'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' casts Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new chosen one
As we're told in the opening credits of the early Buffy episodes, in every generation there's a chosen one. The reboot has officially found theirs.
Ryan Kiera Armstrong will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the untitled Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, which has a pilot order at Hulu, according to Deadline. The 15-year-old actress, whose credits include Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Firestarter and American Horror Story, first learned she landed the part from the original vampire slayer herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
'I know this process has been hard, and there's been so many parts with me being out of the country. There was just sort of one part of it that I just wanted to ask you, and I wanted to make sure that you were OK with,' Gellar told Armstrong in a recorded Zoom call shared to Instagram. 'How do you feel about helping me save the world? You want to be my chosen one?'
Gellar shared the heartfelt footage on Instagram on Thursday, introducing Armstrong to her followers and fans of the original series. The Buffy alum, who most recently appeared on Dexter: Original Sin, will also be executive producing the reboot.
'From the moment I saw Ryan's audition, I knew there was only one girl I wanted by my side,' she wrote. 'To have that kind of emotional intelligence, and talent, at such a young age is truly a gift. The bonus is that her smile lights up even the darkest room. Welcome to #NewSunnydale.'
Sunnydale, for those unfamiliar, is the name of the fictional California city in which the original series takes place.
Armstrong, in an Instagram post of her own, shared her excitement in boarding the project and joining the 'Buffyverse.'
'I'm so beyond thankful and excited to share that I am going to be apart of the BTVS universe!!! I am so excited for this journey with you @sarahmgellar I am in awe of you,' she wrote on Thursday.
News of Armstrong's casting comes days after Gellar and her Buffy the Vampire Slayer costar Alyson Hannigan reunited to discuss the importance of meningitis vaccinations for teenagers. While Hannigan has yet to confirm whether she'll be part of the show's reboot, fans believe she may be leaving hints of her involvement. The actress, who played Buffy's best friend, Willow Rosenberg, on the show, captioned a recent Instagram post 'Suiting up to talk all things Sunnydale.'
'I hope that it brings comfort,' Gellar told SiriusXM Hits 1's The Morning Mash Up about the reboot. 'Buffy is still hitting people who are watching it for the first time, and they're seeing themselves, and they're seeing their friends, and they're finding their chosen family. And I think more than ever right now, as we get more and more divided, we need that chosen family, so I hope to provide a new chosen family.'
The untitled Buffy pilot was first revealed to be in the works in February. Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao is attached to direct the pilot, while Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman are set to write, showrun and executive produce the series. Original Buffy executive producers Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui and Dolly Parton will also executive produce the reboot alongside Gellar.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons, from 1997 to 2003, and spawned a spin-off series, Angel, which aired from 1999 to 2004. Gellar began playing the titular vampire slayer at just 19 years old. In 2001, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama for her starring role.
Gellar told People in March that the reboot is moving along faster than she expected.
'We've set up our offices, which means things are progressing probably faster than I'd anticipated,' she said, adding that she thinks it's still going to take some time to bring it all together. 'To do it the way it needs to be done, everyone has to be patient with all of us, because this isn't something that [will just happen].'
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