Why Sarah Michelle Gellar Won’t Return to Buffy
Dolly Parton might be known for working 9 to 5, but she’s not afraid of the dark.
As it turns out, the country music legend played a role in bringing Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the screen, according to Buffy herself.
“Yes, little known fact,” Sarah Michelle Gellar said on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Jan. 31, “the legend Dolly Parton was a producer.”
While integral to the show’s origins, Dolly’s support wasn’t exactly hands-on.
“We never saw her,” Sarah told host Jimmy Fallon. “We’d get Christmas gifts in the beginning that would have our name, and I would think, ‘She doesn’t know who I am.'”
How wrong you would be, Sarah Michelle Gellar!
“One day, somebody asked her about it and she complimented the show and my performance,” Sarah gushed. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can die now. Dolly Parton knows who I am and thinks I’m good.'”
So, how did Dolly end up producing Buffy?
In 1986, Dolly and her producing partner Sandy Gallin founded Sandollar Productions, which produced movies like 1991’s Father of the Bride, starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, 1995’s Sabrina starring Harrison Ford and 1996’s Fly Away Home starring Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin.
In addition to producing Buffy, which ran for sevens seasons from 1997 to 2003, Sandollar also produced spinoff series Angel, which starred David Boreanaz and ran for five seasons from 1999 to 2004.
While her current show is not produced by Dolly, Sarah can now be seen in Wolf Pack, available to stream on Paramount+.
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