Health, Loss, & Stardom: The Real-Life Struggles Of The Buffy Cast

After the 1992 horror-comedy movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" flopped at the box office, that should have been it. However, the film's screenwriter, Joss Whedon, was frustrated by how much tinkering the studio had done with his script to change his original vision. That led him to pitch the concept to fledgling TV network The WB — resulting in one of the most beloved cult hits in television history. 

As a TV series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" became a critically acclaimed hit. Over the course of seven seasons, from 1997 until 2003, viewers followed the exploits of high school student Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) as she reluctantly embraced her destiny as a vampire slayer. 

Yet behind the scenes, there were some dark secrets the cast of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" tried to hide. For some members of the cast, these moments took place during childhood; for others, they occurred long after the series ended; some, in fact, claimed to have been traumatized by working on the show. To find out more, read on to explore the real-life struggles of the "Buffy" cast.

When taking an inside look at the life and career of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar, her childhood was colored by her parents' divorce when she was 7 years old. After that, she was raised solely by her mother. In an interview with Dennis Hensley, Gellar declared, "Everything I am is because of my mom," explaining that her father was "non-existent" throughout her childhood. When asked for more details about the reasons behind their life-long estrangement, she offered a quote from Keanu Reeves' character in the film "Parenthood" — "You need a license to go fishing, you need a license to drive, but any butt-reaming a**hole can be a father."

She did share more in a 2000 interview with TV Guide, however. "He is not a person who exists in my life," she said, as reported by ABC News. "I don't have a father. I would never give him the credit to acknowledge him as my father."  In October 2001, the outlet reported that her father, Arthur Gellar, had been found dead in his NYC apartment, at the age of 60. According to her publicist, she chose not to offer any comment.

More than a decade later, Gellar was starring in "The Crazy Ones," a comedy in which her character was working with her formerly estranged father, played by Robin Williams. When asked about parallels in that fictional relationship and her actual relationship with her father, she told Your Tango, "Father daughter relationships, until recently, were something I had to read about or ask people about because I didn't have a relationship with my father."

The years "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ended in 2003 were turbulent for Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris. In 2004, he went to rehab, returning six years later after being arrested in 2010, when LAPD police officers had to use a taser on the inebriated actor when he allegedly tried to hit them. He was arrested again in 2014, this time in a Boise, Idaho hotel lobby, for causing a disturbance; once again, police claimed that he was intoxicated. 

He married Moonda Tee in October 2014, but they split up just five months later. Shortly after, he was arrested in February 2015, this time charged with criminal mischief. He was arrested again in March, charged with trashing a hotel room, and once more in May, this time for public intoxication, followed by another trip to rehab. He was arrested a fourth time in October 2015, after allegedly choking his girlfriend, and then entered rehab again. Brendon was then arrested in October 2017, after allegedly attacking his girlfriend; he was subsequently charged with domestic violence and sentenced to three years of probation. Another arrest followed in 2021, this time for fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs.

Brendon died in March 2026 at 54. According to the coroner's report, his death had resulted from natural causes, atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with a 90% blockage to one of his coronary arteries. There was another shocking detail: he'd suffered a heart attack in 1993, which he hadn't revealed.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon was worshipped by the show's fans — until 2017. That was when his soon-to-be ex-wife, Kai Cole, became the first to reveal Whedon's shady side. In an essay she wrote for TheWrap that revealed his cheating, the real reason their marriage failed, she described him as "a hypocrite preaching feminist ideals." Then, in 2020, actor Ray Fisher went public with allegations of Whedon's abusive behavior while directing "Justice League." That was followed, in February 2021, by explosive allegations from "Buffy" and "Angel" actor Charisma Carpenter, who portrayed Cordelia Chase on both shows.

Carpenter issued a scorched-earth X post that laid out accusations. "Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions ..." she wrote. Carpenter claimed that Whedon called her "fat" when she was four months pregnant, and then "unceremoniously fired" her after she'd had her baby. "Joss has a history of being casually cruel," she continued, accusing him of fostering "hostile and toxic work environments" on both shows. "The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer," she added.

Carpenter's allegations also triggered support from her co-stars. Michelle Trachtenberg and Amber Benson both verified her claims, while Sarah Michelle Gellar shared a statement via Instagram. "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon," Gellar wrote.

