So many people out there work their asses off so damn hard to try to position themselves for success in the movie business. And once in a while we see someone who is just perfectly positioned for success… and for one reason or another just piss the opportunity away like lukewarm beer through their system on a tree at the side of the highway. Case in point… Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Coming off her amazing popularity and success with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Gellar was a VERY hot commodity, and to say she was positioned for success is like saying Pamela Anderson showed a little skin in her home video. She was all set to become a HUGE movie star… but dreams of that happening are far gone now do to 3 main reasons:
1) Monumentally stupid choices
Ok, you’re sarah Michelle Gellar… you’re coming off a hit TV show, you have a huge and devoted following and you’re ready to break out as a legitimate leading women on the big screen. What should you do? Why, you should do a couple of Scooby Doo movies obviously! BILLIANT! That’ll get you taken seriously! She did a pretty decent job on Cruel Intentions BEFORE jumping the Buffy ship… but really since then she’s just made terrible decisions. The Grudge? The Return? Please…
2) She’s been exposed
On Buffy she WAS Buffy… so talent wasn’t an issue really. Scooby Doo isn’t an acting role… so you can’t really tell…. but with The Grudge and ESPECIALLY with The Return her basic lack of big league talent was exposed. She was poor in Grudge, and she was downright awful in The Return (It looked like she was sleepwalking through most of that movie). I think she’s better than she’s shown in those 2 films, but someone with true heavyweight talent wouldn’t have let that happen… Gellar doesn’t have heavyweight talent.
3) The Honeymoon is over
For a time after Buffy, there was a grace period. Ok, Scooby Doo was a mistake… we still lover her… she’ll be fine. Ok, Scooby Doo 2 was a mistake… we still love her… she’ll be fine. Grudge could have been worse… we still… ummmm… LIKE her… I hope she’ll be fine. The Return was… ok screw it, Buffy has been off the air for years… time to move on. We’ve gone from hearing Gellar is in a movie and reacting with a “oh really?” to hearing she’s in a movie and having a lot of people go “meh”.
Is Sarah Michelle Gellar’s career over? Not at all. Her big window of opportunity has shut… but that’s not to say she couldn’t honestly open it again. But to do that, I think there are several things she needs to do at this point:
1) Get Help
Acting help. She can no longer rely on “hey, that’s the buffy girl” image to get her by. She has some talent, but she needs to deepen those chops. Get her in with a solid acting coach to work with for a few years and commit to developing her talent… not getting opportunities.
2) Make better choices
However Southland Tales turns out (To say it’s getting mixed reviews is an understatement), it was still a GOOD decision to get involved with that movie. A smaller film from the guy who did Donnie Darko is a huge step up from the dreck she’s been doing. Keep making decisions like that one… small, better films… and she’ll re-develop a better rep
3) Don’t Abandon Buffy
I know it sounds strange to say this… but I think it would be the wrong move on the part of her PR people to try to distance her from her persona as Buffy. Don’t do a Buffy movie, or play bufy again, but at the same time embrace the face she had in the role and continue to appeal to the fans she had… while at the same time being committed to moving on and showing she’s evolved.
Will Sarah Michelle Gellar ever be a legitimate A-List actress in Hollywood? If I had to put money on it I’d say no. However, that’s not to say she doesn’t have a chance, or that she still couldn’t have a solid respectable career… she just needs to wise up.
