Sarah Michelle Gellar at the premiere of "The Air I Breathe" held at ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, Calif. on January 15, 2008.

ThinkFilm’s The Air I Breathe is comprised of four short fables in which characters collide with fate, and each other, in an ambitious and absorbing drama from debut director/writer Jieho Lee. With an accomplished ensemble cast, the film is inspired by a Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four key emotions -- Happiness, Sorrow, Pleasure and Love -- and each vignette is built around a character who embodies one of these key emotions.

 

In “Happiness,” Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker stars as a timid banker who impulsively bets every cent he has on a supposed sure thing. In “Sorrow,” Sarah Michelle Gellar is a rising pop star whose contract falls under the control of a ruthless crime boss (Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia) and his corrupt nephew (Emile Hirsch). In “Pleasure,” Brendan Fraser stars as a man who can see into the future of everyone he meets, but is totally blind when it comes to his own. And, in “Love,” Kevin Bacon plays a doctor who pines for a woman he can never possess (Julie Delpy), only to find that he suddenly holds her life in his hands.

 

Golden Globe nominee Sarah Michelle Gellar spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about playing a pop star, handling the press and the possibility of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.

 

MediaBlvd Magazine> With all the success you’ve had in your Hollywood career, is it the independent films that let you do what you really want to do?
Sarah Michelle Gellar> To feel really well-rounded, you have to do it all, and I think that I’ve done that. I’ve been in big-budget blockbusters. But, there’s no question that these are the films that are the heart and soul of why we do it. To be in a cast like this, and to have the experience that we had, it wasn’t just the beauty of the script, but we were in Mexico city, in one hotel and, at the end of the night, I was sitting at the bar with Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia and Kevin Bacon, thinking, “Is this my life?” And, a story like has so much emotion, and so much trust that has to come between the actors, so that there is that camaraderie and those experiences. There’s no question that independent film is different, and I guess the difference is that everyone there does it because they love it. I promise you, nobody was there to earn a paycheck. I think that we all ended up owing money by the time we were through. But, you do it because you love it and because of the experience, and this one was definitely unparalleled for me, in terms of the cast and the experience. I’m 10 times the actor I was, for having worked with this cast. First of all, I was pretty much the only girl among those guys. You might not appreciate that, but for me, that was a pretty good gig. Just to raise your game to that level, I feel very lucky.

 

MediaBlvd> Have you deliberately done a lot of independent films since Buffy, so that you would just be able to act and grow?
Sarah> Certainly, and it’s been great. When I was on the show, something that I was very lucky about was that I was allowed to grow. She was in high school and then she went to college and then she became a mother, essentially. She had tragedy in her life. She had happiness. She had all those things, and so, as an actor, I was always challenged. But, the roles that I decided to do, on the side, were basically because of when my hiatus was. Independents didn’t fit in that time frame because, if the money doesn’t come in that day, it pushes filming, and then I wouldn’t be able to do it. So, when I left, or when it was done, for the first time, I could take things just because of the experience. I had the time to say, “God, this is a great story.” I signed on to this before the other actors, and so, I didn’t even know that I was going to have a cast like this. Those experiences are how you grow, personally and professionally. I made four movies last year. You lose that, over the course of an eight-year show, which is not to say that it wasn’t the most incredible eight years. I wouldn’t change a thing.

 

Sarah> When anyone is in the public eye, there’s a certain assumption about them. I think something that both characters were fighting was perception. In Southland Tales, Krysta wanted to be thought of as more than just a porn star. And, in The Air I Breathe, Trista is trying to find who she is. But, what attracted me initially, before even the character, was the story. You don’t really read stories like this. It read like poetry to me -- just the idea of emotions telling the story. And, Jieho talked a lot about The Wizard of Oz version of it. When I first read it, before I had heard his version, I looked at it as if the story was just one character, and each of us represented a facet of that character. I was the sorrowful part, Brendan was the pleasureful part and Kevin Bacon was love. And, it’s only when you get all of us together that you get a whole, which is what I think we are, as humans. You don’t really know true happiness until you’ve had the depths of sorrow to understand what that happiness is. And, until you’ve had that great happiness and pleasure, you don’t really know how to fight through the sorrowful parts because you don’t know what else is there. Those are the experiences that really shape and define us. So, I was fascinated by the whole idea that we were all one person. I had the fortunate character, in the sense that I probably had the fullest arc. She starts in this place of sorrow, but through knowing happiness, pleasure and love, she finds who she really is, which is the whole being.
                                                                                               

