.......Sarah Michelle Gellar once had her heart broken. A tiny tattoo on her ankle symbolises the pain: a dagger hanging over a heart. "I got that after the demise of a relationship, I just wanted to mark it." Over the past few years, however, Sarah, 23, has been making a mark of a different kind. She is a superstar, and in the last year she has shot to fame for reasons aside from Buffy. With an advertising campaign for Maybelline, hundreds of websites devoted to her magazine covers, books and awards, one would think that Sarah is immune from suffering from a broken heart. Just look at her life, she could have any guy she wants.
.......Trying to discover the man who holds Sarah's heart keeps gossip columns on fire - Freddie, Jerry or David? While she has been snapped walking up the red carpet with both Freddie Prince Jr and Jerry O'Connell, she maintains they are both just friends. She went to high school with Jerry and is a good friend of Freddie's. Says Sarah:" The odds are that you will not see me at one of those events with someone I am romantically interested in, which is why I'll go with Jerry or Freddie." What about the recent rumours regarding Sarah and David Boreanaz being more then just friends? It was reported the two former co-stars were doing the couple thang around Hollywoods hippest nightspots, and looking longingly into each others eyes over tuna sandwiches (now that's romantic). Sarah took no time in slaying this rumor. In a recent interview with America's TV Guide she laughed off the apparent sightings. "It's a complete fallancy." She said."I brushed that one off. They probably didn't call me for quotes because the article was so horribly inaccurate. It claimed David and I were together at a Christmas party, when he was home and in Philadelphia and I was in Australia, and how we were seen eating at Health-Food restaurants." David, says Sarah is just a very good friend. "She knows all these little things," he says "She could bend your ear for hours."
.......Mingling with Hollywood's hottest hunks is nothing new for this blonde-haired beauty. She's been in showbiz for years. At age four she was on the set of her first film, An Invasion of Privacy. By the time she was 12 she was hosting the TV talk show, Girl Talk and starring in the off-broadway show The Widow Claire. At 14 she won the lead in the tv series A Woman Named Jackie and by the age of 15 had appeared in over 100 commercials and various other movies and tv shows. At 16, she starred in the successful US soap, All My Children, winning and Emmy for her performance by the age of 18. She won the role of Buffy at 19. Her teenage years were behind her and her star was on the rise. Then came the slayer flicks, Scream 2 and I know What You Did Last Summer, followed by a small appearance in She's All That, the lead in Simply Irresitible and her portrayal of the sultry and sexy Kathryn in Cruel Intentions.
.......However, it was Buffy that propelled Sarah to the top. Since 1997, when the show first aired, Buffy Summers has grown from scream teen to a responsible adult while kicking some serious demon butt! Says Sarah about her character: "She has grown so much, aside from the hair colors (laughs), she's become an adult. You know when she first came she was scared, she didn't think she could handle things, and by the end of the season last year, she was saying things like, 'I'm Buffy - I can do this, I'm going to save the prom.'
.......Compared to your average 23 year old, Sarah has plenty of reponsibility's resting on her shoulders, which was highlighted last year by the Columbine High School massacre. In the US, they postponed the Buffy finale because of the tragedy. "I do believe that we do have responsibilities in entertainment, but I do believe that it is our job also to entertain," said Sarah, at a recent press conference in America. "And it is not necessarily our responsibilities to teach children their lessons. And children need to know right from wrong." Sarah is strongly opposed to people blaming Buffy for the havoc some teens cause. She says her show should be an inspiration to women rather than a target for criticism. "When Buffy and Angel slept together, there was an uproar because we didn't show condoms on the night stand. Oh come on, this is a 16 year old girl having sex with a 244 year old vampire! He shoots blanks. Lessons are to be learned from teachers and parents not television"
.......So who did Sarah learn her lessons from? After her parents divorced when she was young, Sarah was raised by her mother, Rosellen who she says is "the most amazing woman that I've ever met and probably will ever meet in my entire life." As for her father, Sarah thinks she may just have been put on the earth via immaculate conception. "You never know. My father, you can say, is not in the picture." She remarks.
.......While her mom taught her the lessons of life at home, Sarah struggled to fit in at school. "I was an outcast. I was a scholarship kid and I didn't have the clothing or the houses or anything of that stuff."
.......Life changed with Buffy, however, and Sarah's achievements have been pretty impressive since - not least the recent modeling contract she's scored with Maybelline. With her flawless fresh face splashed over the print adverts and tv, Sarah's pretty chilled about the whole notion of being Maybelline's new spokeswoman. "It was just such an honor, beacause every little girl wants to be a model." she told TV Guide. "I mean, I have a modeling contract! This is sooo surreal to me. I could just imagine what people are thinking: "Who does this five foot two (158cm) actress think she is? She's no model!!"
.......Valentina Guazzoni, the Vice President/Domestic Management Supervisor of Gotham Inc, the New York advertising agency reponsible for choosing Sarah for the Maybelline campaign, told Girlfriend she was looking for someone spunky who young women could relate to.
......."I guess we wanted a personality that had a modern, contemporary image particulary among a younger audience, which she is very strong with." Says Valentina. "What drew us to pick her was not only that she was a beautiful woman, but also her personality as Buffy. She's strong, aggressive, not a pushover. She's not just a pretty face. It's the personality of the character that associates with Sarah's personality."
.......Although Sarah has already been signed with Maybelline for a year, it looks like this contract is about to be extended. "We are planning on using her for several other brands." Says Valentina. "We have already shot a second commercial with her which is a mascara that has just started airing in the States. She's very pleasant. A very mature girl. She's driven. Very hard working."
.......Aside Maybelline, last year Sarah went to the Dominican Republic to work for Habitat for Humanity, where she helped rebuild homes for locals. Whether it was pouring concrete or shovelling dry cement, Sarah was not miffed about getting a blister ot two. Sarah told America's Teen people magazine that working for Habitat prompted her to re-evaluate certain area's in her life. "There's something nice about the hope that this gives you, the way everyone worked together." She said. "It restores your faith in humanity."
.......Sarah Michelle Gellar, meanwhile, certainly restores our faith in celebrities. She's a young woman who has followed her dream but still manages to live a normal life - going to the gym four or five times a week, vacationing at Queenslands tropical islands, hanging with her friends, partying (yes, she celebrated the start of the new century in Sydney at the Lord Mayor Frank Srator's Millennium Mask Party) Shopping, watching movies and dealing with life and love.
.......But Sarah remains modest: "Buffy is the role model." Says Sarah. "I haven't done anything in all honesty, except maybe go after my dreams"