A successful child actor who'd been acting professionally since the age of 3, Michelle Trachtenberg played Dawn Summers, Buffy's mysterious younger sister, on the final three seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Like co-star Charisma Carpenter, she later revealed that she too had experienced issues with series creator Joss Whedon, issuing an Instagram post accusing Whedon of acting inappropriately toward her when she was a teenager, claiming something had happened on the set that led to a rule that he was not permitted to be alone with the teen actor.

Yet that was just one aspect of the tragic truth about Michelle Trachtenberg, who was just 39 years old when she died in February 2025. At the time, the reason for her death at such a young age had not been determined. However, a source came forward to reveal that she'd recently undergone a liver transplant. Subsequently, the official cause of her death was revealed, and it was devastating: she died due to complications from diabetes. That was the same health issues that Trachtenberg reportedly experienced and kept from the public.

David Boreanaz played vampire Angel on the first few seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" before spinning off into his own show, "Angel," which ran for five seasons. That began a wildly successful run that saw him star in 12 seasons of hit procedural drama "Bones," seven seasons of another hit series, "SEAL Team," and was cast as the lead in NBC's reboot of "The Rockford Files" in 2026.

While Boreanz's professional success is evident, the same hasn't always been true with his personal life. In 2010, he confirmed that he'd cheated on his wife, Jaime Bergman, whom he'd married nine years earlier. "Our marriage has been tainted with my infidelities. I just want to be open and honest. I was irresponsible," he told People, explaining that he made the admission because one of his extramarital sexual partners was attempting to extort him, and he decided to get ahead of it. "We're working on our marriage," he added. "We're working on repairing what has been damaged so badly."

Bergman also spoke with People, admitting she was still feeling blindsided. "I'm not saying everything is okay," she told the magazine. "I'm still angry. I'm still mad. I am still hurt." The couple ultimately reconciled and got their marriage back on track.

Alyson Hannigan portrayed Buffy Summers' best friend, Willow Rosenberg, on all seven seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." She later went on to sitcom success with "How I Met Your Mother," and then competed on "Dancing With the Stars." It was during the latter that she was hit with a massive migraine headache that completely leveled her just before she was scheduled to tape an episode. "I was in my trailer in the fetal position," she told People in 2023. "It was awful. I was just like, I couldn't take 10 steps without having to throw up." That, she told the magazine, really opened her eyes to the severity that migraines can have. "But, yeah, apparently migraines can get that serious," she added.

A decade earlier, Hannigan found herself in a completely different crisis when a man who'd recently been released from a psychiatric facility issued threats against her. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, she petitioned a judge to grant a restraining order against John Hobbs, claiming that he'd posted "a barrage of threatening messages directed at me and my family on various websites," including threats to sexually assault her and send her to "the afterlife." In her petition, Hannigan pointed out that a police officer who'd gone to see Hobbs determined that her stalker "seemed to be living in an alternate reality," which had left her "in severe fear for my safety and the safety of my family." She obtained a restraining order, lasting three years. 

Joining "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in its second season, James Marsters became a fan favorite for his portrayal of vampire Spike. The character's defining physical characteristic was his peroxide-bleached hair, which, he revealed, came at a high personal cost.

In an interview posted on MySpace, he revealed that his hair needed to be bleached for each episode — because a vampire's hair is not supposed to grow, meaning even the tiniest hint of dark roots wouldn't be tolerated. "That was extremely painful," Marsters recalled, noting that a warning on the bleach itself recommended a minimum of six weeks between uses. "They would tell me: 'We don't know if you're going to have hair after this show.' My hair was fine, but my scalp was the problem," he added. "I would have open sores from the previous bleach, and they would pour bleach on top of those wounds ... That wasn't my favorite day."

He endured those regular chemical burns for years, something he would have thought twice about had he realized he'd be playing Spike for as long as he did. "I agreed to bleaching when I thought I was going to die in five episodes," Marters told the Minnesota Star-Tribune. "I don't know if I would have agreed to it for seven years."

Rupert Giles was Sunnyvale High School's librarian — and an expert on all things occult and supernatural. Portrayed by British actor Anthony Head, the character was Buffy's mentor and father figure throughout the series.

Behind the scenes, Head had been in a long-term (albeit unmarried) relationship with Sarah Fisher, an author and animal rights advocate. The couple was parents to two daughters — both successful actors, Emily Head (who'd been a regular on British soap "Emmerdale Farm") and Daisy Head, whose credits include "Harlots" and "Shadow and Bone.