MediaBlvd> Did you base Trista on anyone real, like Britney Spears?
Sarah> Yes and no. Some of it is my experiences. Obviously, I’ve had a little bit of experience with some of these situations. But, she was based on someone that Jieho knew as well. What was interesting about that was that it’s my first-hand experience, and his second-hand experience. Some of the experiences Trista has were literally taken from this girl, and it’s not the ones you would think. It’s the ones you’d be shocked to know actually happened. Trista is Jieho’s idealized fantasy version of this character. But, I also couldn’t help but take from certain bits and pieces of other people.

 

MediaBlvd> Have you ever been in an uncomfortable interview, like Trista?
Sarah> Yeah, but nothing has gone as haywire as that one. But, I’ve had nights on a talk show where the audience just isn’t feeling my jokes and I know I’m dying, and I start to get hot. If you’re doing an interview one-on-one, it’s four minutes and it’s quick. You want them to ask you questions, but at the same time, you’re afraid. It’s tough. It’s a weird dance. You get this short period of time, where the interviewer has to get their questions across, and I have to give a piece of myself. I have to let the interviewer in, but I don’t really know them that well, even though I may have seen them a couple of times. I’ve had plenty of interviews not go the way I had hoped.

 

MediaBlvd> Even though you always seem to handle yourself really well with the press, has anyone really stumped you?
Sarah> Yeah, I’ve been stumped. Interviewers come in with questions that they need answered, that are somewhat of a personal nature, and I have to be open enough to be able to answer those questions. At the same time, they have to take an impression away, so in a very short period of time, I have to give them the essence of me. It’s a very complicated dance that has to be done. If you’re someone like Trista, and you’ve had no guidance and you’re lonely and you don’t know who you are, I can’t imagine the magnification that that has to add to it. I understand that. I was 18 years old when my show became so big, and I didn’t know who I was. I was just trying to figure that out. As an actor, you’re constantly playing a different character and are always pretending to be someone else, but at the same time you have to keep a handle on who you are. I think that’s where a lot of actresses get lost because that’s tough. I can only imagine that it has to be the same as a pop star because you’re not just playing a character, you’re a persona. When you look at someone like Gene Simmons, he can really walk that balance so well. When he’s onstage, he knows who he is, but he knows who he is at home, too. They’re not the same person, and I give him a lot of credit for that because that’s really hard. That’s where Trista was learning how to grow. What’s so interesting, specifically, about Trista, in this movie, is that she was Sorrow, and that was the emotion that I was there to experience, but at the same time she’s the one that grows the most from learning about Pleasure and Happiness and Love.

 

MediaBlvd> Having done Buffy: The Musical, did you do Trista’s singing?
Sarah> No. But, unfortunately, I had to do Trista’s music video, and I am not the girl that dreamed of being a pop star. I was not the girl that sang in front of the mirror with a hairbrush. I was petrified. And, on top of that, Jieho is a music video director, so we shot the whole music video. I’m petrified that, when this DVD comes out one day, there’s going to be a music video on there. It’s one thing to do a music video as a porn star, called “Teen Horniness Is Not a Crime.” It’s a little bit easier than doing something that’s supposed to be from the next up-and-coming pop star. And, it was my second day of filming. I had to put the leather pants on, get the body make-up, the lashes and the hair, and they had closed the set. It was a more closed set than the love scene. I was more petrified about the music video. I wouldn’t let Brendan anywhere near the set that day. I was like, “It’s Mexico, bring me some tequila and let’s get this done.” And then, by the end of it, I was just loving it.

MediaBlvd> What was your reaction to the final movie and your character arc in it?             

