Sarah Michelle Gellar has explained her decision to revisit the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The actress declared her upcoming TV series, Buffy: New Sunnydale, was "not a reboot", as she opened up on why she changed her mind about reprising the iconic role.
"It's not a reboot, it's not picking up with all of the same characters right away. It is not like a sequel," Sarah Michelle, 48, told the Shut Up, Evan podcast. "That's why the name was even important to me - Buffy: New Sunnydale. It's Buffy, but it's also something else."
Admitting she had "learned a hard lesson in life", the actress revealed that agreeing to make the series, a continuation of the cult hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer that ran for seven seasons from 1997, meant she had to walk back her previous position on revisiting Sunnydale.
"Never say never," Sarah Michelle said. "I will eat my words, and I'm OK with that - I learned my lesson."
Explaining she had worried nothing else could meet the quality of the first iteration of Buffy, Sarah Michelle added she was "incredibly proud" of the new series, helmed by Hamnet director, Chloé Zhao.
"I never saw how and why it could be as good. I'm not trying to be better. I just want to hold and honour the memory and what we created," she said. "A lot of people put their blood, sweat, and tears into making what I think is an incredibly great show, and I'm incredibly proud of it."