Raising the stakes

The Guide : The Guardian (UK)
Saturday 5th January 2002

Last year, Buffy saved the world again by jumping to her death, but the man behind the cult hit reckons there's life yet in his ghoul-beating heroine. Dana Meltzer hears his devilish plans

"I got tired of (watching) girls get killed in horror movies," says Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, 37, as he traces the origins of his oestrogen-fuelled TV show. Smiling, he leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, "I thought, 'Somebody should beat the holy shit out of the monsters'."

Mission accomplished. Whedon's cult hit brims with devilish twists and turns, packing plenty of girl-powered punches into each hour-long episode. And season six's ambitious two-hour premiere is no exception. Picking up where last year's finale left off, the Scooby Gang struggles to accept Buffy's stunning decision to save her sister Dawn by sacrificing herself to the demigod Glory. But, thanks to Willow's witchy ways, the Slayer eventually returns to Sunnydale, even though her adjustment to life after death is a shaky one. "We went to the darkest place we could to exploit Buffy's weaknesses," says Whedon. "If a hero's all strength, then she's boring."

And this winter's character calamities and surprising storylines are anything but boring. As the plot thickens, Spike reveals his true feelings for Buffy, yielding rewarding results. Plus, Dawn continues to deal with her hellish teenage years, Tara and Willow come to terms with their rocky romance, Giles returns to England and Anya and Xander contemplate marital bliss. As for this year's villain, all signs point to Willow. "Her magic gets out of control," says Alyson Hannigan, 27, who plays Buffy's powerful pal. "Things go awry and it's frightening." Sighing, she adds, "I don't want to be bad! Nobody will like me. That's the hardest thing to get over as an actress. What if they don't like me?"

Another turning point occurs when the characters vamp it up in a soul-baring singing and dancing sequence. Whedon composed 11 original songs for the musical homage and even hired a professional choreographer and vocal coach to prepare his stars for their solos. "It's amazing that I lived to tell the tale," says Whedon, who spent six months shaping his vision into a reality. "When I tried to get Ali's (singing) range, she threw herself on the ground in my office and went, 'No!' It was actually kind of adorable. And Sarah (Michelle Gellar) wouldn't come up at all. Half of the cast was like, 'Whoo hoo!' and the other half was like, 'Why do you punish us?' But, after six years, they've met every challenge I've ever thrown at them. So it's no surprise they pulled this off too."

In the end, even the most reluctant cast members were thrilled with the results , especially Hannigan. "I begged, 'Can't Willow have laryngitis?'" she jests. "But it was beautiful. Now that I've seen the magic they can do in an engineering studio, I'm glad I got to do it." Castmate Nicholas Brendon, 30, who plays wisecracking Xander, shares her enthusiasm. "Anya and I are actually going to do more singing and dancing in another episode," reveals the actor, whose duet, I'll Never Tell, with co-star Emma Caulfield, nearly stole the show.

And, now that the musical saga is a distant memory, Whedon has vowed to start working on a BBC spin-off series for Giles, tentatively called Ripper. "I've seen it referred to in the press as The Watcher so there seems to be a difference of opinion," he laughs. "But I wanted to do a show that isn't so much about kickboxing demons as it is about English history and classical ghost stories." And Head, who returned to England last fall to reunite with his girlfriend and children, can expect plenty of visitors. "Everyone's said, 'When do I go to England for my guest shot?'" says Whedon.

Hannigan, for one, is ready to pack her bags. "It's sad not having Tony here," says the actress of Giles' departure. "Things don't seem right. There's definitely a change in the dynamic. And he was the best masseur ever. There's nobody to give me good massages anymore!"

But, if the cast's upcoming schedule is any indication, she'll barely have time to miss her old friend. In 2002, Fox Interactive will release a Buffy The Vampire Slayer Xbox game, featuring voiceovers by Hannigan, Head, Brendon and costar James Marsters (Spike). Plus, Whedon is working on a Fox animated series, with famed comic book artist Jeph Loeb at the helm. "I've seen preliminary artwork and I'm just in love with it," says Whedon. "And, with the exception of Sarah, I believe that everyone is doing their own voices. There's zero money to be made. They're just like, 'Ooh, I get to be animated? That sounds like fun.'"

"I can't wait to see it," says Brendon of the cartoon, which will be released worldwide in 2002. "I think it's great. It's going to be for younger kids so we're going to appeal to a broader audience. I'm just stoked."

So is Loeb, who could barely believe his good fortune when Whedon offered him the opportunity to head up the show. "I've never met anybody who is responsible for so much and yet so generous with his time," says the Superman and Batman illustrator. "It's his sandbox but he'll invite anybody in to play. He's the first one to say, 'Bring it on'." As for the cartoon's content, Loeb says, "We'll be dealing with the first season of Buffy. It was a short season so Joss didn't get a chance to tell a lot of stories. Buffy will get her driver's licence. She and Willow will have their first babysitting job." The show will also be written by the live action series' scribes and drawn by animators Loeb dubs "the best in the business."

"I often say I'm juggling five balls and they're all rolling on the ground right now," jokes Whedon of his hectic responsibilities. "I feel like I can never get out of my panic. There's comic books, the animated show, the BBC show? And I'm probably developing a science fiction show for Fox."

But that doesn't mean he's lost sight of the series that started it all. Buffy is, and may always be, his first love. "These are the actors I want to be working with when I'm very, very old," says Whedon, a former scribe for 1980s sitcom Roseanne and 1995's Oscar-nominated flick Toy Story. "I feel the same way about my writers. It took a long time to get to the place where I am. The big surprise is how much I still love doing this and how much the characters still inspire me."

And, for the time being, he's still looking far into the future where his characters are concerned. "My plans every season extend a year past where I am," explains Whedon. "But I don't have a giant, overriding plan. It's the journey of life. There are certain points I want to make about female empowerment and the pain of growing up but, beyond that, every episode is an opportunity to explore how I feel about the world. I only learn that day to day."

So what's Whedon's plan for the upcoming season? Grinning from ear to ear, he promises more sin and debauchery. "We have horrible misery and sex in store for everybody," he says, emphatically. "Horrible misery and sex. And, you know, it's not a bad combination." We couldn't agree more.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 8pm, Thursday, Sky One