Sarah> As an actor, I’m always going to nitpick. I’m always going to think, “God, I wish I had done that, or I wish I had done this.” But, as a whole, I am so proud to be a part of this film. When you have those actors, you have an expectation, and I think that everybody delivered more bang for the buck, pardon the horrible expression. I am really proud that, 10 years from now, I can look back and go, “I was a part of that.” Honestly, I am proud of the work that I did in this, and that’s hard for me to say because I am the constant nitpicker. It was a really wonderful experience. My game was raised by working with Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser and Andy Garcia. These are people you hope to get to work with in your life, but you don’t think you’d actually get to work with them all at once.

MediaBlvd> How hard were some of those intense scenes with Andy?
Sarah> They were tough in some ways, and easier than I thought in others. I know Andy personally, as a dad, and so, I don’t know that scary side of Andy. Because of the caliber of his performance, you can’t help but be scared for your life. And, because I’m a little girl, he didn’t let go. When he holds me and throws me, he did that, and that was great. The hardest scene for me was the big scene between Andy, Brendan and I. I actually had to leave, at one point. Normally, I’m very good about separating the scene from reality, but watching Andy beat up Brendan was actually too hard for me. I really couldn’t watch it. That scene took about 19 hours, and Andy had a plane to catch, and it was just one of those tough days. Another scene I was really nervous about was the scene outside the club where all of the fans come after Trista. There was a language barrier. We shot in Mexico City. But, I had some of the best extras of my life. They gave me so much to work off of. That night became an electric night because it felt real. I don’t know how to describe it any differently.

MediaBlvd> How was working with Brendan?
Sarah> Brendan is a really close friend of mine, and I have to say that my performance would not have been possible without him. To go to the emotional places I had to go, it helped to be able to look into his eyes and see a friend, not to mention the fact that, if it wasn’t real, he would know. He knows me well enough to know when I’m faking it. And, when you have that trust, it makes the scenes that much more real. I feel like I’ve been really fortunate because I’ve had a lot of chemistry with the guys that I’ve worked with. But, this was on a  different level. I’m so used to goofy Brendan. People forget about Brendan, and that was one of the reasons why I really wanted him to take this job. I pushed Jieho and Brendan together. We forget Gods and Monsters and School Ties, and we forget the caliber of actor that Brendan is. We get lost because he’s so handsome and he’s so big, and he’s done The Mummy, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right, and he’s so goofy, that they forget about what Brendan is capable of as an actor. That’s what I love seeing. And, Jieho was hard on him. Jieho really rode him on this, and it shows. We were both doing stuff that was so far from what we’ve done recently. We were partners in it, all the way through.

MediaBlvd> Would you consider doing a Buffy movie, or have you said goodbye to that character forever?

Sarah> It’s not about that. I never say never, but my fear is that it was a movie, and we had a lot to overcome with the TV show, so to go back feels kind of hard. I’m very curious to see what happens with the Sex and the City movie. I’m excited to see what they do with it. We worked so hard to end Buffy in a way that would work for everybody. And, as a television watcher, I grieved when Sex and the City was over. Now, they’re going to bring it back, but they’re also just going to take it away again, and I don’t know how that will go for an audience. Also, Buffy didn’t really work on the big screen. People blamed Kristy Swanson, but that’s not what it was. The story was better told over a long arc. I worry about Buffy being told with a beginning, middle and end, so quickly. If you show me a script that works, and you show me that audiences can accept that, then I’d probably be there. Those are what my hesitations are. I watched people mourn over The Sopranos when it ended. How do you open it up again? The X-Files always was a beginning, middle and end type show. It didn’t have the same arcs as the other shows. That’s why I believe The X-Files can keep going back and forth. Or, Star Trek.

 

Sarah> Hopefully. It’s a passion project of mine. It’s a story that I’d love to see. I’m fearful that, at this rate, I’m going to have to be the Queen of Hearts because I’ll be too old to be Alice. It’s something I’d really like to see done. Contrary to what you may have read, it’s still my project, and I’m still working diligently. I’m not giving up because I believe there is such a beautiful, crazy, cool, twisted story to be told there. If I have to get down and write it myself, one of these days, I may just do that.       

