Where the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast are now - tragic deaths, and controversial affairs

ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003, centred around 's character Buffy Summers. Fearless Buffy fought against a host of evil creatures, including , demons and other forces of darkness.

The teen drama came to an end after a staggering 144 episodes, but led to a spin-off series Angel - and the 'Buffyverse' is still going strong today. However, a spotlight was shone on the show in late 2021 after creator .

Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase for four years, claims Whedon created a 'toxic' atmosphere and had a history of being "cruel." Sarah Michelle Gellar posted a message of support to her co-star and, while she loves being linked to her character, claimed she did not want to be associated with Whedon.

Despite the drama surrounding the series, many Buffy stars have become massive names in the entertainment industry since the show came to an end. From lasting feuds to a tragic death, here is what happened when the cameras stopped rolling.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar - Buffy Summers

Things could have been very different in Buffy, as Sarah Michelle Gellar originally auditioned to play Cordelia Chase. While Dawson's Creek star Katie Holmes was offered the main role, she turned it down to finish high school - leaving Sarah at the helm.

The series brought her to the attention of movie bosses and catapulted her career to the next level with parts in Cruel Intentions, Scream 2, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, where she met her future husband Freddie Prinze, Jr.

But according to her co-star and on-screen bestie Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Sarah struggled with fame and was 'annoyed' by the show from series three onwards. Sarah sensationally quit at the end of series seven amid clashes with creator Whedon, who is said to have thought she was 'unappreciative'.

"I was 18 when I started the show; I'm 26. I'm married. I never see my husband. This has been the longest span of my life in one place," she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. "There've been times where that's been difficult - you want to pick up and go, try other things, live in different places. It feels right, and you have to listen to that. The show, as we know it, is over."

Despite meeting on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997, Sarah and Freddie didn't start dating until three years later in 2000. Two years later they got married, and they now share daughter Charlotte and son Rocky.

Charisma Carpenter - Cordelia Chase

Charisma played cheerleader Cordelia, who started off as vain and shallow, but went on to redeem herself while battling evil. The actress played the role for the first three seasons, then left to take on a larger role in the first four series of spin-off Angel.

After leaving vampires behind, Charisma starred in Charmed, Veronica Mars and The Lying Game. She also played Lacy in the first two The Expendables films and had roles in Sons of Anarchy and Lucifer. Alongside her busy career, Charisma is also a mum to son Donovan, whom she welcomed in 2003 after marrying Damian Hardy in 2002, before they called it quits in 2008.

Charisma has been very outspoken about what it was like on the Buffy set, and shared a powerful statement in which she said she felt 'powerless and alone', and accused Whedon of 'abusing his power on numerous occasions while working together'.

In the statement, the actress alleged that Whedon threatened to fire her and called her "fat" when she was pregnant. She said: "Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers."

When Charisma found out that she was pregnant, the actress claimed she was called into Whedon's office where he asked whether she was going to 'keep it'. She later added: "He proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me the following season once I gave birth. Unfortunately, all this was happening during one of the most wonderful time in new motherhood. All that promise and joy sucked right out. And Joss was the vampire."

David Boreanaz - Angel

Angel was the smouldering vampire cursed with a soul and Buffy's main love interest before he got his own spin-off show. The vampire was the leading star in Angel, turning into a private investigator. Alongside the two Buffy-based series, actor David Boreanaz also starred in Dido's video for White Flag before graduating to US crime drama Bones.

While his star was rising, David's personal life came under the microscope in 2010 when it emerged he'd had an affair with Tiger Wood's alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel while his wife Jaime Bergman was pregnant.

In a strange admission, he described the cheating as a 'bonding experience' between himself and his wife, telling TV Week: "In a sacred ground like marriage, you find yourself out of it at certain times for reasons unknown that can be destructive. There could be a demon that kind of comes out and overtakes you."

The same year as the cheating, David was named in a lawsuit by someone working on Bones, who claimed he'd tried to 'kiss and fondle' her. The matter was resolved out of court in 2011. David now seems to be taking a break from his TV career, with his last film role in 2013 and his last TV role in 2018.

Michelle Trachtenberg - Dawn Summers

Michelle Trachtenberg was tragically by her heartbroken mother in February. A medical examiner concluded the actress died from "complications of diabetes mellitus", according to . The lab results cited in the reveal did not state whether Michelle had type 1 or type 2 diabetes or what the complications were.

The specific cause of death for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress will remain a mystery, as her parents - who are Orthodox Jews - officially objected to an autopsy on religious grounds, according to Because of the objection, both the cause and manner of her death will be listed as "undetermined" on her death certificate.

