Sarah Michelle Gellar says secret Buffy producer Dolly Parton sent the cast Christmas gifts
What a way to make a livin': Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed the longstanding rumor that Dolly Parton served as a producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
What's more, the country legend used to send the cast of the supernatural series gifts during the holidays. Gellar shared the tidbit during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, after host Jimmy Fallon questioned the validity of the rumor of Parton being an uncredited producer.
"Little known fact, the legend Dolly was a producer," Gellar said. "And, you know, we never saw her. We'd get Christmas gifts in the beginning that would have our name, and I would think, 'She doesn't even know who I am.' And then one day, somebody asked her about it and she complimented the show and my performance."
"I was like, 'Oh, I can die now,'" she continued. "Dolly Parton knows who I am and thinks I'm good.'"
Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy; Dolly Parton
Parton co-founded Sandollar Productions, the company behind Buffy and the spin-off Angel series, with her former manager Sandy Gallin, who served as an executive producer on the series during its seven season run between 1997 and 2003. Sandollar also produced the 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson that inspired the series.
Gail Berman, a Sandollar executive responsible for shepherding the film into a series, even once recalled Parton personally handing her a check when the latter discovered that she was being paid less Buffy royalties than her male counterparts.
The cult favorite series, centered on a high school teen who slayed vampires and other forces of darkness, also starred Alyson Hannigan, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, and Charisma Carpenter.
Gellar recently said she has "come to a good place" regarding her complicated feelings for the show, referring to the allegations that embattled series creator Joss Whedon fostered a toxic work environment on set. "I will always be proud of Buffy," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I will always be proud of what my castmates did, what I did. Was it an ideal working situation? Absolutely not. But it's OK to love Buffy for what we created because I think it's pretty spectacular."
Watch Gellar's interview with Fallon above.
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