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Viewing Single Post From: Where Are They Now: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Steve Frame Aug 3 2007, 03:53 AM
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 Original Article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/entertainm...89520-19553533/

Sarah's n'ever n'ever land
By David Matthews 03/08/2007

This is something of a make or break year for Sarah Michelle Gellar. The Buffy The Vampire Slayer star turned 30 in April and is going through a bit of a career crisis. While she was a major star in her famous TV series, she has yet to make a major impact with any of her film projects.

But this year she has a slew of movies coming out – starting today with the animation Happily N’Ever After in which she voices a princess who leads a revolution against her evil stepmother in Fairy Tale Land – which she hopes will raise her profile in cinemas.

You’ve been an actress since you were small, starting in the soap All My Children. So many young stars have been getting into trouble these days, so how have you stayed clear of that?
I had a lot of good advice from my mother. I went to a normal high school while growing up in New York. That’s a city where you learn a lot about life and not just about the film business, which is what happens to young actors in Los Angeles. You don’t party when you’re on a TV show. You go to bed for 10 hours and you learn your lines. I never smoked and I didn’t drink alcohol until I was 21, and even now I maybe have a glass of wine with dinner and that’s it. I don’t understand the need to give in to excess and lead your life in public. It doesn’t make sense to me. I look at all these kids getting fame and attention now and they’re just not equipped to deal with success at a young age.

Your marriage to Freddie Prinze Jr seems to have stood the test of time. Any secrets to divulge?
It all comes down to finding the right partner and sharing that person’s spirit and journey in life. Getting married was probably the most important decision I’ve made in my life. I would like to believe that Freddie and I will spend the rest of our lives together.

Do you feel more relaxed doing movies rather than a weekly TV series?
I take things much slower now and don’t worry so much about what I’m going to be doing tomorrow or the following week. I love being able to sleep in late whenever I want and seeing my friends again. I just enjoy the pleasure of daily life.

Is that why after Buffy ended in 2003, you didn’t work as much as your fans might have expected you to?
Yes. Although I also didn’t want to take roles in films where I was basically “the girlfriend” or where I was playing in romantic comedies or light dramas which didn’t interest me. I’ve now made four movies in the last year or so and I have a very good feeling about my work. Previously, I had kind of lost the drive I had when I was doing Buffy.

Was it a case of all that non-stop work and pressure of being an actress since you were a teenager catching up with you?
To some extent, but it was also a chance for me to be able to enjoy my marriage more without feeling exhausted all the time, which is what you face when you’re doing a series like I was for seven years with Buffy. That definitely takes a toll on you and when you finish that kind of life you’re so anxious to be able to relax. You want to take three hours to read the New York Times in the morning and have a leisurely lunch with your husband or some girlfriends.

You are now back working hard. Was it turning 30 that changed things?
Turning 30 isn’t important in itself, but it’s a useful point to take stock of your life and your work. I have a good life, a wonderful husband and I’ve had a good career. But I felt that I’ve been missing out on playing different kinds of roles instead of genre films. So I really want to see whether I can expand my horizons and be more creative in terms of my work. I had been working so much since I was a teenager that I really didn’t want to maintain that kind of pace after Buffy ended.

Are there any plans for you and Freddie to make more films together?
No, I don’t think we’re going to work in the same film again. We loved doing the Scooby-Doo films, but we’ve decided not to do a third Scooby-Doo. In terms of other work, it’s almost impossible for a real-life couple to appear in the same film these days because the public usually knows so much about them that they can’t get into the characters they play on the screen. It’s too incestuous. Almost every film of that kind has been a flop, so it doesn’t make any sense for us to take that kind of risk.

What about children? I suppose you’ve been asked that question many times since you got married?
Pretty much (Laughs). I don’t see children in my life right now or for several years. I like the kind of freedom I have in my life now and the time my husband and I can spend together. I would also rather spend several more years seeing where my acting career takes me and working hard at that before having a baby.

Happily N’Ever After opens today.
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