Michelle's death came as a shock to fans, who grew up watching her morph from a child star to a respected lead actress. After Buffy, Michelle went on to play Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl and was also reportedly first choice for Bella Swan in the Twilight movies. She's said to have turned it down due to scheduling conflicts and the role went to Kristen Stewart instead.

Prior to her death, Michelle also replied to Sarah Michelle Gellar's post in relation to the Whedon allegations, breaking her silence and gaining the strength to speak out.

"Thank you @sarahmgellar for saying this," Michelle wrote in reply. "I am brave enough now as a 35 year old woman....To repost this. Because. This must. Be known. As a teenager. With his not appropriate behavior....very. Not. Appropriate." In a comment, she added: "What he did was very bad. But we win. By surviving!" Michelle also shared Sarah's statement on her story, adding: "We know what he did. Behind. The. Scenes."

Alyson Hannigan - Willow Rosenberg

Willow was the shy, nerdy girl who gained magical powers while studying as a witch. As well as kick-starting her career, Buffy also introduced Alyson to her husband, Alexis Denisof, who joined as pedantic watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in season three.

Comedy star Alyson did her best to slap on the moves, but for a while, Alexis remained impervious to her charms. "I was trying to pursue him, but he said he didn't want to date somebody he was working with. But we developed a great friendship..." she told The Sun in 2012.

"When my new relationship ran its course, the whole thing suddenly changed and Alex and I started to really care about each other. So it was two years before we started seeing each other and that was back in 1999." The couple went on to marry and have daughters Satyana and Keeva.

But before she started seeing Alexis, Alyson admitted to having a fling an off-camera fling with co-star Nicholas Brendon, who played Buffy's BFF Xander. "I think Nick and I might have kissed once, like off camera," she confessed on Watch What Happens Live years later. "He might have had a boob or something."

The actress is well known for playing band camp geek Michelle in the American Pie movies, and also gained countless more fans when she played Lily in How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons, for which she won a People's Choice Award in 2009. Away from acting, Alyson works as the presenter on magic competition TV show Penn & Teller: Fool Us.

Nicholas Brendon - Xander Harris

Xander was one of Buffy's closest friends who started out very geeky but became a leader in the fight against evil. Once filming wrapped, Nicholas found himself trapped in a destructive spiral of alcoholism and entered rehab in 2004 and 2010.

He was arrested four times in 2015 for trashing hotel rooms, public intoxication and an alleged domestic altercation with a girlfriend, and checked back into rehab for substance abuse, depression and alcoholism before tragically attempting to take his own life. Opening up about his torment on the Dr Phil show before returning to rehab, the actor said: “I think I wanted to be heard. I think I wanted to be helped, you know? Because I think there’s a lot of good life to live.”

The troubled star also revealed that he had been molested by a music teacher when he was 10, and said the trauma left him deeply damaged. “I think about it every day of my life and I wonder how it affected me did I stop growing emotionally?” he asked. “When you’re molested for a couple years and you’re blamed for it by the people who are supposed to be your protectors, there’s going to be a lot of confusion and a lot of sadness.”

Now a keen artist, Nicholas raised eyebrows when he seemingly skipped the Entertainment Weekly 20th anniversary cast sit-down and was later photoshopped into the picture. However, he claimed co-star David Boreanaz hadn't wanted him there, leaving him no choice but to be photographed separately.

Anthony Head - Rupert Giles

In a of surging teenage hormones, mentor and father figure Giles was the calm among the storm. Tasked with watching over Buffy and her slaying for the Watcher's Council, Giles knew everything there was to know about the supernatural.

Actor Anthony Head went on to star as the Prime Minister in Little Britain, Uther Pendragon in Merlin, and Henry Hutton in Silent Witness, alongside bagging roles in Spooks and crime drama The Stranger. His daughter Emily Head played Carli D'Amarto in The Inbetweeners before landing the role of Rebecca White in soap .

Anthony has a huge list of credits, and has recently been in hit show Motherland and the super popular Bridgerton. He's also spent plenty of time on the stage, and often lends his voice to radio and even video games. Some people might not know that he's a talented singer alongside acting, and released his first album qith the band Two Way in 1983.

Robin Sachs - Ethan Rayne

Chaos-worshipping wizard Ethan was the thorn in the side of his arch enemy Giles, performing odd jobs for demons on a subcontract basis. After the show ended, the London-born star played the evil General Sarris opposite Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest.

Tragically, the Buffy cast suffered another loss with Robin, he sadly died of a heart attack in February 2013 just four days before his 62nd birthday. "It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs," his website read. "Please join us in raising a glass to Robin -- goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much."

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