Return to Oz by Kate Anderson
From the moment he appeared in Season Two, Oz won over the hearts of Willow and Buffy fans alike, and Seth Green, the actor behind the super cool, sensitive, guitar-playing werewolf soon became a fan-favourite. In this special feature, Buffy Magazine takes a closer look at the life and times of the BuffyVerse’s definitive werewolf , and the actor who so memorably played him for three seasons…

As affable and dryly humorous as his Buffy alter ego, Seth Ghessel Green has spent most of his life in front of the camera. Born on 8th February in Overbrook Park, Philadelphia, Seth began acting early – as a toddler – making television commercials (one of which also featured a four-year-old girl named Sarah Michelle Gellar!)
    His family, parents Herb, a teacher, and Barbara, an artist, and his older sister, Kaela, were always supportive of his career. Luckily for Seth, he had an uncle who so happened to be a casting director, and in the early days he was able to help find him work. Then, in 1984, 10-year-old Seth landed a part in his first film, Hotel New Hampshire, which starred Jodie Foster and Rob Lowe. It was a taste of things to come.
    At only 5’4″ inches tall, the naturally red-headed Seth certainly isn’t the most conventional of screen hunks. But even in the all-too-often superficial acting world, talent speaks volumes. At the age of 30, Seth is already a veteran of film and TV, and has made over 50 notable guest appearances on some of the best shows around. He’s popped up on The X-Files, Mad About You, That 70s Show, The Wonder Years and Beverly Hills 90210, to name just a few. His movie credits are equally impressive, including Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Party Monster, The Italian Job, Pump Up the Volume, Woody Allen’s Radio Days, Rat Race and American’s Sweethearts.
    There’s little doubt that Seth’s turn as Scott Evil in the massively popular Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery – and its two sequels – has been fantastic exposure for the young actor. His involvement with the successful movie franchise suddenly catapulted his career onto a whole new level. Yet despite having been an actor for most of his life, fame isn’t something Seth feels wholly comfortable with. “It’s a period of adjustment. I’ve gotten a lot better at it,” says the actor. “After working on a level where other people knew it. It’s not a cat you can put back in the bag.”
    Seth will next be seen on the big screen in the comedy Without A Paddle, alongside Scooby Doo co-star Matthew Lillard and Burt Reynolds. And, if rumour is to be believed, a fourth Austin Powers flick may very well be on the cards.
    So, like most of his Buffy co-stars, for the foreseeable future at least, Seth looks set to continue living it large on the big screen. But regardless of where the future may take him, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans across the globe, Seth will always be best known (and loved) for his portrayal of the cool, laidback werewolf, Oz, a role he played for three seasons, from 1997 to 2000. Surprisingly, Seth’s association with Buffy began back in 1992, when he secured a (very) small role in the original Buffy movie. However, the role was so small that Seth’s scenes got no further than the cutting room floor! Not that Seth was too disappointed. “I was awful in it,” he explains. “And I really hope the footage never surfaces, because in retrospect I realise how bad I was in it. At the time though, I was very excited!”
    Luckily, some five years down the line, Seth ended up becoming a regular on the smash hit TV series. Of course, the only other way for the actor to exorcise any demons remaining from his association with the original would be for Seth to make an appearance in a longed for – particular now the series is no more – big budget movie version of the TV show. On such an occasion, there’s no way his scenes would end up on the cutting room floor!

Oz: Up Close

Where Are They Now? by Tara Dilullo
Julia Lee‘s character in the BuffyVerse may have had more identities than Xander’s had hot dates. But she will probably be best remembered for her portrayal as the young runaway that took Buffy’s name in ‘Anne’. We catch up with Julia Lee, a.k.a. Joan, a.k.a. Chanterelle, a.k.a. Lily, a.k.a. Anne Steele, to find out about her time on Buffy and Angel…

