The Untold Truth Of Sarah Michelle Gellar

Chances are that you instantly associate the name Sarah Michelle Gellar with the iconic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar certainly made a name for herself starring as Buffy in the cult-classic show, but her long resume is filled with other equally impressive highlights. From her sinister turn in Cruel Intentions to her charming performance as Daphne in Scooby-Doo, Gellar has proven herself to be a versatile, dependable actress (via IMDb).

Since her most iconic roles, Gellar's acting career has somewhat slowed down, making way for new adventures. She's raised two children, become increasingly active on social media, and even even published a cookbook. It's clear the star is just as busy as ever.

With 3.5 million followers and counting on Instagram, it's clear that Gellar still has a whole lot of dedicated fans. But while mega fans of the actress may think they know everything about her, we've uncovered a few tidbits that may come as a surprise. Here is the untold truth of Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Sarah Michelle Gellar has always seemed to be in excellent shape — so, it comes as no surprise to learn that the actress has always been passionate about exercise. However, instead of taking up running or yoga, Gellar opted for a slightly different exercise regimen. As she explained to Cinema.com in the 2000s, "I keep myself in good shape by training in the ancient Japanese art of Tae Kwon-Do." Apparently, her skills even meant that she could take on "a good portion" of her stunts for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. According to Digital Spy, Gellar even earned a black belt!

Apparently, training in martial arts is something that Gellar considers to be an important life skill. In fact, her own daughter eventually followed in her footsteps. In an adorable photo posted by Gellar's husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., Gellar's daughter can be seen learning martial arts and even trapping her dad on the mat!

One of Sarah Michelle Gellar's very first jobs was a commercial for the fast food chain Burger King in 1981. In the adorable commercial, Gellar explained that McDonald's gives its customers 20 percent less meat than Burger King — a bold claim! It turns out, McDonald's wasn't particularly happy about this bad press.

In an interview with the Sunday Express (via HuffPost), Gellar confessed that she ended up being named in a lawsuit, as this commercial was the first to name and shame a competitor. The lawsuit meant that for a time, Gellar wasn't permitted to visit a McDonald's. "I wasn't allowed to eat there," she recalled. "It was tough because, when you're a little kid, McDonald's is where all your friends have their birthday parties, so I missed out on a lot of apple pies," she went on. Sounds like this particular job came with a few real-life drawbacks!

One of Sarah Michelle Gellar's biggest and most iconic roles to date was Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions. As Gellar explained to W years later, the experience was a unique one. "It was almost like having an acting troupe. It felt very intimate at the time," she mused.

It's clear that the project meant a lot to Gellar. However, as the actress explained on the So Siriano show in 2020 (via Bravo's The Daily Dish), the experience wasn't all smooth sailing. In fact, the actress got into a little trouble with her character's infamous cross necklace. As Gellar explained, the necklace was used to store Kathryn's secret drug stash in the film. Of course, for the purposes of filming, there were no real drugs on set. Instead, they used crushed chamomile tea. You can add that to the list of things only adults notice in Cruel Intentions!

However, for Gellar, this resulted in a few issues. "I have really bad allergies," she explained, "and so, when I had to... inhale, I had the worst allergy outbreak of my life that day." Yikes! Clearly life as a leading lady wasn't always glamorous for this actress.

One of the most memorable scenes in Cruel Intentions is the infamous kiss between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair. In fact, the kiss went on to win Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards in 2000 — then it won Legendary Lip Lock in 2020. While the kiss scene has clearly outlived the movie, it is Gellar's friendship with Blair that has really become the legacy of the film.

When Blair received her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2019, Gellar's response showed how close the pair still were. In a touching Instagram post, Blair wrote, "This girl. (Always my girl) is everything. She tucked me in and brought me dinner and loved me up." She went on to explain how Gellar had fought for her to be cast in Cruel Intentions. "She took me under her wing and today is no different," she went on.

