.....Torrance High School, Torrance,Ca. The students are gone and the campus is overrun by the zombie-like citizens of Sunnydale, USA. In other words, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has arrived and set up shop for an episode in which the stars become possessed by an evil force and turn on one another. Alyson Hannigan, 23, who plays the brainy Willow, escorts the gorgeous Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), 27, to meet a gaggle of young fans, proving she is much nicer than her snobby character is. Moments later Sarah Michelle Gellar, the kick-boxing slayer herself, sits on a staircase massaging Nicholas Brendon's temples. Nicholas, whose Xander wants Buffy in a big way, hit his head after falling off a wall during filming.
....."We spent fifteen minutes before[he did that] going, 'Nicky, you really should put a pad down because you're going to get hurt," explains Alyson affectionately. "But he's got that male ego kind of pride, like, 'No, I'm tough, I can make it.' And he's got all these girls concerned for him. I think he was just milking it."
.....While Buffy is classified as a horror show, the series has been beefing up it's romantic story lines this season: "The relationships that were forming in the first season had to go somewhere," explains Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Buffy's mentor, Giles (and the romantic male lead in the Taster's Choice ads). "You can't have people yearning all the time-some of it has to be requited." The cast members do most of their requiting at the production's home base in Santa Monica, CA, where permanent sets such as Giles' library and the Bronze, the local club, are stored.
.....The actors hang with one another outside the sound stages. "There's not a lot of ego running around-who has what trailer," says David Boreanaz (Angel), 26. "If we were in a [big] studio lot, it would really break up the show. With the amount of time spent applying makeup and setting up special effects, it's good that we have a camp like this. It's our own little home."
.....There are times, however, when even the best of friends need a break from one another: "You have to know everyone's idiosyncrasies," says Sarah, referring to her costars. "No one gets along twenty-four-seven. When I was having a bad day, everyone stayed away from me. My hairdresser came into my trailer and we watched soap operas. I felt better."
.....The cast members are on the job five days a week (like most people) but often work into the night. "My mom had never been to the set to see me work," says Charisma, while walking a dog, which relieves itself on the set's makeshift graveyard. "So she was with me for four days. [On a] day that I worked sixteen hours, she quit after twelve. She was like, 'I'm going home, I can't take this anymore.'"
.....Even when they're not on the job, Buffy's stars enjoy meeting their millions of fans. "I love it when kids recognize you," says Allison. "It's so sweet-their faces light up. I was at Jamba Juice [a local chain] the other day, and this little girl saw me and she's like, 'It's Willow!'" Even when the fans turn up at the unlikliest places, the Buffy cast can deal. "Nicky and David went to a strip club once and they were recognized," Allison says. By a stripper? "No, by a customer," says Nicholas, 26. "He's like, 'guys, best show on tv, thanks!' Then he went back to the other show. It wasn't a strip club, it was a bikini parlor-just to clarify that."