Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed teenager Buffy Summers as she educated to grow to be the Vampire Slayer, battling against supernatural threats for the duration of the show’s seven-season run. Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired from 1997 to 2003 and stands proudly as one particular of the finest-identified fantasy tv shows of all time. The show focused on Buffy and her close friends for the duration of their higher college years and also featured an array of supernatural allies and foes.

In the show’s initial season, Buffy begins her sophomore year at Sunnydale High, possessing just left Los Angeles following an incident with a group of Vampires. Shows with teenage characters have a tendency to cast actors who are older than the characters, as filming with underage actors demands them to be tutored, which can slow down the production approach. The cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer varied in age compared to their characters, with some age variations spanning centuries.

Related

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Revival: Will It Happen? Everything We Know

Few Television show returns are demanded as normally as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival, and here’s what we know about the possibilities of a Buffy reboot.

8 Seth Green As Oz

Seth Green Was 23 When He Played 17-Year-Old Oz

Family Guy and Austin Powers star Seth Green was 5 years older than his Buffy The Vampire Slayer character, becoming in his early 20s when playing the teenage werewolf Oz. Seth Green was introduced as Oz in the season two episode “Inca Mummy Girl”, and sooner or later became the boyfriend of Willow, regardless of him becoming a werewolf.

Green was 23 when he was cast as the higher college junior, only 5 years older than Oz (though this appears like a massive age gap, it was smaller sized than numerous of the other Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast members). Oz stood as one particular of the show’s major characters till season 4, ending items with Willow on friendly terms, and returning to Tibet to concentrate on controlling his werewolf kind. Oz appeared briefly on the spin-off Angel, which saw him provide a gem that produced vampires invincible to Los Angeles, but wasn’t observed once more.

7 Anthony Stewart Head As Rupert Giles

Anthony Steward Head Was 43, The Same Age As His Buffy Character

Buffy’s voice of cause, librarian Rupert Giles was played by Anthony Stewart Head, the only actor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be cast at the exact same age as their character, with each becoming 43-years-old. Giles was normally a father figure to Buffy, guiding her via her responsibilities as the Slayer, and also helped rehabilitate Willow right after she almost destroyed the globe.

Not only was Giles Buffy’s mentor, he was also a surrogate father-figure at numerous points for the duration of the show’s run. Giles began as Buffy’s “Watcher” (an official function for the guide of the existing Slayer), and he never ever left her side, regardless of becoming replaced at different points all through the series by the Watchers council. Giles stayed a aspect of Buffy’s life even right after her education was total, and right after the show ended there had been rumors of a spin-off focusing on Giles, but it was never ever produced. By the time Buffy the Vampire Slayer concluded, Anthony Stewart Head had just entered his 50s.

6 Charisma Carpenter As Cordelia Chase

Charisma Carpenter Was 27 When She Played 16-Year-Old Cordelia Chase

Of all the human characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charisma Carpenter had the biggest age gap among actor and the Sunnydale High student she portrayed. Carpenter was 11 years older than common girl Cordelia Chase, and though it wasn’t definitely noticable when the show initial aired (and it was frequent practice to cast adults as teenagers) it is painfully clear when rewatching the earlier seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer right now.

Cordelia was initially hated by Willow for her standoffish attitude, but more than her time on the show, grew closer to her and Buffy. The character then left Buffy the Vampire Slayer, taking a major function in Angel, just before becoming killed off in the one particular-hundredth episode, entitled “You’re Welcome,” which aired in 2004. However, considering the fact that Cordelia was an adult in Angel, the age gap among Charisma Carpenter and her character was significantly significantly less jarring.

Related

All 13 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Characters Who Appeared In Angel (&amp When)

Across their runs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel featured some of the finest characters on Television, and much more than a handful of of them appeared in each shows.

5 David Boreanaz As Angel

David Boreanaz Was 28 When He Played The 270-Year-Old Vampire Angel

Angel, Buffy’s vampire buddy-turned-lover, was played by David Boreanaz, who was a entire two hundred and forty-two years younger than the character. Technically, Angel had the biggest age distinction among actor and character, each human and supernatural. Angel appeared in the show till its third season, leaving Buffy behind right after realizing their partnership had reached its limitations.