Gellar reposted the lovely message, writing, "Our relationship began with me fighting for you, and I will spend the rest of my life continuing to fight for you." It's clear this friendship is a huge part of Gellar's life.

Even though Sarah Michelle Gellar has been acting since childhood, it seems that the star has never been frivolous with her earnings. In fact, as the actress explained to CNBC Make It, she immediately put her very first Buffy the Vampire paycheck into a savings account. "I think I was very well aware already... you heard all those stories about actors that make money and people run off with it," she explained. "And I remember thinking, 'If I ever had money like that, I would know where it was at all times.'" Wow, that's some impressive self-restraint!

And saving her income isn't Gellar's only good money habit. Apparently, the star is also super into couponing! As she told CNBC Make It in 2018, "I cut coupons to this day." She shared that even though she has plenty of spare cash, she never turns down an opportunity to save. "Like, if there's a coupon there, I'm going to use it. Just because you're successful doesn't mean that you should be errant in your spending," she said. We have to say — we're impressed with Gellar's level-headed approaching to money!

Sarah Michelle Gellar and her husband, fellow actor Freddie Prinze Jr., have had a long and successful marriage. As Prinze Jr. explained to Us Weekly, the pair initially started out as friends after working together on I Know What You Did Last Summer. At first, the co-workers had no thoughts of dating. Instead, they bonded over road trips to the nearest gym from set, which was an hour away. Gellar didn't have a license. "So, I started driving her, and that's when her and I became friends," Prinze Jr. recalled. "And we just would talk about life and stuff like that, and we had completely different philosophies on just about everything," he went on.

After the film wrapped, the road trip buddies decided to reconnect over dinner with another friend (via Us Weekly). However, their friend didn't make it to the meal — and the rest is history.

It goes without saying that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one the most iconic shows of the early 2000s. For Sarah Michelle Gellar, the show's star, the experience was an incredible one. However, as she revealed to W, she didn't fully grasp just how important the show was until it was all over. "It's hard in the moment," she explained. "You're so busy, you're focused, you're working, and then you leave and realize what an important show you were a part of," she went on. For Gellar, the show had some seriously important messages about "female power." As she put it, "It's once in a lifetime."

Gellar's love for the show that made her famous is pretty evident. In fact, in 2020, she even confessed that she had binge-watched the show with her kids! As she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show, her kids asked to watch the show during quarantine. "I didn't even know if they'd be into it, but they are like so into it, except I'm the world's biggest disappointment for them," she joked, explaining that Gellar can never remember enough behind-the-scenes facts to keep her kids satisfied. How cute!

Even though Sarah Michelle Gellar is clearly still passionate about the positive aspects of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she has also opened up about the less positive side of the show. In 2021, Buffy actress Charisma Carpenter posted a statement on Twitter claiming that the show's creator, Joss Whedon, had "abused his power on numerous occasions." Ray Fisher had previously accused Whedon of being "abusive" during Justice League.

Gellar posted her own statement on Instagram about the allegations. "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon," she wrote, "I am more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic currently," she went on. She then voiced her support of her former co-star. "I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out," she noted.

Sarah Michelle Gellar has certainly aged well. Her secret, it would seem, is a long-standing dedication to healthy living. Many of her habits are all about self-care. As she told Us Weekly, she is passionate about getting a good night's sleep, she is obsessed with kale, and she can't sleep with any makeup on. But her healthy habits don't stop there.

In fact, as Gellar told Health, she has been careful to bring her children up with healthy habits, too. "We've already taught [daughter Charlotte] to love healthy food," she said. Apparently, Gellar introduced her to sushi and homemade green juice. "We go to the farmers market and buy everything and just put it in the juicer: kale, Swiss chard, carrots, celery. You name it," she explained. Apparently, the whole family drinks the concoction — "and we've all been healthier," Gellar said. That's a seriously impressive habit! No wonder Gellar seems to have the gift of eternal youth.

