For those of us who came of age in the late 90s and early 00s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an era-defining and strangely relatable show (vampires aside).
Two decades on and Buffy is still as popular as ever with new generations falling in love all over again with the characters and storylines.
Buffy ended in 2003 after seven seasons and now that it's making a comeback, we were curious as to where the gang are and has time been kind?
Sarah Michelle Geller — Buffy Summers
The star of the show, Sarah Michelle Geller seemed to have the world at her feet when Buffy fought her last vampire (well, on-screen anyway).
During her run on the series, Sarah also appeared in the hugely popular teen drama Cruel Intentions. After that, she played Daphne in the Scooby-Doo film adaption and the sequel. Oh and who could forget her in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
After appearing in the short-lived Ringer and The Crazy ones, Sarah stepped back from the limelight and has mostly worked as a voice-over artist. She married Freddie Prinze Jr in 2001, a year after they began dating, and the couple have two children, daughter Charlotte, and son Rocky. She has revealed that her daughter loves the idea of Buffy and Angel together but her son is mortified over the kissing scenes.
Along with her voice-over work, Sarah also co-founded Foodstirs which sells organic baking mix sets that were picked up by Starbucks a couple of years back and released a cookbook.
Alas, no one could keep this star away from the movie set. During Comic Con in San Diego, the actress made a surprise appearance and announced that she would be returning in a new series called Wolf Pack. Believed to be better than Buffy The Vampire Slayer, (time and critics will tell) the show is said to air towards the end of the year.
Alyson Hannigan — Willow Rosenberg
When the Buffy cameras stopped rolling, Alyson went onto complete the American Pie series with The Wedding and also had a three-episode run on Veronica Mars. Her most notable role since Willow though has to be as Lily in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
In a fun Buffy related fact, Alyson went on to marry Alexis Denisof, who played Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the series, in 2003 and the couple have two children together. Both of Alyson's pregnancies came about while filming How I Met Your Mother with one of her bumps being used to portray a swollen belly after eating too many hot dogs. The show came to an end in 2014.
In 2016 the actress went on to host Penn and Teller: Fool Us, an American television show. However, in 2018 Disney called and every since then she has been doing the voice over for Claire Clancy in the show Fancy Nancy.
Nicholas Brendon — Xander Harris
Since Buffy wrapped, it hasn't been an easy ride for Nicholas (who prefers to go by Nicky). He's had numerous run-ins with the law and a few stints in rehab and his promising career never really took off.
His most notable appearances were in the short-lived series Kitchen Confidential, Private Practice and Hollywood Heights but did have a good run as Kevin Lynch in Criminal Minds. He's also written numerous editions of the Buffy The Vampire comics which continued the story after Sunnydale collapsed.
In 2020 he was sentenced to three years probation, community service and ordered to complete a domestic violence course following an incident with his girlfriend at a Palm Springs hotel.
Roll forward to August 2022 and Nicky was rushed to hospital following a second 'cardiac incident.'
His sister gave his concerned fans an update on his condition. 'Nicky is doing fine now but he had to be rushed to emergency about two weeks ago because of a cardiac incident (tachycardia/ arrhythmia).
'Some of you might remember he had a similar incident after his second spinal surgery last year (for Cauda Equina) but this time. He is trying to get a little more rest and has been concentrating on medical appointments,' she wrote.
David Boreanaz — Angel
Who could forget the love of Buffy's life Angel who went off to Los Angeles to start his own series? David's Angel was a hit with fans but Irish viewers will forever hold that dismal Irish accent against him.
David has had a massively successful career following the end of both Buffy and Angel including Bones and SEAL Team. And for music fans out there he also stared in the video for Dido's hit White Flag.
David was married to social worker Ingrid Quinn during the early years of the series but they split in 1999. He then married Playboy model Jamie Bergman in 2001 and they have a son Jayden Rayne and daughter, Bella Vita Bardot. In 2010 he confessed to having an affair with Tiger Wood's mistress Rachel Uchitel while his wife was pregnant. He later said that the affair was a 'bonding experience in the long run'.
A few years later the couple launched a nail polish company with David involved in creating the NHL colours line.
Anthony Stewart Head — Rupert Giles
Ah Giles, Buffy's ever-patient and reliable Watcher. Anthony was already a well-known name prior to fighting vampires both on screen and on stage and that continued following his stint on the show.
He played the Prime Minister on Little Britain, Will's Dad in The Inbetweeners, Geoffrey Howe in The Iron Lady, Uther Pendragon in Merlin and Rupert Thorne in Amazon's Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Most recently, he appeared in the Netflix hit The Stranger as Ed Price.
He currently lives in the UK with his partner Sarah and has two daughters Emily who has appeared in Emmerdale and The Inbetweeners and Daisy who has starred in the US series Guilt.
James Marsters — Spike
For a character that was only supposed to be in a few episodes, Jame Marsters' punk-like vampire became a firm favourite among fans and crew alike. James revealed during the 20th anniversary reunion that he was responsible for giving Joss the idea for the musical episode of the show as he brought his guitar over to his house one day and Joss realised he had a vocally talented cast in his midst.
Since playing Spike on both Buffy and Angel, James has popped up in many a series as both a guest star and a recurring role. He's been in Without A Trace, Torchwood, Smallville, Witches of East End, Hawaii Five-0 and Marvel's The Runaways. Oh, and he also played John in PS I Love You!
Marsters has been married twice, first to Lianne Davidson with whom he has a son. He also reportedly raised his niece whom he considers his daughter. In 2011 he married his girlfriend Patricia Rahmen but the couple announced their divorce in 2021.
In April of this year he joined the line up for Comiccon in Montreal and also goes around the country meeting, greeting and signing autographs for fans.
Emma Caulfield — Anya
Emma has consistently acted since her time as Anya on Buffy but again, it's mostly consisted of short-lived series or guest-starring in more established ones.
Anya was another character that wasn't supposed to appear past an episode or two but Joss brought her back to be a love interest for Xander and the rest is history.
Anya was one of the few characters that didn't make it out of Sunnydale alive which was a fitting end for her redemption arc. While some may have known her from the original Beverly Hills 90210 before her Buffy days, Emma has gone on to appear in Once Upon a Time, Fear the Walking Dead and Supergirl to name a few.
She was married to Cornelius Grobbelar until 2010 and gave birth to a daughter, Knightly Lake Ford, with her partner Mark Leslie Ford in 2016.
Michelle Trachtenberg — Dawn Summers
Dawn was one of the least liked characters on Buffy and probably makes it on many a list for most hated TV characters of all time. Michelle was already pretty well-known prior to taking on the role of Dawn, Buffy's sister who was only introduced in the first episode of season five.
Michelle's career didn't stall because she played a disliked character though and she went on to star in the likes of Weeds, Six Feet Under, Gossip Girl and Criminal Minds. She also appeared alongside Zac Efron as Maggie in 17 Again.
She also played Georgina in Gossip girl. Michelle was also reportedly the first choice to play Bella in the Twilight series but there was a scheduling conflict with her role on Buffy.
The actress was found dead on February 26, 2025 at the young age of 39.
Seth Green - Oz
Seth played Willows's laid-back musician boyfriend on the show and enjoyed probably one of the most successful careers of the cast over the past 20 years.
He is probably best known for voicing Chris in Family Guy but also appeared in the Austen Powers franchise and Guardians of the Galaxy and the sequel.
He has been married to actress Clare Grant since 2010 and is still best mates with Sarah. Recently he teamed up with music producer Steve Aoki on a new animated NFT TV series.
