Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine #9

Date: May 2000
Price: £2.75
Page Count: 52
Editor: Martin Eden

Stake Out
Reality changes and passionate encounters kicked off the news this month as Danny Strong returned as Jonathan in Superstar and Riley and Buffy found themselves trapped in passion in Where the Wild Things Are, the latter being notable for being the first episode to list Emma Caulfield as a series regular in the script. She’d be added to the titles next season.

On Angel, Buffy herself came to town in Sanctuary to find Faith, who was targeting Angel in Los Angeles. The episode would turn out to be Sarah‘s last appearance on the spin-off show.

The rest of the news focusses on upcoming episode New Moon Rising, which would see the return of an old friend and confirmation of a change in Willow’s personal life.

“New Moon Rising” represents a critical turning point for several of Buffy‘s most famous characters. Besides featuring the long-awaited return of Seth Green as Oz and revealing more about Riley’s true motives, the episode also offers some startling revelations about Willow’s relationship with Tara.

Speaking prior to the episode’s US debut, Buffy creator Joss Whedon shed some light on the two witches’ feelings for one another. “Willow and Tara’s relationship is definitely romantic,” he confirmed in a statement which shocked many long-time admirers of Oz’s ex-girlfriend.

Whedon also admitted that he had thought carefully about the implications of this daring development, and felt happy with the way it was being handled in the series.

“The writers and I have had long topics about how to deal with the subject responsibly, without writing a story that sounds like people spent a long time discussing how to deal with it responsibly,” he explained. “To me it just feels right.”

Indeed, now in the 2020s, the idea of a gay character on television sounds like trivial stuff, but back in 2000, and particularly on American television, there were hardly any LGBTQIA+ characters on TV – and the ones that were there were stereotypical and often offensive archetypes.

Buffy became the first Network television show to feature a female same-sex kiss on television – and caused a storm with Network heads. Whedon threatened to walk when executives attempted to remove the pair’s first on-screen kiss in The Body, deliberately placed there to be casually used for comfort, and not there to be sensationalised.

The X-Factor by Matt Springer
An interview with Nicholas Brendon, conducted during Season 4.

“Thank God Joss created this character and now he’s just inside my head,” says Nicholas Brendon. “It’s been neat to not be in control of how this kid’s gonna grow. You get the script and read it, and say ‘Okay, we’re going there.’”
Before he began his acting career, Brendon’s life was headed in a completely different direction – he had hoped to become a pro baseball player, but an injury ended those chances. He made his TV debut in a US Clearasil commercial and racked up guest appearances on Married With Children and Dave’s World before landing the part of Xander Harris during the 1996 pilot season. The show took off and brought his career along for the ride. Now that he’s made his mark on Buffy, he’s moved onto film roles during the hiatus. Brendon stars in Pinata and Psycho Beach Party, upcoming films that you can expect to arrive in your local multiplex sometime this year.

Let’s take it back to the beginning. What was your Buffy audition like?
It was at the end of pilot season, so I was kind of on a roll, and I just went in and met with Marcia Shulman, our former casting director, who’s now head of casting over at Fox. She said to come back at four o’clock and meet Joss. That was the first time I’d heard his name. That was a Thursday, and at about seven o’clock I found out that I was going to the WB on Monday, and then at 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning I found out that I had the part of Xander Harris. It was pretty cool.

Did the cast bond pretty quickly?
Definitely. We were all for one and one for all, Joss included. Once we saw the show was really good, it was easy. It was weird because it was all of our first prime-time series experience. Tony Head had VR5 or something. But it was the first one that was really good.

How do you feel about Xander now? Are you happy with where he’s come?
Yeah. He’s a part of me. I’ve helped to develop this character. He’s gone through a lot of growth and some change. It’s nice because it’s been like real-life. It’s slowly evolved. Not like a soap opera, where all of a sudden I have a big goatee and three earrings. He’s definitely very sweet, and I’m really happy that he’s been a part of my life for the last four years.

What’s your favourite Xander moment? Do you have one?
No, not really, because they’re all equally as important. ‘The Zeppo’ was the best, because it showed a big range. When I first read the script, I was at Starbucks and I cried at the end, because he was changing a bit. He was accepting, becoming more of a man. It’s weird, because even though it’s my face and my body that portray him, I really have no idea what I look like. I know what you look like more than you do, you know?

Which of the cast members is the most fun to hang out with?
They’re all horrible. [laughs] You get the generic answer; they’re all fun for different reasons, and it’s hard to say. We all hang out together for different reasons. That’s an impossible question to answer. Me. I am. I love hanging out with me.

Raising the Stakes by Mike Stokes
An interview with Eliza Dushku, arranged during Season 3.