However, though Angel was 270 by the time he met Buffy, he was turned into a vampire at age 24. While this creates a handful of troubles for Buffy and Angel’s currently-problematic partnership, it does imply that 28-year-old actor Boreanaz was also slightly older than his character’s human age. Following his departure, Boreanaz then starred in the Angel spin-off, which ran for 5 seasons from 1999 to 2004, and saw various of the original cast from Buffy the Vampire Slayer reprise their roles for guest appearances.

4 James Marsters As Spike

James Marsters Was 35 When He Played The 117-Year-Old Vampire Spike

Spike, the extensively-feared vampire accountable for the deaths of two prior Slayers, was played by actor James Marsters, and was introduced in the season two episode “School Hard”. Marsters was 35-years-old when he was cast as Spike, generating him eighty-two years younger than the supernatural threat. Spike’s age when he was turned into a vampire in 1880 was never ever completely disclosed, even though he was an adult.

It’s probably that Spike was in his mid-20s when he was sired even though, which means that James Marsters sticks to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer trend of casting actors older than their characters. Despite Spike becoming a complicated anti-hero, he sooner or later became an ally to Buffy, and more than time started to fall in appreciate with the Slayer. Spike was killed off in the final season, just before becoming revived off-screen and joined the cast of Angel, which saw the character revert to his old approaches.

3 Nicholas Brendon As Xander Harris

Nicholas Brendon Was 26 When He Played The 16-Year-Old Xander Harris

The character of Xander was introduced as one particular of Buffy’s finest close friends in the initial season and appeared in all but one particular episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Xander was an awkward, dorky student who normally got bullied by his peers at Sunnydale High — and, like numerous of the young human characters in the show, was played by an actor who was various years his senior. Xander was portrayed by 26-year-old Nicholas Brendan, who was a entire decade older than his character when Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted.

Next to Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia, Nicholas Brenden had the widest age gap among himself and his character, even though this did not present numerous troubles as the show progressed. Xander remained as a major character across all seven seasons, and when Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended in 2003, 33-year-old Nicholas Brendon was playing a 23-year-old Xander.

Related

10 Actors You Forgot Starred In Buffy The Vampire Slayer

From Pedro Pascal to Wentworth Miller, Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured numerous quickly-to-be superstars who played minor guest roles on the ’90s series.

2 Alyson Hannigan As Willow Rosenberg

Alyson Hannigan Was 23 When She Played The 15-Year-Old Willow Rosenberg

Alyson Hannigan, who went on to play the character of Michelle in American Pie and Lily in How I Met Your Mother, was cast as Willow at the age of 23. Willow was amongst the youngest characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and at aged 15 at the get started of season 1, actress Alyson Hannigan was 8 years older than her character.

During her time on the show, Alyson Hannigan’s character Willow began as a shy nerd, and ended as a powerful and confident witch. There was even short stint in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6 that saw Willow as a villain, which was foreshadowed 4 years previously. Willow was also a aspect of one particular of the initial lesbian relationships ever shown on U.S. tv and is the only other star to seem in every single single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hannigan also guest-starred in 3 episodes of Angel for the duration of its 5-season run.

1 Sarah Michelle Gellar As Buffy Summers

Sarah Michelle Gellar Was 19 When She Played The 16-Year-Old Buffy Summers

Buffy Summers was played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was only 19 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer initial aired in 1997. However, she also had the lowest age gap among actor and character amongst the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Cast. Buffy Summers was 16 when the show started, which means the age-gap among her and Sarah Michelle Gellar was only 3 years.

Gellar played the vampire slayer for all seven seasons just before the show came to an finish in 2003. The breakthrough function for Gellar helped launch her profession into superstardom, generating her one particular of the most notable and effectively-loved female leads in Television history. Gellar is also one particular of only two actresses to seem in all one particular hundred and forty-4 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also appeared briefly in the Angel spin-off.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a supernatural comedy-drama series released in 1997. The show follows the exploits of Buffy, a lady born into a line of “Slayers” destined to do battle with vampires, demons, and monsters. Aided by her close group of close friends and a Watcher who aids her hone her craft, the crew solves mysteries and battles the forces of evil to defend their town – and the globe.

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar , Nicholas Brendon , Alyson Hannigan , Charisma Carpenter , Dan Rubin , David Boreanaz , Seth Green , James Marsters

Release Date

March 10, 1997

Seasons

7

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu , Disney+

Expand