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"Buffy's very similar to me when I was growing up. A child in an adult world, sort of trapped between the two. Does Buffy goes to the prom or does she save the world from demons?" Sarah Michelle Gellar was the actress of the late 90s and early 00s. Her starring roles in I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scooby-Doo, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer would turn her into an absolute sensation at the box office. 

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While Gellar is most well-known for her major pop culture milestones, she has actually been active in the film industry since 1981. With more than 60 credits to her name, Gellar has had a diverse and successful career that has included a Golden Globe nomination. Still as active as ever, Gellar continues to make waves in the film industry.

Raised in Long Island

Sarah Michelle Gellar was born on April 14, 1977, in Long Island, New York. Gellar was born to Rosellen and Arthur Gellar. Arthur was a garment worker while Rosellen worked as a nursery school teacher. Geller was born in a Jewish household, but she admits that religion was never a major part of her upbringing. Gellar saw her parents split up when she was just seven years old. Gellar would move with her mother to live on the Upper East Side. She would remain estranged from her father until he passed away in 2001. 

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As a child, Gellar found success as both an actor and a competitive figure skater. Gellar also picked up Taekwondo where she would go on to earn her black belt. Gellar studied at the Columbia Grammar & Prep School thanks to a partial scholarship. Gellar was constantly bullied as a student because she had come from a poor family. Instead of attending every class, Gellar would often miss school in order to work on her acting career. Gellar would also spend time at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, but she would eventually drop out due to frequent absences. Eventually, Gellar would attend and graduate from Professional Children's School, an establishment geared toward providing education to working child actors.

Becoming a Hollywood Icon

Gellar's career began at the tender age of four when she was spotted by an agent while out to dinner with her family. Only two weeks later, Gellar would be auditioning for a role in An Invasion of Privacy which starred Jeff Daniels and Carol Kane. Gellar would land the role before starring in a controversial commercial for Burger King in which her character made fun of McDonald's. The commercial would get pulled off of the air and Gellar would hilariously be banned from ever eating at McDonald's.

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As a child actor, Gellar would score a variety of minor roles in movies like Funny Farm (1988) and High Stakes (1989). Gellar would also land appearances in several theatrical productions, including the Broadway play, The Widow Claire. In The Widow Claire, Gellar would work with Matthew Broderick and Eric Stoltz.  Gellar would then land a role in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, A Woman Named Jackie (1991) which had starred Roma Downey. This product led to Gellar's landing of Swans Crossing, which followed a group of wealthy kids. Gellar scored a pair of Young Artist Award nominations for her efforts.  Gellar would then score an award-winning role on the soap opera, All My Children (1993) as Kendall Hart. Gellar would be praised for her efforts en route to winning a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. Gellar would quit the show to further her film career.

After leaving All My Children, Gellar was poised for success and that was exactly what she would find. Gellar would land the role of Helen Shivers in the cult classic, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Gellar would also land a starring role in Scream 2 (1997). Both films would become cult horror classics. It was at this time that Gellar would read for a role in Joss Whedon's new television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Gellar would read for Buffy Summers, a demon-killing teenager. Gellar would land the part and nail the role, appearing as the titular character for seven seasons. Gellar would earn a Golden Globe nod for her work as well as five Teen Choice Awards. Buffy has since become one of the most popular 90s series of all time. She would reprise her role in the spin-off series Angel (1999) for a three-episode run.

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Now one of the most popular young actresses in the world, Geller continued her ascent in mainstream productions by landing the role of Daphne in the live-action Scooby-Doo (2002) film. Gellar would star in the film alongside Linda Cardellini, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Matthew Lillard. Prinze and Gellar would later begin to date before eventually getting married and starting a family. Gellar would appear in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) in order to reprise her role as Daphne.

Since the pinnacle of her film career, Gellar has allowed her workload to recede substantially. She now spends the vast majority of her time working as a voice-over artist on projects like Robot Chicken (2005 – 2018), Happily N'Ever After (2007), TMNT (2007) and Star Wars Rebels (2015).  Along the way, Gellar also appeared in Cruel Intentions (2016) and the upcoming mini-series, Sometimes I Lie.

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Throughout her career, Gellar has appeared on a number of magazine covers, including Vogue, Glamour, Esquire, Allure, Rolling Stone, and FHM. She has routinely been voted as one of the Top TV Icons. When she's not stealing the show or working with fashion designers, Gellar is proud to support many different charities. Gellar has worked with Project Angel Food, CARE, and Habitat for Humanity. She's also spent time in the Dominican Republic in order to personally help rebuild homes.

As an entrepreneur, Gellar helped to establish the startup company, Foodstirs. Foodstirs is a food crafting brand that helps to provide organic baking kits and mixes for families. You can find Foodstirs products in more than 400 stores and more than 8,000 Starbucks throughout the country. Gellar also released her own cookbook, Stirring up Fun with Food (2017).

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr first met in 1997 while working on I Know What You Did Last Summer. They began dating in 2000, and they were married in 2002. Since then, the couple has co-starred in five productions. Prinze and Gellar have two children together, a son and a daughter.