{"id":1397821,"date":"2026-01-07T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1397821"},"modified":"2026-01-07T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:00:00","slug":"sarah-michelle-gellar-i-dont-want-to-be-20-again-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1397821","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Michelle Gellar: \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Be 20 Again\u201d | Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article main-content story\" lang=\"en-US\">\n<div class=\"AIContentWrapper-gOOlQO jDkjfm\">\n<div class=\"ArticlePageLedeBackground-JMVDp bIwRjk\">\n<header class=\"ContentHeaderWrapper-cqMZiN hWsVgb content-header article__content-header inset\">\n<div data-testid=\"ContentHeaderContainer\" class=\"ContentHeaderContainer-cMdHiZ fxttZl\">\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderHedAccreditationWrapper-WaWBW fTkfBu\">\n<div data-testid=\"ContentHeaderTitleBlockWrapper\" class=\"ContentHeaderTitleBlockWrapper-cyIGwg dMceKV\">\n<div data-testid=\"ContentHeaderRubric\" class=\"ContentHeaderRubricBlock-aIcNK eDSQnM\">\n<div data-testid=\"ContentHeaderRubricDateBlock\" class=\"ContentHeaderRubricDateBlock-kvxmSu jVyBWg\">\n<div class=\"RubricWrapper-dZIqzO ghbJG ContentHeaderRubricContainer-fiPRfk fRUoUz\"><span class=\"RubricName-gkORYq fCauaT rubric__name rubric\"><span>INTERVIEW<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 data-testid=\"ContentHeaderHed\" class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE ContentHeaderHed-SVoJX deqABF iHBUaf dyRzMH\">Sarah Michelle Gellar: \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Be 20 Again\u201d<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderAccreditation-fcyiw bhgqZY content-header__accreditation\" data-testid=\"ContentHeaderAccreditation\">\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderDek-bCXPyE hNoQnF\">The actor and newly minted Olay ambassador reflects on her influence on pop culture and why she no longer feels the need to prove anything.<\/div>\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderByline-jXtKQj jgXynP\">\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderBylineContent-dkwwFS fRKSvg\">\n<div data-testid=\"BylinesWrapper\" class=\"BylinesWrapper-vmGrt cZzmZD bylines ContentHeaderBylines-cTXqro ljGzhW\"><span class=\"BylineWrapper-jRoBEm koNzOU byline bylines__byline\" data-testid=\"BylineWrapper\"><span class=\"BylineNamesWrapper-jrdaOa fXeqQN\"><span data-testid=\"BylineName\" class=\"BylineName-kqTBDS dDLLkB byline__name\"><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE BylinePreamble-itSxDZ deqABF cFJkIM jcgMlx byline__preamble\">By <\/span>Hunter Lacey<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p><time data-testid=\"ContentHeaderPublishDate\" datetime=\"2026-01-07T09:00:00-05:00\" class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE ContentHeaderPublishDate-eNTYkb deqABF lnzeTN eFanim\">January 7, 2026<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderLeadAsset-hVxhYG cWpFgv lead-asset ContentHeaderLeadAssetWrapper-gQBTSl HTnib lead-asset--width-small\" data-testid=\"ContentHeaderLeadAsset\">\n<figure class=\"ContentHeaderLeadAssetContent-kyKlgP eGZaQl\">\n<div class=\"ContentHeaderLeadAssetContentMedia-bwiUDr keSRCn lead-asset__content__photo\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-zEXFr koTknX responsive-asset ContentHeaderResponsiveAsset-cgZUtS eHMjwb\"><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"aspect-ratio-container\" class=\"AspectRatioContainer-bEozCe gBbeIJ\">\n<div class=\"aspect-ratio--overlay-container\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/695d419ea82c8d72372a784a\/1:1\/w_120,c_limit\/Sarah%20Michelle%20Gellar.jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/695d419ea82c8d72372a784a\/1:1\/w_240,c_limit\/Sarah%20Michelle%20Gellar.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/695d419ea82c8d72372a784a\/1:1\/w_320,c_limit\/Sarah%20Michelle%20Gellar.jpg 320w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/695d419ea82c8d72372a784a\/1:1\/w_640,c_limit\/Sarah%20Michelle%20Gellar.jpg 640w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/695d419ea82c8d72372a784a\/1:1\/w_960,c_limit\/Sarah%20Michelle%20Gellar.