Sarah Michelle Gellar Addresses 'Tension' Amongst the Buffy Cast on Set: 'Everybody Had Arguments' (2024)

Not all was "rosy" amongst the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast.

In the newly-released book Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, Sarah Michelle Gellar addressed rumors of tension amongst the cast during her time filming the hit drama series.

"I think that unfortunately the set we were on and the world we were in was pitting us against each other," said Gellar, 44, during an interview with author Evan Ross Katz. "I think it would have been different if it was today. It would have been a very different relationship. But we have a great relationship now."

Gellar additionally pointed out how the "young" Buffy crew "worked really hard hours" and had "ups and downs" because of that.

"Everybody had arguments. There were times where David [Boreanaz] could be a handful. He never really was to me, but I'm sure [he was]," she continued. "And I'm sure I was the same way to people also, right? It wasn't rosy. Nobody gets along all the time. And Alyson and I had moments. There's no question. But you're young."

When fellow series alum Amber Benson opened up about the feud rumors, she placed the blame on series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon. "It starts at the top — and I'm not talking about Sarah," she said. "I'm talking about Joss. And it creates the tone of the set."

"I worked on shows where the producers are very aware of this, and they work really hard to make everybody feel like they are important and that they have a place in the show. And I think because this was Joss's first show, there were things that got dropped," the actress continued. "I think sometimes it made the set feel tense because people were like, 'I don't know that I'm important. Like, I know Sarah is important because she's the name of the show, but am I important?'"

Benson said the dynamic put "a lot of pressure on relationships with Sarah and other actors and then other actors with each other."

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"I think there was a lot of tension in that way," she said. "I came in in the fourth season, so all that stuff had already been concretized. And so it was a little bit of navigating and being aware that there were sort of alliances and tensions and some people got on really well and other people were okay...nobody was flat-out fighting or anything, but you could just feel like people weren't sure of their place."

Added Benson, "I think it is the boss's job to make everybody understand where they are in the hierarchy and how they fit in and that they are necessary, you know? 'Cause if you make everybody feel like they're a part of it and that they're necessary and that they're not worried about their job, then there's this comfortability. And I think when that wasn't happening, there was some uncomfortability on-set."

Meanwhile, James Marsters said the cast was "at war" and "the enemy was time."

"I don't know if everyone frames it in their mind the way I do, but I attribute some of the tension on the set by just that: that we were trying to summit a mountain and always couldn't get to the top really," he explained. "Although we got very high, I mean ... look, we did very well. We did our best. But we lost it. We lost the war."

Marc Blucas was also asked to dispel speculation that he had tension with Gellar: "There's no ill will."

"Look, I could be a basketball player and if a freshman f----- up, I would be pissed off. Like, this is my livelihood here, you know what I mean? But it was never taken out on me," he said. "Did it create problems for her? I would say I caused frustrations for her and she handled it the right way. She was patient with me."

"She would go to Joss and be like, 'Hey, we need to build in more time for rehearsal,'" he added. "I think that she saw someone who was genuinely trying, who was a nice guy, who was never late, who never didn't know their line, and I think those things all help balance out the fact that I just wasn't a refined actor yet."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons, airing between 1997 and 2003.

Prior to the book coming out, the cast has been vocal about allegations of misconduct and harassment from Whedon. Buffy alums Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg and Benson have all accused Whedon, 57, of abusive behavior on set.

Whedon previously addressed the allegations in profile for New York Magazine's Vulture, admitting to not being "civilized" at that point in his life.

"I was young," he said. "I yelled, and sometimes you had to yell. This was a very young cast, and it was easy for everything to turn into a co*cktail party."

"If I am upsetting somebody, it will be a problem for me," he added.

Gellar later released a statement of support for her fellow cast members.

"I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out," she wrote on Instagram.

Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts was released on March 15.