Catching Up With: Sarah Michelle Gellar

Pretty Sarah Michelle Gellar has been acting for quite a few years, since she was a tiny tyke but, in person, she looks about 19. We know her best as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or as Daphne in the "Scooby Doo" films, as a teen stalked by a freaky killer in the I Know What You Did Last Summer films or a young woman haunted by an evil spirit in The Grudge movies. Sarah got to show her dramatic chops in Cruel Intentions and was last on screens as a porn star hooking up with Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson in the surreal musical comedy Southland Tales.

We were really impressed very recently with her strong performance as a cornered pop star trying to escape a mob kingpin in the new Film-Noir-ish movie The Air I Breathe. We sat down with friendly Sarah in Beverly Hills recently to talk about her involvement in "Air", her choice to do some indie films, making a music video for the film, working with her friend Brendan Fraser, tolerating uncomfortable interviews [not this one] and hey, would she be there if a "Buffy" movie were ever given a "go"? First, however, let's dish her cute outfit; short little sleeveless dress by Chloe; off-white lace top with big round coral buttons, a gray skirt and add some little fold up flats, big gold hoop earrings and wine red nail polish.

TeenHollywood: Who is your dress by? It's cute.

Sarah: Oh, thank you. Chloe. And then my favorite... [she holds her foot up to show us her cute flats] as a New Yorker, to have shoes that fold up and go into your bag, these are brilliant. Sue London flats. Aren't they great? You put them in your bag in New York, so you walk in them, and then when you get to where you're going, you put your heels on.

TeenHollywood: Better than wearing big tennis shoes around New York.

Sarah: Yeah, like in the '80s, like in [the movie] Working Girl? With those stockings and the white socks scrunched down and the sneakers?

TeenHollywood: That wasn't a great look back then.

Sarah: Yeah, but these are great for going through airport security. It's just faster to take them off.

TeenHollywood: Okay, guess we'd better talk about movies. This role reminded me a little of your gal in Southland Tales. They are both celebs, I guess.

Sarah: When anyone's in the public eye, there's a sort of assumption about them and I think that was something they were both fighting; public perception. And the names Krysta and Trista also does not help. [we laugh] Krysta [Southland Tales] wanted to be thought of more than just a porn star, and there's Trista trying to find who she is. And so I could see that [comparison] a little bit. But, before the character, it was the story. You don't really read stories like this. It sort of read like poetry to me; just the idea of emotions telling the story.

TeenHollywood: On reading the script, how did you interpret the story?

Sarah: When I first read it, before I had heard Jieho's [the director's] version, I thought that the story was really about just one character, and each of us represented a facet of that character. So I was the sorrowful part, and Brendan was the pleasureful part, and Kevin Bacon was love. And it's only when you get all of us together that you get a whole. Which is, as humans, I think what we are. You don't really know true happiness until you've had the depths of sorrow. I think those are the experiences that really shape us and define us. I had the fortunate character in the sense that I had probably the fullest arc, because she starts in this place of sorrow, but through knowing happiness, pleasure and love, she finds who she really is; a whole being.

TeenHollywood: Good point. Your character Trista gets cornered in a very uncomfortable interview. Have you ever been in an uncomfortable interview and don't say 'right now'!

Sarah: [laughs] Well, nothing has gone, obviously, as haywire as that one. But you know, you've had nights on a talk show where the audience just isn't feeling your jokes and you just know you're dying. Or, you can come into some of these rooms sometimes, and if [the journalist] is not feeling your movie or you, then you're just dying. You want them to ask you questions, but at the same time, you're kind of afraid. And it's tough, you know? It's sort of a weird dance, these situations. We get this short period of time, you have to get your questions across, I have to give you a piece of me, so I have to let you in, but I don't really know you that well. Maybe I've seen you a couple of times. It's a very odd dance. So I've had plenty of them 'not go the way you hope.'

TeenHollywood: Well, so far so good here! Did you base Trista on anyone? Your own paparazzi experiences or Britney Spears?

Sarah: Talk about timing of this. Yes and no. Some of it is my experiences. I mean, obviously, I've had a little bit of experience with some of these situations. Trista was based on someone that Jieho knew as well. She's sort of his idealized fantasy version of this character. But, you can't help but take from certain bits and pieces.

TeenHollywood: After "Buffy" you've taken a variety of film roles but have been doing some indie stuff recently. Is that to help you grow as an actress or.. what?

Sarah: Certainly, and it's been great. On the show, [Buffy] was in high school and then she went to college and then she became a mother, essentially [raising her little sister]. She had tragedy in her life. She had happiness and so as an actor I was always challenged. But the roles that I picked on the side to do were basically because of when my hiatus was. Independent films don't fit in that timeframe because if the money doesn't come in that day it'll push [the start time] and I can't do it. So, when I left, for the first time, I could take things just because of the experience. I think that's how you grow personally and professionally.

TeenHollywood: You have some tough dramatic scenes in this film, not to mention a love scene with Brendan. How do you feel about your performance?

Sarah: I still haven't seen the total, final [film]. I'm actually sitting through it tonight. You know, as an actor, I'm always going to nitpick, I'm always going to go, 'God, I wish I had done that' but, as a whole, I am so proud to be a part of this film. Honestly, I am proud of the work that I did in this. And that's hard for me to say. It was a really wonderful experience. My game was raised by working with these actors; Forest [Whitaker], Brendan [Fraser], Andy [Garcia]. These are people you hope to get to work with in your life, but you don't think you'd actually get to work with all at once.

TeenHollywood: Andy plays the mobster who kind of "owns" you in this. He said there were scenes where he gave you some hard times, and you really took it well.