Vampire slaying is a dangerous business. With every bloodsucker above ground gunning for slayer scalps, Chosen ones are routinely slugged, kicked, thrown, insulted… and like Jim Morrison said, no one gets out alive. To ease the transition from obvious high school student to guardian of humanity, having a close circle of friends for moral support seems to be working for Buffy Summers, but she’s the exception to the rule. For most Slayers, life is lonely… and short.
Viewers everywhere wondered if the new Slayer in town, Faith, would prove to be the second exception to the rule, but she quickly got off to a really rough start. Activated when Kendra the Vampire Slayer was killed, Faith the Vampire Slayer arrived in Sunnydale from Boston, with no friends, no place to stay, no job… and no Watcher.

“Her job is kicking vampire butt,” clarifies Eliza Dushku, the spirited actress taking on the responsibility of slayer number two. “I think that’s the difference between her and Buffy – their fighting mechanisms are different. Faith kinda loses her mind when she’s fighting. Buffy will get in there and throw the vampires around, whereas Faith has a tendency to just keep beating and punching and freaking out. She gives it her all; she doesn’t make a sport out of it. She just totally beats the bag out of these vampires, and then when they’re lifeless she’ll just maybe drop the stake in.”
Whoa. She may be relatively new at this Slayer gig, but Faith’s chances seem pretty good. “Faith doesn’t mess around,” Dushku says with a laugh. “She’s definitely a tough girl. She does her own thing, and she’s really confident in a lot of senses. She dresses in her own style of dress, she talks her own talk, walks her own walk. She has some insecurities… Faith’s a complicated little chick.”

Dushku’s a little complicated herself. At 17 years old, she’s already had to make some pretty major life decisions before the ink on her high school diploma has had a chance to dry. Her first was opting to hold off on starting college (she’s been accepted to both Boston and George Washington Universities) to join the Buffy cast. Since minors aren’t allowed to work past a certain time of day, Buffy‘s heavy night shooting required that she got legally emancipated from her parents, both college professors who have left for Romania to write a book. Indeed, if ever there was an actress suited to play a vampire slayer, Dushku is it. From a professional standpoint, she’s already taken down terrorists alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1993s True Lies. Personally, she grew up fighting her three older brothers. Besides, her favourite colour is black.
    “I have a little bit of that fighting energy and mentality in me,” Dushku confesses. “When you have three older brothers, you’ve got to know how to fend for yourself sometimes. You have to be strong if you’re a small woman – I think I’m really tough, but you’ve got to think it if you’re going to appear to be.”
    Possibly the toughest thing any teenager can go through – and that includes fighting demons – is starting a new school, and while she was technically no longer a student, those old feelings flooded back to her during her first day on the Sunnydale set.
    “It really felt like the first day of high school, coming in here,” she says. “Everything’s all established and everyone knows each other and I felt like this freshman walking into a school of seniors I didn’t know – even up to where to sit for lunch. I walked into the dining area with this whole tray of food, and I’m like ‘Oh shoot – who am I going to sit with?’”
    Apparently slayers stick together on camera and off, however, because she wound up finding a spot eating with Sarah Michelle Gellar. “Sarah’s been really sweet about things. Now I feel so comfortable on set, between the crew and a cast with the most awesome heads on their shoulders – they’re all just the best.”
    But confidence is only one aspect of smacking bloodsuckers around. Remember, no slayer has yet survived, besides Buffy – and she’s been dead once. “Do I worry about getting killed?” Dushku asks. “That’s been the last fear in my head. Joss will joke with me about how I should be careful because there’s a drive-by coming up. The way I see it, if you’re going to joke with me about it, then it can’t be too serious.”
    I guess not. Sometimes you just have to keep the Faith.

Hall Pass: Buffy’s Bedroom

Aside from the arsenal of wooden stakes and holy water hidden under the toys in her nightstand, Buffy’s bedroom seems to be a lot like that of any teenage girl’s. But a closer look reveals the dual halves of her persona.

Bright colours and butterflies give the walls a cheery look and stand in stark contrast to her violent evening pursuits, while the mirror and shelf on her make-up table exhibit a more expected gothic look. Also on the table, a touching picture of Buffy with Willow belies the sadistic streak exemplified by that cup of combs shaped like a headless cheerleader. Knick knacks cram all the spare space in her room, such as her cool sun/moon clock, which seems the represent the double life she leads each day and night. A variety of handbags (all large enough to hold a weapon) hang from the full-length mirror that lets her check out outfits while her reflection reassures her that she’s still human.

Still, most of the room is designed to help her forget her night job. From her favourite stuffed animals sitting on the bed to her jewellery box, much of it is typical girl stuff. She’s got a little stereo, along with lots of posters and parasols, and as with most teenage girls, her rarely-punched bookcase is in need of a different type of dusting than she’s used to.

The room itself is pretty spacious. A slanted ceiling over her bed tightens the space and makes it seem more cozy. The bed is soft with lots of pillows, and there’s plenty of seating space for late-night visitors. There’s also lots of closet space and shelves.

Buffy just has to remember to keep the drapes closed if Angel should ever decide to crash on her floor again – there’s not a lot of room to hide from sunlight with three windows on two walls.