On long-running TV shows, there are always bound to be a few disagreements. However, by the sounds of things, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had more than its fair share. As Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed to Entertainment Weekly, she wasn't always a fan of the show's plot lines. In fact, she apparently didn't like Season 6 of the show. "I felt it betrayed who she [Buffy] was," she explained. "Even just getting to talk to Joss [Whedon] and be able to get his opinion was not as easy when he's not upstairs," she went on, explaining that his focus was divided between three shows at the time. Luckily, she felt that Season 7 got back on track.

And that wasn't the only drama. During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live (via Us Weekly), Gellar's co-star Alyson Hannigan responded to the question, "Who was the most annoyed to be on Buffy the Vampire Slayer by the end of the show's run?" by quickly saying, "Sarah." However, as Hannigan later clarified, she had really just meant that Gellar was exhausted by the end of the show.

Many couples find that working with each other can cause a few problems in the relationship. However, Sarah Michelle Gellar and her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., the opposite seems to be true. In fact, the two have acted in multiple films together! After meeting on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the couple went on to act together in Happily N'Ever After and two Scooby-Doo movies. They've also both provided voices for Robot Chicken and Star Wars Rebels. And though she had a small part, Gellar played an "uncredited Girl in Cafeteria" in Prinze Jr.'s movie She's All That (via IMDb). It's pretty amazing that these two didn't get sick of each other!

In an interview about Happily N'Ever After, an animated film in which the couple play a prince and a princess who fall in love, Prinze Jr. explained, "We obviously have a natural chemistry or we wouldn't have hooked up in the first place." Apparently, the pair had "a lot of fun" recording together as they could connect their characters' relationship to their own relationship in real life. Cute!

Sarah Michelle Gellar had to deal with Zoom-based learning like any other parent during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, her experience wasn't exactly typical. As she explained to Today, she quickly began to notice that her son was having trouble keeping his eyes open while staring at the screen. "I really chalked it up to screen fatigue because my kids didn't have a lot of access to devices (before the coronavirus quarantine)," she said. However, eventually, Gellar decided it was time to see a professional, and she took him for an eye test. She learned that her son had myopia, or nearsightedness, that was "progressing extremely rapidly." 

The experience taught Gellar to trust her own instincts as a parent. "Kids go to school and they have professionals who are there to see that stuff and we count on that, but there is a difference when you know your own child inside and out," Gellar said. "You have to go with your gut as a parent. I think that's the best advice I've ever learned. You know your kid."

Sarah Michelle Gellar became close with Robin Williams when she played his daughter in The Crazy Ones. When Williams passed away, Gellar made a touching statement to People about how he had become a father figure in her life. "My life is a better place because I knew Robin Williams," she said. "To my children he was Uncle Robin, to everyone he worked with, he was the best boss anyone had ever known, and to me he was not just an inspiration but he was the father I had always dreamed of having," she went on.

For Gellar, Williams clearly became an honorary family member. It's touching to hear how he became like a father for her, as her own biological father was never in the picture. In fact, as she once told TV Guide (via ABC News), "He is not a person who exists in my life." She added bluntly, "Just because you donate sperm does not make you a father. I don't have a father."

Even though Sarah Michelle Gellar had a hugely successful career as an actress, it seems that she also has an entrepreneurial streak. In fact, she became a bona fide business woman when she made her very own baking business, Foodstirs Junk-Free Bakery, which offers baked goods and baking mixes. As the bakery's website explains, it "was started by three parents determined to challenge the status quo and create better food experiences for everyone."

In an interview with Forbes, the actress went into more detail about taking this bold new step into business, saying, "It's always scary when you step out of your comfort zone, but as the saying goes, great risk brings great rewards." She added, "I have always liked to challenge myself, and this seemed like the logical next step to tackle." By the sounds of things, Gellar has taken this challenge head-on — and we're super impressed that she's had not one but two successful careers!