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"CaptionWrapper-jYrTxZ gVBkjw caption ContentHeaderLeadAssetCaption-ifsaEE cSYNPH\" data-testid=\"caption-wrapper\"><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE CaptionCredit-eowWKH deqABF lnzeTN gxwcqg caption__credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-attribute-verso-pattern=\"article-body\" class=\"ArticlePageContentBackGround-dcEtzE kUtTlG article-body__content\">\n<div class=\"ArticlePageChunksContent-enJWmu ilcJfn\">\n<div data-testid=\"ArticlePageChunks\" class=\"ArticlePageChunks-fwcPjP cAlDKu\">\n<div class=\"GridWrapper-cFSKbf cxzKYj grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hkPQhP lnoYVP grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail\" data-journey-hook=\"grid-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-beYvyV kCPYUp grid--item grid-layout__content\">\n<div class=\"BodyWrapper-kzyFNv HDJd body body__container article__body\" data-journey-hook=\"client-content\" data-testid=\"BodyWrapper\">\n<div class=\"body__inner-container\">\n<p>No crosses or stakes were present\u2014not even the Slayer Scythe. Instead, <strong>Sarah Michelle Gellar<\/strong>\u2019s dressing room featured items of mundane, not-vampire-slayer sensibilities: a craft services table with white roses, raw honey, and a Diptyque Baies candle.<\/p>\n<p>Standing in the wing, waiting for our conversation, I observed her lightning-fast speaking cadence\u2014bubbly and dripping with sweetness, like the notes of blackcurrant that filled the Brooklyn film studio. The leather and crop top-laden Y2K style she shaped\u2014ironically, stakes never caught on\u2014was swapped for a practical, ribbed-knit black cardigan, charcoal trousers, and a pair of white slippers most often seen in five-star hotels or Emirates flights. She is aspirationally cool, dressed comfortably for a day of press, celebrating her global ambassadorship with Olay, where she is the face of their newly reformulated Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream. It\u2019s also worth noting that, at five feet four inches, she is diminutive enough (at least to this 5\u201911\u201d reporter) to evoke the same level of cute aggression as a teacup Chihuahua or a Precious Moments figurine.<\/p>\n<p>Our conversation began with an admission that would strike a pang of dread into the hearts of fact-checkers. According to an online encyclopedia of dubious reporting, we are living in Gellar\u2019s &#8220;resurgence (2021\u2013present),\u201d following \u201chiatus and sporadic roles (2011\u20132020),\u201d as listed under her biblical-length career summary. She is a cookbook author, a mom, a star of film and television, and an MTV Movie Award winner for Best Kiss, alongside her <em>Cruel Intentions<\/em> co-star, Selma Blair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI call it my second act,\u201d she says of her current state. \u201cI think that I&#8217;ve been working for such a long time, and I had these two young kids, and then after we lost Robin Williams, I just needed a break.\u201d (Gellar starred alongside Williams on the CBS sitcom, <em>The Crazy Ones<\/em>, which became Williams\u2019 last television role before his passing in 2014.) She returned in 2022, appearing in the Netflix comedy-thriller <em>Do Revenge<\/em>, after buckling to the age-old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or, when the cult of SMG screams \u201cmore,\u201d you must meet their demand. \u201cI realized how much I missed [acting],\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Of her return, though, she says her approach to work has shifted. After all, she\u2019s a mother of two and started working as an actor before many of her peers could read books without pictures. \u201cMy priorities for now are doing things that are fun, that feed my soul,\u201d she says, thoughtfully selecting each word, as if scrutinizing what does feed her soul. \u201cI don&#8217;t feel this need to prove I&#8217;ve accomplished more in my life than I probably ever thought I would accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-TKIUW kKNLCl\" data-testid=\"pullquote-embed-center\">\n<div class=\"PullQuoteEmbedContent-sc-lixSTo cQciWx\">\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t feel this need to prove I&#8217;ve accomplished more in my life than I probably ever thought I would accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The list of those accomplishments is expansive and, at times, absurd. For example, when Gellar was five, she was caught in the crosshairs of a lawsuit between Burger King and McDonald\u2019s after starring in a commercial for the former. Accordingly, she was banned from McDonald\u2019s as a child. While I didn\u2019t have the time to dive headfirst into that ball pit of drama, I had plenty of time to inspect her most noteworthy role\u2014the crown jewel of the Sarah Michelle Gellar archive: <em>Scooby Doo<\/em>. Kidding. I am, of course, referencing <em>Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>More than 22 years after the Everygirl-with-a-stake Buffy destroyed the Hellmouth, r\/buffy on Reddit is still ablaze (with 6,700 active members at the time of reporting) and \u201cBuffy Studies\u201d college courses that examine media, feminism, and culture. Of this impact, I