Sarah Michelle Gellar at Emmys: It has been a ‘tough two years’ for Buffy cast

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-15 · by Sean O'Grady
Read the original at Evening Standard ↗

Summary

At the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz honored their late co-stars Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendon, and Anthony Head during a tribute. Gellar noted that it has been "a tough two years" for the Buffy cast following the deaths of their colleagues. The pair also briefly mentioned the cancelled reboot of the show, which was set to feature both stars reprising their roles.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
71.1
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
unclustered
not grouped into a story yet
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-15 · how these are computed

AI analysis (generated at analysis time, not now)

Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 10300 · logged 2026-09-15

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Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Sean O'Grady
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The American Pie singer, 80, will perform eight dates on The Farewell Tour, beginning in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on May 11 and ending at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 22.
🔮 They will be joined by celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, Love Island winner Cach Mercer, presenter Will Best, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, actress Bethany Antonia, dog trainer and presenter Graeme “The Dogfather” Hall, Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb, Olympian Tabby Stoecker and sports content creator John Nellis.
🔮 Gellar said: “Before we move on to the award, David and I would like to acknowledge that it has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew.
🔮 Speaking backstage holding both Emmys, Rhys said: “The celebrations will be long, varied, and I hope at times wild.”
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · How did Matthew Rhys make history at the Emmys?
🔮 The song will be featured on the album Where The Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years Of The Stanley Brothers.
🔮 The comedian, 38, is among the 21 stars taking part in the second series of the hit BBC show, which will air in autumn.
Also by Sean O'Grady
How did Matthew Rhys make history at the Emmys?
2026-09-15 · Evening Standard
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Sean O'Grady →

Topics

Emmys Hulu Los Angeles the Emmy Awards

Subjects

Buffy PERSON · 5× Gellar PERSON · 5× Boreanaz PERSON · 3× Angel PERSON · 2× Anthony Head PERSON · 1× David Boreanaz PERSON · 1× Los Angeles GPE · 1× Michelle Trachtenberg PERSON · 1× Nicholas Brendon PERSON · 1× Sarah Michelle Gellar PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Sarah Michelle Gellar at Emmys: It has been a ‘tough two years’ for Buffy cast The actress, who played the title role, and her co-star David Boreanaz appeared on stage together at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles and paid tribute to their late co-stars Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Head.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-15
🔮 Gellar said: “Before we move on to the award, David and I would like to acknowledge that it has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew.

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

Sarah Michelle Gellar at Emmys: It has been a ‘tough two years’ for Buffy cast The actress, who played the title role, and her co-star David Boreanaz appeared on stage together at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles and paid tribute to their late co-stars Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Head. asserted
who → play → stars
Gellar said: “Before we move on to the award, David and I would like to acknowledge that it has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew. asserted
it → say → cast
“We feel very lucky to have known and worked with such amazing people.” asserted
We → feel → people
Boreanaz, who played Buffy’s love interest Angel, replied: “Indeed.” asserted
who → play → interest
Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s younger sister Dawn, died in February 2025 at the age of 39. Her death was ruled as being primarily caused by complications of diabetes. asserted
death → play → diabetes
Brendon, who played Buffy’s best friend Xander Harris, died in March 2026 at the age of 54. asserted
who → play → 54
His family said he died of natural causes. asserted
he → say → causes
Head, who played Buffy’s watcher and school librarian Rupert Giles, died in June 2026 at the age of 72 from complications of pneumonia. asserted
who → play → pneumonia
Gellar paid tribute to her co-stars on social media following their deaths. asserted
Gellar → pay → deaths
Gellar and Boreanaz also joked about the planned Buffy reboot that was cancelled after a pilot had been filmed. asserted
pilot → joke → reboot
Gellar was due to reprise her role and serve as executive producer on the show, but streaming service Hulu decided not to move forward with it. asserted
was → reprise → it
Boreanaz said: “You know Sarah, I always thought that Buffy and Angel would end up together.” asserted
Buffy → say → ?
Gellar replied: “Well, I guess we won’t find out” to laughter from the audience. asserted
we → reply → audience
Buffy The Vampire Slayer told the story of Buffy Summers, a teenage girl chosen by fate to fight against vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. asserted
Slayer → tell → darkness
It aired from 1997 to 2003 and is often listed among the greatest TV shows of all time. asserted
It → air → time
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