Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar has posted a behind the scenes video offering a first look at herself alongside Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the new lead of the franchise’s Hulu reboot.
The two actors represent the two eras of Buffy, with Gellar set to pass on her slayer baton to Armstrong, last seen in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, during the pilot episode of the upcoming Buffy reboot.
The video, posted by Gellar on Instagram, shows the two actors training together ahead of the pilot’s upcoming shoot. Gellar previously posted a screen recording of the call where she informed Armstrong of her casting, but this is the first time we’ve seen the pair actually together in one place.
Armstrong will reportedly play a new slayer named Nova, while Gellar will appear as Buffy in the series’ new pilot before taking on a recurring role in future episodes — should the rest of the season get Hulu’s green light.
Still, the project appears to be making good progress, with the cast assembling last month for a readthrough of the pilot’s script, a writer’s room opened up for further episodes, and casting details reported for the rest of the new series’ stars.
Others set to appear in the series include Severance’s Sarah Bock as Gracie, Nova’s best friend, and young actor Faly Rakotohavana as Hugo, a pal with a crush on Nova. Frasier’s Jack Cutmore-Scott will meanwhile play the role of Mr. Burke, the new school librarian — a throwback to the original series’ Giles.
Should the pilot be picked up, the series is reportedly set to go into full production next spring.
There’s no word yet on any further returning characters other than Buffy herself, but Gellar — who also serves as an executive producer on the project — has said she hopes to see other classic characters return. Indeed, Buffy actress Charisma Carpenter has already told IGN she’d be keen to appear, after an “unjust” end to her character on spin-off Angel.
Image credit: Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
