Fresh off the news of a Cruel Intentions television reboot, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Upper East Side villain Kathryn Merteuil in the movie, is also back in the spotlight.
But for a very different reason — being a mom. During her 13-year marriage to actor Freddie Prinze, Jr., the pair has welcomed two children, Charlotte Grace, 6, and Rocky James, 3.
Alongside her acting and mothering, the actress has started a baking service that delivers fresh, easy-to-pronounce ingredients, along with a simple recipe, straight to families' homes so they can all bake together. It's called Foodstirs, and to her, it is all about "giving the gift of time." Not to mention the gift of delicious, homemade baked goods.
Refinery29 chatted with Gellar at an event she hosted with Swiffer in Tribeca, as program ambassador for their "Yes to the Mess” campaign, and we couldn't resist asking her about the Cruel Intentions reboot, plus the possibility of Buffy coming back to TV.
The Cruel Intentions reboot was just announced. How do you think [your character in the movie] Kathryn would be as an aunt?
"I have nooo idea. I am not even guessing, I have not even read it — I have no idea." Will you watch it?
"Of course. I would watch anything Roger [Kumble] does. I think Roger is amazing." Do you think there will ever be a Buffy reboot?
"It’s so hard. Buffy is the story of an adolescent girl, and the demons are the metaphor for the scary horrors of high school. I’m not quite sure how that lays out now. If you have something that is really, really good, do you take that and mess with that formula? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to the question."
How does it feel to be back in New York? Is it ‘messier’ raising kids here versus in Los Angeles?
"I mean, it’s hard. I am a born-and-raised New Yorker. This is the only life I ever knew. I think everything has its pluses and minuses. You are in the greatest city in the world. You are steps from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. And it’s so easy to see so many different walks of life and so many people. But at the same time, I also love being able to open up my front door and my back door and letting my kids play on the beach. I am one of those fortunate people that gets to go back and forth. I don’t think I could live without the other."
What was your initial inspiration for Foodstirs?
"My initial inspiration was my kids. Being in the kitchen with them and saying 'Wait a second, there is something really special here. I am really connecting on a different level.' It is hard to keep kids' attention, especially young kids. But the kitchen is the one place where they get really focused. They’re not asking for TV or phones. I can’t have my phone in the kitchen, you know? There’s fire; there’s knives. You really connect on a different level. "And I came to realize that everything in my life revolved around food. When you meet a new guy, you go to dinner to get to know each other. And then you want to tell your friends about him and what do you do? You go to dinner, right? And when you’re with your family, you go to dinner, too. That is what I thought. Love is food. And I thought, God, how do I share this experience that I’m having with other people? "We are all time-impoverished, so how do you make it convenient and easy and better for you, because I was shocked by the ingredients that were in the package mixes. I was like, ‘I don’t even understand these words.’"
"I have nooo idea. I am not even guessing, I have not even read it — I have no idea." Will you watch it?
"Of course. I would watch anything Roger [Kumble] does. I think Roger is amazing." Do you think there will ever be a Buffy reboot?
"It’s so hard. Buffy is the story of an adolescent girl, and the demons are the metaphor for the scary horrors of high school. I’m not quite sure how that lays out now. If you have something that is really, really good, do you take that and mess with that formula? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to the question."
How does it feel to be back in New York? Is it ‘messier’ raising kids here versus in Los Angeles?
"I mean, it’s hard. I am a born-and-raised New Yorker. This is the only life I ever knew. I think everything has its pluses and minuses. You are in the greatest city in the world. You are steps from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. And it’s so easy to see so many different walks of life and so many people. But at the same time, I also love being able to open up my front door and my back door and letting my kids play on the beach. I am one of those fortunate people that gets to go back and forth. I don’t think I could live without the other."
What was your initial inspiration for Foodstirs?
"My initial inspiration was my kids. Being in the kitchen with them and saying 'Wait a second, there is something really special here. I am really connecting on a different level.' It is hard to keep kids' attention, especially young kids. But the kitchen is the one place where they get really focused. They’re not asking for TV or phones. I can’t have my phone in the kitchen, you know? There’s fire; there’s knives. You really connect on a different level. "And I came to realize that everything in my life revolved around food. When you meet a new guy, you go to dinner to get to know each other. And then you want to tell your friends about him and what do you do? You go to dinner, right? And when you’re with your family, you go to dinner, too. That is what I thought. Love is food. And I thought, God, how do I share this experience that I’m having with other people? "We are all time-impoverished, so how do you make it convenient and easy and better for you, because I was shocked by the ingredients that were in the package mixes. I was like, ‘I don’t even understand these words.’"
We know the feeling!