/Action" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2005: Nominated, "Choice Movie Actress - Action/Adventure/Thriller" — The Grudge
- 1998: Nominated, "Best Breakthrough Performance" - I Know What You Did Last Summer
- 2000: Nominated, "Best Villain" — Cruel Intentions
- 2000: Won, "Best Female Performance" — Cruel Intentions
- 2000: Won, "Best Kiss", Shared with Selma Blair — Cruel Intentions
- 2005: Nominated, "Best Frightened Performance" - The Grudge
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
- 1998: Won "Favorite Supporting Actress - Horror" - I Know What You Did Last Summer
- 2001: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 1998: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 1999: Won, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2000: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2001: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2002: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2003: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2004: Nominated, "Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Golden Satellite Awards
- 2002: Won, "Outstanding TV Ensemble" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 2003: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actress in a Series - Drama" — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- 1994: Nominated, "Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series" — All My Children
- 1995: Won, "Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series" — All My Children
Young Hollywood Awards
- 2002: Won, "Hottest, Coolest Young Veteran - Female"
Further Information
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