What most scares Sarah Michelle Gellar and how she moved on from ‘toxic’ Buffy set with new show Wolf Pack
Known for her iconic role as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar is once again taking on the supernatural with her new show Wolf Pack.
Having described some behaviour on the ’90s hit drama as toxic, she told Sky News that now she’s an executive producer, she wanted to use her influence to ensure the only monsters she fights are on screen.
“I needed to have a set that was communicative, that was collaborative, where everybody had a voice,” Gellar explained.
“And, you know, when I was growing up in this industry, we were told not to, and if we did, we were difficult.
“And I think this isn’t a Hollywood thing – when you’re new in a job, you don’t want to make waves, you accept a lot of stuff that should be unacceptable, and I needed to have the power to change that and to be on the set that I wanted to be on, and not just that I wanted to be on, that everybody wanted to be on.
“Look, we get to play make believe, it’s really fun, but there’s long hours involved and there’s dangerous stunts and there’s, you know, all sorts of things, and I needed it to be a safe place for everyone.”
Gellar stars as Kristin Ramsey in Wolf Pack. Photo: Paramount+
On Wolf Pack, Gellar is no longer one of the youngest people on set. Her character is an investigator looking into a wildfire that has seemingly awakened a mysterious creature – and in the process changed the lives of two teenagers.
But learning from her own experiences, the star took practical action to ensure younger cast and crew on Wolf Pack were comfortable during filming.
She said: “I was like, here’s my cell phone, call me – and I think it was easier for them to speak to me if something was bothering them.”
Bella Shepard as Blake Navarro and Armani Jackson as Everett Lang in Wolf Pack. Pic: Steve Dietl/Paramount+
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She added: “It’s hard when it’s your producer, boss, network and everyone has a bottom line – I don’t have one, I’m here to make all of this work and work well.
“And by the way, not just for the actors – I said that to the crew, too, to the production assistants: If you’re too tired, and the hours are too long, let me know. There’s Uber now, there’s a really easy way for people not to get in car accidents when they’re working, it’s nothing to a production to call an Uber and guess what? If production won’t pay for it, I’ll get you an Uber.”
Photo: Curtis Bonds Baker/Paramount+
‘The scariest things in life emotionally scare us’
It’s 20 years since Buffy ended and Gellar says she was drawn back to the genre not by mythical creatures, but what they represent.
“To me, the scariest things in life are what emotionally scare us, and that’s what this monster is that metaphor for and really dealing with anxiety,” the actress explained.
“You know, that’s a word we throw around a lot right now, we’re all feeling it, we’re bombarded with news 24/7, and what it does and this constant stream of information.
“The idea is that anxiety is actually your body running at peak condition, but we don’t know what to do with that, so when you harness that, you can actually make that your superpower – and if we have the tools to really deal with anxiety, what would we be capable of?”
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How star got through COVID
But she admits she nearly didn’t get involved with Wolf Pack at all – initially saying no when asked to look at the script, joking that it was “animal instinct” that took over when she eventually relented.
“The idea of the pack to me just really hit home. It was the right time, you know, we were just coming out of COVID where if it wasn’t for my pack, my pod, if you will, I wouldn’t have gotten through it,” Gellar said.
“And what it’s like when you don’t have that and how lonely that feels.
“I surprised myself when I said yes, it surprised Jeff [Davis – the show’s creator], it surprised my team – it was a very just emotional response to material that meant something to me.”
Wolf Pack is streaming now on Paramount +
Richard Gadd has urged fans of his hit show Baby Reindeer to stop speculating about who the characters in his show are based on in real life.
The Netflix series is based on the real-life story of its writer Gadd, who also plays the lead character, and his warped relationship with a female stalker.
Fans have been speculating online about the identity of the stalker played by Jessica Gunning in real life (spoiler warning), as well as who another character, seen sexually assaulting Gadd in the series, is based on.
The character, played by Tom Goodman-Hill, is a TV writer who repeatedly sexually assaults Gadd’s character and supplies him with drugs.
Gadd addressed his fans on his Instagram story on Tuesday, saying: “People I love, have worked with, and admire… are unfairly getting caught up in speculation.