In January 2026, Fisher lost his partner of 37 years, with their daughters sharing the news in a since-deleted Facebook post. "We are so sorry to have to share the news that our extraordinary, kind, and talented mother, Sarah, passed away recently," the sisters wrote, as reported by TV Insider. "No words could ever express all that she encompassed, or begin to describe the crater her absence has left," they added, noting that her death "came with very little warning" and had been "immensely shocking to us all." She was 61, taken by anaplastic thyroid cancer.

During the second, third, and fourth seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Seth Green starred as Oz, a member of the show's Scooby Gang. He went on to appear in all three "Austin Powers" movies, and created quirky comedy series "Robot Chicken," among his many post-"Buffy" credits.

In 2018, actor Isaac Kappy (who'd had small roles in films such as "Thor" and "Terminator Salvation") targeted Green. Kappy had reportedly taken a deep dive down the QAnon rabbit hole and began publicly accusing Green and his wife of being participants in a Hollywood pedophile ring. Kappy claimed that Green invited him to join the Illuminati, for which he was promised the car of his choice and $250,000 in cash. The LAPD opened an investigation to look into Green's allegations that Kappy had been stalking him and his wife.

Kappy's story ended tragically in May 2019. Distraught, he jumped off a bridge and landed on a highway, where he was hit by a pickup truck. He did not survive.

Eliza Dushku appeared in 20 episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," in the fan-favorite role of vampire slayer Faith. Prior to that, she'd been a child actor, whose various roles included portraying the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the action flick "True Lies" back in 1994. It wasn't until more than two decades later that she issued a 2018 Facebook post revealing that she'd been sexually molested by one of the film's stunt coordinators. "Why speak out now?" she wrote. "I was 12, he was 36. It is incomprehensible." It was the lingering trauma of that experience, she said, that led her into substance abuse; she's since gotten sober.

Sadly, that would not be the last time she would experience sexual misconduct on a set. In 2019, she accused former "NCIS" star Michael Weatherly of sexual harassment while they worked together on his CBS series "Bull." When she confronted Weatherly about his alleged behavior and then complained, she was written off the show. She was ultimately paid a settlement by the network, reportedly a whopping $9.5 million. 

JoAnne Colonna, who'd been Dushku's agent when she was a child actor, told Deadline she felt the reason more female actors didn't speak about their experiences was that "everyone was so afraid that they would get blacklisted and fired." Perhaps not coincidentally, Dushku has not appeared in a film or TV project since 2017.

In the third through seventh seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Emma Caulfield portrayed Anya Jenkins, a thousand-year-old vengeance demon who changes her evil ways and joins the Scooby Gang.

In 2022, the actor gave an interview to Vanity Fair revealing she had multiple sclerosis. She'd been diagnosed more than a decade earlier, but had been keeping her condition a secret. It all began, she explained, back in 2010. "I woke up one morning, and the left side of my face felt like there were a million ants crawling on it," she recalled. Initially believing she had Bell's palsy, she underwent tests — including MRIs — which ultimately revealed MS.

The reason she kept her health woes a secret for so long is certainly relatable. "I didn't want to give anyone the opportunity to not hire me," she said. "I knew in my bones that if you talk about this, you're just going to stop working." She decided to go public with her diagnosis for two reasons. Firstly, she wanted to present a good example for her young daughter. "I'm so tired of not being honest," she said. Secondly, wanted to use her platform as a celebrity to increase MS awareness. "Even if it affects my ability to get work."

Amber Benson's character, openly gay Tara Maclay, was introduced in the third season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Fans were bereft, however, when Tara was killed off in S6. When co-star Charisma Carpenter alleged mistreatment by Whedon, Benson backed her up. "'Buffy' was a toxic environment, and it starts at the top," she wrote in a since-deleted tweet (via TVLine). "There was a lot of damage done during that time, and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later."

In a 2022 interview with Bleeding Cool News, she discussed the somewhat fraught circumstances involving her exit from the show — without naming names. "This is the first time I'm talking about this," she said. "I had had some issues with somebody on the show, and it had kind of come to a head as I was getting ready to leave."

According to Benson, Whedon hadn't anticipated the backlash he'd receive for killing such a beloved character, and faced a tsunami of anger from fans. That ultimately led him to approach Benson about returning, but she declined the offer. "But I didn't want to come back," she added. "He really wanted me to come back, and we just couldn't come to an agreement on it."

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