Sarah: Yeah, he did. I'm a little girl and he threw me around. It was tough in some ways and easier than I thought in others. I know Andy personally. I know Andy as a dad, you know? And so I don't know that scary side of Andy. You get on that scene, and because of the caliber of his performance, you can't help but be scared for your life! Another scene I was really nervous about was the scene outside the club where all of the fans come after her.

TeenHollywood: Oh, the fan and paparazzi attack.

Sarah: Yeah. There was a language barrier. We shot in Mexico City. I had some of the best extras of my life. They gave me so much to work off of. That night became like an electric night because it felt real. The main girl that first notices me, that calls me out, is the niece of my accountant. She spoke a little bit of Spanish, got into some drama program in Mexico, and is like the star of a Spanish telenovela. And because she's American and her English is so good, she got hired for the job.

TeenHollywood: Did you actually do Trista's singing?

Sarah: No. But unfortunately, I had to do Trista's music video. And I am not the girl that dreamed of being a pop star. I was not the girl that sang in front of the mirror with a hairbrush. I was petrified. And you add that on top of the fact that Jieho is a music video director. We shot the whole music video. Like I'm petrified when this DVD comes out one day, there's going to be a music video on there. It's one thing to do a music video as a porn star called 'Teen Horniness Is Not a Crime.' It's a little bit easier than doing something that's supposed to be 'the next up and coming pop star.' [laughs] It was like my second day. I've got to put the leather pants on, get the body make-up, get the lashes, get the hair. And they had closed the set. It was a more closed set than a love scene. I was petrified. I wouldn't let Brendan anywhere near the set that day. I'm like, 'It's Mexico. Bring me some tequila and let's get this done.' And then by the end, I was a little girl in front of the mirror. I was just loving it!

TeenHollywood: But you've done singing before. You did that whole musical episode on "Buffy" and in Southland Tales and you're good at it, so why didn't they have you sing here?

Sarah: [leaning in close] Did ya hear me sing?

TeenHollywood: Hey, that was good.

Sarah: Thank you. But this was supposed to be on a different level. And it was also a recording situation, too. It was a time thing. And they had a girl who had recorded it when they were writing the song. There was more singing initially. There was a whole very deep ballad. And there was no way, musically, that I could do that. And you're talking about someone like Jieho, that's musically trained from Julliard! You're kind of like, 'Sarah, stick to acting.'

TeenHollywood: What about doing the intense scenes with Brendan? You two seemed very real.

Sarah: Brendan is a really close friend of mine. And I have to say that my performance would not have been possible without him. To go to the emotional places you had to go, to be able to look into his eyes and see a friend...Not to mention the fact that if it wasn't real, he knows me well enough to know. When you have that trust, it makes the scenes that much more real. I've had a lot of chemistry with the guys that I've worked with. But this was sort of on a different level.

TeenHollywood: He's a very talented dramatic actor.

Sarah: I'm so used to goofy Brendan, you know? [laughs] You know, people forget about Brendan. And that was one of the reasons why I really wanted him to take this job. And I pushed Jieho, and I pushed Brendan together. Because sometimes we forget the caliber of actor that Brendan is. And we get lost because he's so handsome and he's so big, and he's "Mummy" and George of the Jungle, and he's goofy Dudley Do-Right. They forget about what Brendan is capable of as an actor. And Jieho was hard on him and it shows. We were both doing stuff that was so far from what we've done recently. We were partners in it all the way through.

TeenHollywood: Brendan had nice things to say about you too. Okay, let's get it out of the way. Would you consider doing a "Buffy" movie? Or have you said goodbye to that character forever?

Sarah: The answer is 'never say never.' You know, it was a movie first. We had a lot to overcome on a TV show. Everyone's like, 'Why would you do that?' So then to go back feels kind of hard. The thing that I worry about, too is that we worked so hard to end the story in a way that would work for everybody. And I know I grieved when 'Sex and the City' was over. Now they're going to bring it back, but they're just going to take it away again! But, you show me a script, you show me that it works, and you show me that an audience can accept that, I'd probably be there.

TeenHollywood: Don't you also have a scary movie coming out?

Sarah: I have Possession with Lee Pace who's another great actor. He's the guy from 'Pushing Daisies'. He's just phenomenal.

TeenHollywood: Are you still actively involved in your charity work?

Sarah: I work for CARE for a couple of months each year and travel with them and do the field work. I took a month off this year and went to D.C. just to learn about the legislation; where the money goes and who chooses where the financing goes and what projects are worthwhile and how to speak up for the projects that you want. Really, who's to determine who's the most needy? So I'm going to Africa. I'm going to Johannesburg, Tanzania and to Zanzibar. I've done most of my work in South America where projects are based on micro-financing and female empowerment and the education of the male caste system. In Africa, it's reading, writing and clean water.

TeenHollywood: Are there "Buffy" fans in Africa?

Sarah: You know what, I'm sure there are actually. That show is everywhere. I was in Bali and I kid you not, my cab driver called me Buffy. I know it's on in South Africa. Probably not in Tanzania but probably in Johannesburg it's on. I learned my Spanish by watching the "Buffy" reruns. I don't know how to structure the sentences and so we found that, by watching stuff that we knew, it was an easier way to work on the language.

TeenHollywood: Okay, last question. Brendan has said that you guys were still shooting this when he heard about Crash [in which Brendan co-stars] winning the Oscar. Do you remember that?

Sarah: Yeah, I do. This was really funny actually. He was still filming [The Air I Breathe] and I had gone home at that point and, in Mexico, right after the Oscars on the same channel was [Brendan's movie] George of the Jungle in Spanish. It was so great. It was so funny to see him in that right after the Oscar announcement.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.