“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard.”
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Pic: Netflix
The show is based on the hit Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage play Gadd performed in 2019.
Gadd, who plays Donny Dunn, a character based on himself, said he didn’t expect the show to “blow up” in the way it has since its release on 11 April.
“I’m super proud of it. I really believed in this show, but the fact it’s gone so stratospheric so quickly, for such a cult, quite niche story… it’s kind of amazing. It’s clearly struck a chord,” he said on This Morning.
The writer, actor and comedian is also an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a charity which supports male survivors of sexual abuse.
Entertainment
Orpheus Pledger: Australian police launch manhunt for Home and Away star accused of assault
Police in Australia have launched a manhunt for former soap opera star Orpheus Pledger after he failed to appear in court to face charges of assault.
Pledger, 30, was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday accused of assaulting a woman, Sky News Australia said.
The actor had been granted bail on Tuesday for a court-ordered hospital assessment and had been ordered to return to court the following day, but didn’t show up.
On Wednesday Victoria Police issued a warrant for his arrest and asked the public to help find him.
Pic: Victoria Police
The force said in a statement he was wanted over an “assault-related matter” and hoped “someone may be able to provide information on his current whereabouts”.
Described as “approximately 170cm [5ft, 6in] tall with brown hair and tanned complexion”, police said he was known to frequent the north Melbourne suburb of Northcote and surrounding areas.
Pledger’s manager, Craig McMahon told the Sydney Morning Herald he had not been in contact with his client this week but that he had been shocked by the assault allegations.
Mr McMahon told the paper his client had suffered from mental health issues for a long time.
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Pledger starred in Neighbours, another Australian soap, in 2011 before joining the cast of Home and Away in 2016 where he played Mason Morgan for three years.
Earlier in his career, he appeared in other TV shows, Silversun and CrashBurn.
A guitar used by John Lennon in the recording of The Beatles album and film Help! is going up for auction after being found in a loft.
Believed to have been lost, the 12-string acoustic guitar had not been seen or played for more than 50 years before it was rediscovered in the home of a British couple.
It is now going up for auction where it is estimated to fetch between £485,000 to £647,000.
Auctioneers believe it could set a “new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar”.
The Hootenanny model, made by German firm Framus, was used by the Liverpool band in the 1965 Help! film, specifically in the scene when the group perform You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.
It was also used during the recording sessions for It’s Only Love and I’ve Just Seen A Face and Girl along with the rhythm track for Norwegian Wood played by George Harrison.
Lennon’s lost guitar on display in London ahead of the auction. Pic: AP
“Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years,” said Darren Julien, co-founder and executive director at auction house Julien’s Auctions.
“To awaken this sleeping beauty is a sacred honour and is a great moment for music, Julien’s, Beatles and auction history.”
It is believed the guitar came to be in the possession of Scottish guitarist Gordon Waller, known for being one half of the pop duo Peter & Gordon, who later gave it to his band’s road managers in the 1970s.
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It is not the first piece of Beatles memorabilia to be rediscovered.
In February, Sir Paul McCartney was reunited with his 1961 Hofner bass guitar, which he used on songs such as Twist And Shout and She Loves You.
Julien’s Auctions has previously sold another Lennon acoustic guitar for $2.4m (£1.93m), Ringo Starr’s Ludwig drum kit was purchased for $2.2m (£1.77m) and a Ludwig drumhead bass used on The Ed Sullivan Show was auctioned at $2.1m (£1.64m).
The Hootenanny guitar will go up for auction along with the guitar’s Maton Australian-made case as part of Julien’s Music Icons two-day auction on 29 and 30 May.
Also being sold at the auction is an Adam Clayton stage-played and owned rose sparkle Fender bass guitar, used at the U2 Las Vegas Sphere shows, which has an estimate of $50,000 to 70,000 (£40,199 to £56,279).
Tina Turner’s Versace dress, worn during her 1996 to 1997 Wildest Dreams Tour, and Amy Winehouse’s Black Fendi gown made for the opening of the clothes shop during Paris Fashion Week, are also up for auction.
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