Sarah Michelle Gellar opens up about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer similarities that drew her to Teen Wolf spinoff Wolf Pack. Based on the book series by Edo Van Belkom, Wolf Pack focuses on teenagers Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard) as their lives change forever in the aftermath of a California wildfire that awakens a terrifying creature. It is unclear how the Paramount+ series will connect to the larger Teen Wolf universe, but there have been signs that the two supernatural dramas are linked. The project is executive produced by Jeff Davis, who created the Teen Wolf series and wrote the upcoming follow-up film.
Another sign came when Gellar was revealed as the star and executive producer of Wolf Pack earlier this year. Known for her iconic portrayal of the vampire-slaying Buffy Summers, she joined Davis and Teen Wolf leads Tyler Posey and Tyler Hoechlin at Comic-Con to preview her return to the supernatural drama genre. It was a big moment for fans of Buffy, as it announced that Gellar was returning to a genre of television that she helped define.
But speaking at a Television Critics Association, Gellar confessed she wasn't always sold on Wolf Pack and that she originally intended to reject the project. The actress, who currently stars in Netflix's Do Revenge and Clerks III, explained that she's received a bunch of pitches for supernatural series. But what set the Teen Wolf spinoff apart, she said, was the similarities to Buffy in terms of how it tackles problems facing high schoolers today. Her thoughts, via Deadline, are included below.
“I’ve been pitched once, twice, 2000 of these [types of shows]. Honestly, at first, I had no intention of saying yes [to Wolf Pack]. When I read the script, it was the first time where my interest was so piqued. One of the beauties of Buffy was the sort of metaphorical aspect of it. These real monsters were the metaphors for the horror of high school and to me, that’s what made the show so important and why it stands the test of time. So when I read the script [for Wolf Pack], and I spoke to Jeff, we discussed the issues he wanted to tackle mainly anxiety and depression among children, specifically having to do with their use of devices and the lack of connectivity. It’s something that I think about all the time, and it’s so prominent. But at the same time, I love water cooler shows. I want to be on a show that everyone’s talking about.
Gellar will play Kristin Ramsey in Wolf Pack. Highly regarded for her expertise as an arson investigator and no stranger to personal loss, Gellar's character is brought in to look into the massive wildfire that might have awakened the terrifying creature. It's an evolution for the actress, who has the distinction of portraying one of the most memorable television heroes of all time in Buffy. And, indeed, part of what made the show click together so well, particularly in its early seasons, was the metaphor for the teenage years as its own kind of hell with varied demons of all sorts.
Bolstered by the chemistry of the cast and excellent writers, many teen dramas have since tried to emulate the Buffy the Vampire Slayer formula to varying degrees of success. It remains to be seen how well Wolf Pack does when it debuts. But for a whole generation of viewers who grew up watching Gellar, and for many newer audiences since then, her close involvement serves as an endorsement all its own.
Source: Deadline