Sarah Michelle Gellar

Horror films, voice work, a run of streaming series and a 2026 seat on Netflix's Star Search judging panel.

After the show

When Buffy ended in 2003, Gellar moved straight into film. She returned as Daphne in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) and starred in The Grudge (2004), a box office hit, followed by Southland Tales and The Return (2006) and The Air I Breathe and Suburban Girl (released 2008). She also built a long voice career, including Robot Chicken (2005 to 2018), TMNT (2007) and the Seventh Sister in Star Wars Rebels.

Television brought her back to series leads: Ringer on The CW (2011 to 2012), which she also executive produced, and the CBS comedy The Crazy Ones (2013 to 2014) opposite Robin Williams. In 2021 she voiced Teela in Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation.

On February 10, 2021, after Charisma Carpenter’s statement about Joss Whedon’s conduct, Gellar posted on Instagram: “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.” She added, “I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.” In a January 2023 interview she said, “I’ll never tell my full story because I don’t get anything out of it. I’ve said all I’m going to say because nobody wins. Everybody loses.”

Lately

Gellar starred in and executive produced Paramount+’s Wolf Pack (January 2023). She then played Tanya Martin, Dexter’s boss, in Dexter: Original Sin (December 2024 to 2025); the prequel was renewed, then canceled in August 2025. She made a cameo as Helen Shivers in I Know What You Did Last Summer (July 2025).

In February 2025 Hulu ordered a pilot for a Buffy sequel, later titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, with Chloé Zhao directing, Ryan Kiera Armstrong cast as a new Slayer and Gellar returning as Buffy and executive producing. In March 2026 Gellar announced on Instagram that “Hulu has decided not to move forward,” adding that “if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”

In January 2026 she joined Jelly Roll and Chrissy Teigen as a judge on Netflix’s live Star Search revival, which premiered January 20. In March 2026 she appeared as Ursula Danforth in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.

Off screen

Gellar has been married to Freddie Prinze Jr. since 2002. In 2015 she co-founded the baking company Foodstirs, which wound down by 2022, and in 2017 she published the cookbook Stirring Up Fun with Food with Gia Russo.