Ask any Buffy fan to name one of the great strengths of the the show and many might cite it’s gift for mining its history so engagingly. Over seven seasons, numerous events and characters have resurfaced to be explored years after they were first introduced. A perfect example would be the character introduced as Chanterelle, then known as Lily, then to become Anne Steele. The character’s name may have changed, but there was only one woman who ever played her over eight years – actress Julia Lee. The name game is even something that confused Julia during her time on the show. “It’s been tough to explain to my friends that it’s been the same part,” she chuckles. Regardless, the role has been one of her favourites – not only for the character development and surprising longevity – but it also launched her in Hollywood.
    A Santa Fe, Mexico native, Julia explains that the acting bug took her completely by surprise. “When I was 14, on a fluke, I took an acting class because choir happened to be full. I had no idea it would turn into such a passion, but it did, very quickly, and I decided that was what I was going to do with my life. I went full ahead and pursued it and decided to move to Los Angeles and go to college, go on auditions and figure out how to do this. I didn’t know anyone in the business or anyone who had tried it, but I was determined!” Julia attended the University of California, Irvine, where she focused on theatre studies, but immediately started auditioning for film and television upon graduation. It just so happened that the new cult show, Buffy, ended up being her big break.
    “It got me my SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card,” Julia fondly remembers. “I had gone into audition originally for a role in ‘Reptile Boy’ but I didn’t get it. Then I got called back for a different role a few weeks later. I was in the car on the way there and my agent called to let me know they had changed the character, saying, ‘She’s not nerdy anymore. She’s more of a Goth girl and the sides are different.’ I was in a panic but all I could do was drive faster. I got there and hoped there were 20 people in front of me and of course, I was the only person there. The casting director, Marcia Shulman, let me look at the new sides for the character and I went in and it was just Marcia and a guy in overalls in the corner, who I assumed was her casting associate. I read and I did my best and the guy was chuckling the whole time.” Despite the stress, Julia landed the part and she soon found out why when she met the overalls guy again. “I got on set and I realised that guy was Joss!” she laughs. “After I found out, I thought, ‘No wonder it only took 30 minutes to book me after my audition!’ He was totally responsible for my casting.” Julia, played Chanterelle, a naive Goth girl, who was part of a cult that worshiped the Lonely Ones (a.k.a. vampires) in the hope of being turned. Spike ends up getting a bite of her, but Buffy ultimately saves her from the vamp. Julia shares that it was the perfect first job. “Since it was my first time on a real set, I hung out, absorbing everything. It was great to watch them all and Sarah Michelle Gellar is such a professional. I tell you, that girl knew exactly what worked and wasn’t afraid to offer her opinion – and she has good instincts. I learned so much.”
    However, it wasn’t all work. “Everybody sat around at ate pizza together at 2am. It was such a warm atmosphere.” So much so, the extras also adopted her that week. “I thought it was interesting that almost all the extras were really Goth people and they just showed up in their gear. It was funny. because they came up to me saying, “That’s an awesome dress! Where did you get it?’ and I was like, ‘It’s from wardrobe,’ They ended up inviting me to their parties, and I laughed, thinking this was a huge compliment to make-up and wardrobe since they thought I belonged. It was a lot of fun.”
    Once the episode wrapped, nothing was ever mentioned to Julia about returning, but she had hopes. “I thought of eight different ways they could have written my character after ‘Lie to Me’. But that’s not the direction of the show and I moved on to other auditions.” But Julia got her wish almost a year later when she was invited back for the third season opener, ‘Anne’. “The call came out of the blue and I was jumping up and down and I was so excited to go back to the set. When I read the script, I couldn’t believe how they had expanded the role. I felt so glad they trusted me with it, considering I had only been with them a couple of days. I was really flattered.” Chanterelle had adopted the new name of Lily and was living on the streets of Los Angeles. Now living somewhat parallel lives, runaway Buffy was also in LA, waiting tables under the assumed name of Anne, when she happened upon Lily.
    “Sarah and I bonded a lot more on that episode because we had so many more scenes together,” she shares. “I remember one night, her and I doing the scene where I was supposed to push a demon off the precipice and we were just so beyond tired. We had done action stuff all day and we were so out of it and we couldn’t hold it together. We were having giggle fits and we were so exhausted, but it was so fun. She was a total prankster – pulling practical jokes like stealing the transportation van! I felt like it was nice to get to know her better.”
    After her second stint, Julia was surprised to find out how much of an impact her character had on audiences. “After the first episode, I got fan mail from people who really understood that character. After ‘Anne’ aired’, I would be in the supermarket buying milk and people would ask me if I was that girl from Buffy! I was surprised every time and it really drove home how popular the show was.”
    Of course Angel fans know Anne appeared again several times over the five seasons, including the series finale, which she was proud to be asked to return for. “I was really excited for this character to find her calling in life and be the person people turn to when they are in trouble, like she did with Buffy when she was in trouble. It was fun to play her helpless, and as the Goth girl, but I wanted so badly for her to learn and grow. I was so happy to play her with a life for herself,” she smiles.