Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals Buffy the Vampire Slayer had an 'extremely toxic male' set

If you grew up in the 90s no doubt you watched Sarah Michelle Gellar killing (literally) it as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Her character was a powerful female role model for teenagers and young girls of that time - however, the actress has now revealed that despite this, the set on which they filmed the popular show was an 'extremely toxic male' set. 

Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard about toxic Hollywood sets, but the I Know What You Did Last Summer actress also went on to say that she wasn't allowed to befriend other women, in case they became 'too powerful'. 

Sarah, who has been open about her post-partum depression in the past, went on to reveal that her experiences on other sets since have helped her realise that women don't need to be 'pitted against each other'. 

The Cruel Intentions star told the audience about her experiences on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer set during a panel interview at the Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable at the TheWrap's Power of Women Summit in Los Angeles this week.

She said: "For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set. And so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like, and that women were pitted against each other — that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down."

She went on to say that her opinion has since changed: "Now that I've had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be."

Although she also said that women need to have bigger roles in production, to allow for a better experience: "But… unfortunately we're still in that place where all of those departments a lot of times need to be women for us to have a voice."

In 2020, another cast member called out Buffy creator Joss Wheadon, claiming in an Instagram post: “Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career."

Charisma Carpenter played Coredlia on the show and also said in the post: “Like his ongoing, passive-aggressive threats to fire me…. And callously calling me ‘fat’ to colleagues when I was four months pregnant, weighing 126 lbs. He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favourites, putting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval.”