shared that I, too, took a Buffy class over the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, and that my best friend\u2019s ringtone has been the Buffy theme song since I\u2019ve known her. \u201cIt&#8217;s only with time that you can really appreciate the effect that [Buffy] had,\u201d she says, noting a degree of doubt during the early Buffy years\u2014uncertainty that it could withstand the test of time. \u201cBut the fact that young kids today are finding that show and finding that it&#8217;s speaking to them, that&#8217;s when you know it really did something important and you were part of something important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridWrapper-cFSKbf cxzKYj grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hkPQhP lnoYVP grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail\" data-journey-hook=\"grid-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-beYvyV kCPYUp grid--item grid-layout__content\">\n<div class=\"BodyWrapper-kzyFNv HDJd body body__container article__body\" data-journey-hook=\"client-content\" data-testid=\"BodyWrapper\">\n<div class=\"body__inner-container\">\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-fkZDUs kHRAYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-eEeytc eRSvCP asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-zEXFr koTknX responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-cIfZLr fHIkTW asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Sarah Michelle Gellar Clothing Pants Photography Lighting Face Head Person Portrait and Teen\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/smg2520-2520buffy.jpg\" title=\"smg2520-2520buffy\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"CaptionWrapper-jYrTxZ gVBkjw caption AssetEmbedCaption-fyuOdR gAYTTS asset-embed__caption\" data-testid=\"caption-wrapper\"><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE CaptionText-brNLzD deqABF kyfflk fGraOh caption__text\"><\/p>\n<p>Gellar in all her stake-welding glory as Buffy.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Of course, it must be strange to reach such renown at a young age. After all, there are very few people whose appearance as a 20-something is immortalized in the public consciousness; the curiosity of seeing yourself\u2014laugh lines and crow\u2019s feet-free\u2014on a small screen across the aisle on a flight, or, more realistically, in a TikTok video. In the archaeology of my reporting, I unearthed several written artifacts from the early aughts that praised Gellar\u2019s work in expanding what women can be in film and television\u2014all the while commenting on her thinness, beauty, and, ahem, did I mention thinness? We live in a different era where such reporting would be condemned. And in this more enlightened time, Gellar is nonplussed at the thought of aging. \u201cLook, it\u2019s hard, [but] I don&#8217;t want to be 20 again,\u201d the 48-year-old says. \u201cI wouldn&#8217;t mind having that plump, juicy skin of a 20-year-old, but I don&#8217;t want to be that anymore. And I do believe that a lot of it does come from the inside.\u201d When it comes to her partnership with Olay, the idea makes a lot of sense: An upgrade for a time-honored product reflected in the face of a woman who never stops evolving.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps chalked up to her Hollywood darling status, or perhaps because she has a young daughter, Gellar is particularly aware of celebrity and social media\u2019s influence on culture\u2019s relationship to aging, exacerbated by the in-feed prevalence of aesthetic treatments used to rewind (inject, lift, or suture) the clock. \u201cEvery day on my Instagram feed, [I see] 25-year-olds getting deep-plane facelifts and I&#8217;m thinking, <em>what&#8217;s happening<\/em>?\u201d she says. \u201cIt would be setting such a weird beauty standard if, all of a sudden, I had a completely different face.\u201d And, as so many things with Gellar go, Buffy Summers re-enters the conversation, as Gellar\u2019s North Star: \u201cBuffy was a hero because she wasn&#8217;t like everybody else, but she was herself, and she was okay with that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I&#8217;m me, and I&#8217;ve learned that I like me. I&#8217;m okay with what I look like and who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridWrapper-cFSKbf cxzKYj grid grid-margins grid-items-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hkPQhP lnoYVP grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail\" data-journey-hook=\"grid-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-beYvyV kCPYUp grid--item grid-layout__content\">\n<div class=\"BodyWrapper-kzyFNv HDJd body body__container article__body\" data-journey-hook=\"client-content\" data-testid=\"BodyWrapper\">\n<div class=\"body__inner-container\">\n<p>That is not to say she didn\u2019t have her share of transformations in between roles and across the span of her career. In <em>Scooby Doo<\/em>, she wore an auburn wig as Daphne Blake. For all-around bad girl Kathryn Merteuil in <em>Cruel Intentions<\/em>, Gellar\u2019s (real) hair was dyed espresso brown\u2014as dark as Kathryn\u2019s duplicity. Discussing her former roles, I shared my belief that the fate of Helen Shiver, the crestfallen failed actress and Croaker Queen of <em>I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/em>, was the most chilling fright in the Sarah Michelle Gellar Universe. For the uninformed, Helen wakes up in a pile of her own hair, courtesy of an unwelcome trim from the film\u2019s slasher. This is not how Helen dies, of course; that happens later. I told Gellar I would much prefer to be taken out then and there in lieu of waking up with an unwelcome bob.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-fkZDUs kHRAYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-eEeytc eRSvCP asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-zEXFr koTknX responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-cIfZLr fHIkTW asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Sarah Michelle Gellar Person Accessories Jewelry Adult Wedding Face Head and Necklace\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/smg2520-2520ikwydls.jpg\" title=\"smg2520-2520ikwydls\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"CaptionWrapper-jYrTxZ gVBkjw caption AssetEmbedCaption-fyuOdR gAYTTS asset-embed__caption\" data-testid=\"caption-wrapper\"><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE CaptionText-brNLzD deqABF kyfflk fGraOh caption__text\"><\/p>\n<p>Gellar says she experienced her own hair transformation around the same time she filmed <em>I Know What You Did Last Summer.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Laughing, Gellar shares that Helen\u2019s trials and tribulations weren\u2019t too different from her own at the time. After years of exploring every hue on the spectrum between blonde and brunette, her hair was broken and falling out. (In life, sometimes we are our worst enemies\u2014our own Slasher.) \u201cNowadays, if someone did that, you would just have extensions, but in those days, no one knew about extensions,\u201d she says. \u201cI, Sarah, didn\u2019t even learn about extensions until a few years later, when Gwyneth Paltrow wore them to the SAG Awards or something for <em>Shakespeare in Love<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, here we are in the Gellar resurgence. Armed with a keen understanding of hair extension technology and the type of work that brings her joy, I ask what\u2019s next for Gellar, for the woman who has seemingly done it all. \u201cWe&#8217;re in this time where it&#8217;s [about] content, and your content can be anywhere. It&#8217;s about what interests you,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the only thing that&#8217;s important to me\u2026 [is] my no assholes policy: I want to work with people I want to work with and do the things that seem fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While we were on set, I didn\u2019t notice any vampires. I did not notice any assholes on set, either. They likely stay hidden in the shadows, too, when Gellar is around, as vampires avoid Buffy. In many ways, Gellar still is Buffy and Buffy is still Gellar\u2014and both can kick your ass.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Read more celebrity interviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Millie Bobby Brown: \u201cBeing a Mother Expedited This Version of Me\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Selena Gomez Is in Rare Form<\/li>\n<li>Helen Mirren on Aging: \u201cF*ck It, I\u2019m Alive.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.allure.com\/story\/sarah-michelle-gellar-olay-aging-interview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INTERVIEW Sarah Michelle Gellar: \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Be 20 Again\u201d The actor and newly minted Olay ambassador reflects on her influence on pop culture and why she no longer feels the need to prove anything. By Hunter Lacey January 7, 2026 Getty Images No crosses or stakes were present\u2014not even the Slayer Scythe. Instead, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-1397821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-allure-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1397821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1397821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1397821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1397821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}