Then and Now: Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Can you believe that it has nearly been 20 years since Sarah Michelle Geller put on her leather trousers, picked up a stake and started to kick some vampire butt, well we assume it has nearly been 20 years – we don’t know what she gets up to in her spare time! Years before Twilight made vampires romantic, before True Blood made human/vampire coexistence possible and years before anyone decided to pen The Vampire Diaries, Buffy had been slaying demons, vampires and anything else that tried to destroy the lives of the residents of Sunnydale and her friends at Sunnydale High.

To continue our popular series of Then and Now, we look at the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer to see what they are up to almost 20 years on…

Sarah Michelle Geller as Buffy Summers

You couldn’t turn on a TV or go to the cinema without seeing Sarah Michelle Geller during the 90s. Her breakout role in All My Children won her a Daytime Emmy Award and she quickly became the nations sweetheart. She was originally offered the role of Cordelia Chase but went on to secure the lead of Buffy Summers and as we know, the rest is history. Since the shows end in 2003 Sarah Michelle went on to star in some of her biggest blockbusters including Scooby Doo and adding to the list of horror movie appearances (having appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2), she landed the lead role in The Grudge. Most recently she has appeared in multiple TV shows including Ringer and The Crazy Ones which also starred Robin Williams.

Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Lovable Willow Rosenberg aka Alyson Hannigan went from awkward, quiet teen to almost earth destroying witch, which in six years is quite the achievement! The same year that the show went off air Alyson married fellow co-star Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Price). Alyson has become one of the most prolific cast members and has remained in the public eye thanks to her role in the American Pie franchise and her role as Lily Aldrin in How I Met Your Mother (spoiler she isn’t the mother). Most recently she was seen hosting the reality magic competition Penn & Teller: Fool Us.

Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

Known as the only guy without any supernatural powers, Xander Harris was the comic relief throughout the seven series of Buffy. Since his time helping to fight vampires Nicholas Brendon has moved on to helping the FBI catch various criminals through behaviour profiling in 10 seasons of Criminal Minds. Most recently he is working away from our screen preparing series ten of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic books.

Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

From Nescafe Gold Blend to school librarian and slayer watcher to Prime Minister, Anthony Stewart Head has taken a step away from acting in the US and concentrated on roles closer to home since the end of Buffy. He has been seen in multiple TV roles including Monarch of the Glen, Merlin and Little Britain as well as a brief appearance in the first Inbetweeners movie as Will’s unnamed and slightly cruel father.

David Boreanaz as Angel

David Boreanaz didn’t branch out too far once his time as Buffy’s romantic interest came to an end he simply took the character to LA for his own self-titled show – Angel. Produced by Joss Whedon and also starring Charisma Carpenter and Alexis Denisof, Angel ran for 5 seasons and 110 episodes ending in 2004. Since he hung up the fangs he has been seen in Dido’s White Flag music video and since 2005 he has starred alongside Emily Deschanel in detective series Bones. Most recently he has had a hand… and nail in a business venture with his wife and friends, a successful line of nail varnishes called Chrome Girl.

James Marsters as Spike

The platinum blonde English vampire villain of season two became the ultimate anti-hero, sacrificing himself for the good of the world. Since his time as Spike in the Buffy and Angel series’ James has remained firmly on our small screens appearing in multiple episodes of Smallville, Without a Trace, Torchwood, Caprica and Hawaii Five-0. Most recently he has been working on a music career, releasing three albums with rock band Ghost of the Robot.

Eliza Dushku as Faith

Faith was a character that was scheduled to only appear in five episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but due to Eliza’s popularity she went on to appear in the whole of the third season as well as episodes in the fourth and seventh season of Buffy and fourth season of Angel. Eliza has had quite a successful television and movie career since her time on Buffy appearing as the lead character in Tru Calling as well as the first movie from the cult horror franchise Wrong Turn.

Seth Green as Daniel ‘Oz’ Osbourne

Since his time as the gentle, guitar playing werewolf Oz, Seth made a move from the small to big screen in countless comedies including the Austin Powers trilogy, Sex Drive, Without a Paddle, Scooby-Doo Two and Rat Race. He is rarely seen on TV nowadays but you cannot escape his voice through his voice over work on Robot Chicken and Family Guy.

Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase

Originally auditioning for the title role, Charisma Carpenter was offered the role of cheerleader Cordelia Chase, appearing in three seasons of Buffy and four seasons of Angel as one of the lead characters. Since her time in Buffy and Angel, Charisma has appeared in multiple television movies and had recurring roles in Charmed, Veronica Mars and The Lying Game. Most recently she was seen in one episode of Scream Queens playing the role of Ariana Grande’s mother.

Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers

The youngest of the Buffy alumni Michelle Trachtenberg first appeared in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as her little sister Dawn. Already a successful young actress Michelle has gone on to be one of the most successful stars of the show. On TV she went on to appear in four episodes of Six Feet Under before nabbing the role of villainous Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl a recurring character in every season. Her most successful movie appearances include the gross-out comedy EuroTrip and as Zac Efron/Matthew Perry’s daughter in 17 Again.

Only true Buffy fans will recognize the design on this awesome Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired t shirt! Doublemeat Place is first seen in the Buffy episode of the same name, during which our favourite vampire killer gets a part time job to pay some debts, but soon realizes that something strange is going on at the fast food chain. Just what is the secret ingredient of their famous Doublemeat Medley?

Let us know your favourite moments and characters from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series in the comments below, or on social media. Head on over to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and let’s get discussing!