Sarah Michelle Gellar reacted to her Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Nicholas Brendon’s death.
Just days after the family of the late actor announced he passed away, the 48-year-old actress opened up about the heartbreaking loss, which she said was ‘personal’ for her.
‘It’s a tragedy,’ she said while attending premiere of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come on Monday in Rome, Italy. ‘It’s a tragedy when you lose anyone at any point.’
She continued: ‘It’s a bigger tragedy when you lose someone way sooner than needs to be.’
This comes after Gellar and fellow castmates paid tribute to Brendon with sentimental social media posts after it was confirmed he died at the age of 54 on Friday.
‘This business is very tough, and we’ve had…it feels like we’ve had more tragedy than other shows,’ she continued.
Sarah Michelle Gellar reacted to her Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Nicholas Brendon’s death at the premiere of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come in Rome on Monday
At the premiere, she shared her reaction to her her costar’s death and said the tragedy was ‘personal’ for her. She said Brendon is ‘an integral part of Buffy, and that never goes away’; pictured in October 1998
She noted that it’s ‘probably not the case, but it feels that way because it’s personal, and it’s in our faces.’
Since the teen drama concluded in the early 2000s, nearly a dozen Buffy stars have passed away since filming, including Michelle Trachtenberg died last year.
The 11 dearly departed actors — who starred in the original series, the spinoff series Angel and the 1992 Buffy film — include Andy Hallett, John Ritter, Robin Sachs, Harris Yulin, Donald Sutherland, Luke Perry, Alexis Arquette, Paul Reubens and Rutger Hauer.
Brendon previously starred in all seven seasons of the hit drama series alongside Gellar’s titular character from 1997 to 2002.
The actor played the beloved underdog Xander Harris in Buffy’s core friend group.
Gellar added that Brendon is ‘an integral part of Buffy, and that never goes away.’
She also shared a touching statement about the ‘legacy’ he left behind with his illustrated career.
‘I think as actors we talk a lot or think a lot about legacy,’ she explained. ‘He brought so much joy to so many people on that show, and that lives on. And that’s the truth.’
Gellar was attending the Italian premiere of her latest project, Ready or Not 2. Gellar wore an elegant, white gown with a strapless neckline and intricate rose details
She stayed professional as she flashed a bright smile while posing for photographs before later joining her Ready or Not 2 costars for a group photo on the red carpet
At the premiere, she also shared a touching statement about the ‘legacy’ Brendon left behind with his illustrated career; pictured in 1997 portrait
Gellar was attending the Italian premiere of her latest project.
The horror-comedy flick starring Samara Weaving is the sequel to the 2019 original Ready or Not movie.
For the premiere and gathering of iconic scream queens from each generation, Gellar wore an elegant, white gown with a strapless neckline and intricate rose details.
She styled her hair in beach waves parted to the side and completed her look with a bright red lip.
She stayed professional as she flashed a bright smile while posing for photographs before later joining her Ready or Not 2 costars for a group photo on the red carpet.
In the thriller, Gellar plays Ursula of the Danforth family, another ‘High Council’ family with unimaginable riches and powers fighting for even more control.
On Friday, Brendon’s family indicated in an edited version of their Instagram statement that he had ‘passed in his sleep of natural causes.’
An earlier version of the statement had revealed: ‘While it’s no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past, he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing.’
The nature of the ‘diagnosis’ was unclear, but Brendon had been frank in public about a number of health issues he had suffered, such as a congenital heart defect, addiction and a fall that resulted in the spinal condition cauda equina syndrome.
‘I think as actors we talk a lot or think a lot about legacy,’ Gellar said about Brendon. ‘He brought so much joy to so many people on that show, and that lives on. And that’s the truth’; pictured in June 2017
While remembering her late costar, Gellar said it was an even ‘bigger tragedy when you lose someone way sooner than needs to be’
Just days earlier, she joined fellow Buffy costars sharing heartfelt tributes to remember Brendon; pictured clockwise starting from top left: Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon
Gellar reacted to the news of his death by posting a 1998 photo of the two of them together along with a message memorializing both him and his character.
She started by quoting one of Xander’s famous lines: ‘They’ll never know how tough it is to be the one who isn’t chosen. To live so near to the spotlight, and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, because nobody’s watching me.’
Gellar then added her own message in reference to the quotation: ‘I saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky.’
Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg on Buffy, as well as Emma Caulfield, who played his love interest in the series, also shared heartfelt tributes after learning of the tragic news.
Hannigan took to Instagram as she remembered some of their fond memories.
‘My Sweet Nicky, thank you for years of laughter, love and Dodgers,’ she wrote alongside a photo of them hugging and crying during an emotional scene.
Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg on Buffy, as well as Emma Caulfield, who played his love interest in the series, also shared heartfelt tributes after learning of the tragic news; pictured in 1998 portrait
In Gellar’s post, she quoted one of Xander’s famous lines and then added her own message in reference to the quotation: ‘I saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky’
‘I will think of you every time I see a rocking chair. I love you. RIP,’ she wrote alongside emojis of a broken heart and a crying expression.
Caulfield also posted a tribute on her Instagram Story.
‘My heart is heavy. I can’t put into words just yet how this has hit me,’ she wrote about her costar alongside a clip of a scene of them dancing during the famous musical episode from season six.
‘Let this clip of us giving it our all be a place holder,’ she wrote. ‘Rest Nicky. Rest. I love you.’