 

Sarah> Alice is a video game. My husband is a big gamer. I don’t know that much about all of that, but I just thought Alice was the most weirdly beautiful game.

Sarah> Yeah, and I finished it, which was a miracle. I had a lot of help. We got the rights to it, and Universal wound up getting really excited. They put a lot of money into it, and then it was the usual story, where there was a regime change.

 

Sarah> I’m taking a little bit of a break. I did four films last year. On February 29^th, I have Possession coming out, with Lee Pace, who’s another great actor. He’s the guy from Pushing Daisies. He’s just a phenomenal actor. It actually takes place in one house, and it’s about a young career woman, which I haven’t really gotten to play before. She’s a young lawyer, who’s really focused. She meets a guy who hires her to get his brother out of jail. They fall in love and get married and they get the brother out of prison, but he has to move in with them and she and the brother don’t get along. She’s the straight-laced, black-and-white lawyer and, in her mind, the brother is just a criminal. You see the family dynamic. And then, the two brothers are in a terrible car accident. They’re both comatose, and it follows her for a little bit while she’s losing everything that she thought she had -- what she possessed that was important to her in her life. Then, one day, she gets a phone call that he’s woken up. She goes to the hospital and, unfortunately, it’s not her husband, it’s the brother. He believes that he’s her husband and she has to take him home because he has no insurance. It follows what happens when she falls in love with him and explores whether or not it’s really her love, or if she is just possessed by the idea of this love, and the idea of, if you could have your love back, how far would go to keep it? What would you believe? It’s this weird and crazy dynamic between Lee and I that goes from hate to love, and back and forth. It’s pretty cool. It’s small and contained. It’s only about three characters.

 

Sarah> I also give a couple of months each year to my work for C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere). I travel with them and do the field work, as well as the work in D.C. I took a month off this year and went to D.C. just to learn about the legislation. That’s something that I know nothing about. Most of the time, as an actor, you’re lucky to speak about something, but they’re also letting me learn the other side of it, which is where the money goes, who chooses where the financing goes, what projects are worthwhile and how to speak up for the projects that you want. I’m actually going to go to Africa. I know a lot of people say they’re going to go to Africa, but I’m going to Johannesburg, Tanzania and Zanzibar to see the field work. I’ve done most of my work in South America, which are projects based more on micro-financing, female empowerment and the education of the male caste system. Africa is the other side of the work that I haven’t really seen, as well as the drug testing and that whole side of it.

Sarah> I’m sure there are, actually. That’s the funny thing. I was in Bali and my cab driver called me Buffy. I know it’s on in South Africa. Probably not in Tanzania, but it’s on in South Africa and Johannesburg. I actually practice some of my Spanish by watching the Spanish Buffy reruns. My make-up artist went down to Mexico with me. She was on the show with me for all the years. I can understand Spanish really well, but I have trouble communicating. I don’t know how to structure the sentences. And so, we found that by watching stuff that we knew, it was an easier way to work on the language. We’d turn on the Buffy reruns and practice on our Spanish. I sounded pretty good on the show in Spanish, even though it wasn’t me.

Sarah> I don’t live here full time. I’m a little more involved in my home state, which is New York. I’ve done a lot of breast cancer work, and I’ve worked with the different hospitals here. I’ve done some work with Children’s Hospital, which is an incredible facility. Last year, I went there and spent a day in the unit with the babies. I had never seen little babies like that. You’re just really there for the parents, at that point. We went to some of the cancer wings, and we got to play the Wii and the Xbox with the kids there, so that was fun. I also work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation. And, I do have one animal foundation that I love, which helps take dogs off of death row and place them with good homes.

 

MediaBlvd> Being a big book collector, do you have a favorite, or is there one you haven’t found yet that you’re looking for?
Sarah> I love my complete collections. I have a first edition of Peter Pan, signed and numbered. Right now, I’m working on a Dr. Seuss collection. I’m working on having every first edition Dr. Seuss title. Independent films don’t buy your books, though. As a child, my favorite book was Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss.