From Sarah Michelle Gellar to Charisma Carpenter: Where are the original cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer now?

Sarah Michelle found worldwide fame as Buffy, the wisecracking teenager who discovered she was the chosen one and tried her hardest to outrun it.

The TV series followed on from the 1994 movie, which revealed how Buffy Summers was told she was the Chosen One, who “alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers”.

In the show, Buffy arrives in Sunnydale after the events of the movie, set in Los Angeles, where she discovers she cannot escape her destiny.

The WB series set Sarah Michelle on a path to fame, years after she won a  Daytime Emmy Award for her work as teenager Kendall Hart on the ABC soap opera All My Children, and during her time on the show she appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer, where she met her husband Freddie Prinze Jr, Cruel Intentions, and Scooby Doo.

In 2023 she returned to TV in Wolf Pack, and also starred in Dexter: Original Sin.

In February 2025 she confirmed that a brand new series, based on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, was in production.

“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit ‘Buffy’ and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right,” she wrote on Instagram, before sharing that she had first sat down with Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao in 2022.

“This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”

She is also a mom to two children with husband Freddie.

Alyson starred as Willow Rosenberg, who quickly became Buffy’s best friend after finding herself drawn into the world of the slayer.

She had worked on several small films prior to the TV series, but after it’s premiere she appeared in several high profile teen films including 2000’s Boys and Girls, and the hit American Pie series as Michelle Flaherty, who, this one time, at band camp….

Two years after Buffy ended, Alyson was cast in the CBS’ sitcom How I Met Your Mother as Lily, a kindergarten teacher and amateur painter, who married lawyer Marshall Eriksen, portrayed by Jason Segel.

She was a main cast member for the show’s entire nine seasons, and she is still recognized by many for her role in the show.

Following the show’s end, Alyson focused on raising her daughters with husband Alexis Denisof – who appeared in Buffy and also the spin-off Angel – and in September 2023 she returned to network TV as a contestant on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars, partnering with Sasha Farber.

The couple made it to the finals and came in fifth.

There is no word yet if Alyson will appear in the new series, but in an interview earlier in 2025 with Sarah Michelle, they both teased that they “know somebody who was on the show whose child auditioned on the show”.

Alyson is mom to two teenage daughters.

As Xander Harris, Nicholas was the other core member of the original Scooby Gang, alongside Buffy and Willow.

He appeared in all but one episode of the series across the entire seven years, and has remained close to the character, including becoming involved in the continued development of Xander’s character in follow-up comic books, and writing several issues.

After the show’s end he had a recurring role on Criminal Minds, but tragically he has found himself at the center of multiple arrests and convictions, as well as devastating health issues, over the years.

He has struggled for many years with depression and alcoholism, and revealed that he had attempted suicide several times.

In 2021 he underwent spinal surgery after a fall, and months later had a second surgery during which his spinal cord was punctured, resulting in a cerebrospinal fluid leak.

He suffered a heart attack in 2022 and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

His last Instagram post was in January, and it caused major concern with fans as he appeared to be unable to form a complete thought, and was slurring his words. In response to one follower questioning his health,  he wrote: “Doing all I can. Have a house of my own now and concentrating on my health for the first time in a while. Spinal injuries are no joke.”

He also shared that he was having another spinal surgery in February 2025.

British actor Anthony Head was an acclaimed theater actor who was most known to audiences in the UK due to his role in the Gold Blend television advertisements for Nescafé.

But in 1997 he took on the role of Rupert Giles, the Slayer’s Watcher, and it turned everything around. He lived in the US during his time on the show, but his family remained in the UK, which placed a huge strain on their lives. 

Anthony chose to leave the regular cast of Buffy during the show’s sixth season and only appeared several times as a guest star in the following episodes.

After Buffy he went on to be given prime roles including as the Prime Minister in Little Britain, Uther Pendragon in Merlin, and Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso, and in 2018 joined the cast of long-running BBC radio soap-opera The Archers.

David Boreanaz will forever be Angel to those of us who watched Buffy, but the actor has gone on to have several major lead roles in other network shows since.

Angel was written out of Buffy at the end of season three but he was given his own spin-off, titled Angel, that ran for five seasons until 2004.

Charisma originally auditioned for the role of Buffy, but was offered, instead, Cordelia Chase, the snobby teenager who bullied Willow and Xander.

Over the first three seasons viewers saw Cordelia become an, at-times unwilling, member of the Scooby Gang, and it was all thanks to Charisma’s charm and comedic timing that saw the character become a beloved fan favorite

At the end of season three Cordelia moved to Los Angeles and joined the spin-off series Angel, where she stayed for four seasons.

In February 2021, Charisma accused Buffy and Angel showrunner Joss Whedon of dismissing her from the series in 2003 because of her pregnancy.

“Joss intentionally refused multiple calls from my agents making it impossible to connect with him to tell him the news that I was pregnant,” she shared on social media with fans. “Finally, once Joss was apprised of the situation, he requested a meeting with me. In that closed-door meeting, he asked me if I was ‘going to keep it’ and manipulatively weaponized my womanhood and faith against me. He proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me the following season once I gave birth.”

Her claims came in response to WarnerMedia’s investigation into the director’s alleged abusive behavior on the set of 2017’s Justice League.

After her exit from the Buffy-verse she appeared in Charmed, and Veronica Mars, as well as having a guest role in The Expendables film series (2010–2012).

Her last TV appearance was in a 2022 episode of Dynasty.

She is mom to one son, 22-year-old Donovan.