- I can't really leap through the air,
and I can't really take on five vampires at once.
I tried, it didn't work out well for me.
Hi, I'm Sarah Michelle, and today,
we are gonna take a look back
at my evolution as a superhero.
(inspirational music)
- For Eternia!
- I don't think we had any idea
of what "Buffy" could achieve.
I think that we all believed in it.
I know when I read the script, I thought to myself,
"Wow, this is something that I wish
I could have watched or that I could have had."
And I knew it was something special,
but because it was so different, you never know.
And we were on a small network
that didn't even have full clearance across America
at the time, let alone, worldwide and international.
But I think ultimately as an actor,
you hope you do something that resonates,
something that holds up over time,
that only becomes more and more accessible,
more and more relatable to the times.
And that's, to me, what "Buffy" represents
is that it doesn't matter if you watched it 20 years ago
or you're watching it today, it holds up.
The messages are clear, and they're relatable.
Every nightmare that she had
was just manifested into these demons.
But these demons were essentially our own fears,
which is so funny now in "Revelations"
to have an entire episode built on your own fears.
But everyone goes through those adolescent growing pains,
whether you're a girl, a boy,
whether you don't know who you are at that point,
those experiences are something we all have.
The fight in "Scooby Doo" was one of my favorite moments.
I was so truly excited because one of the only things
that we never really had time for on "Buffy" was wire work
because it's just so time consuming.
And so I got to work with a Hong Kong wire team,
and I didn't have a huge role in the movie,
so all my free time was spent with the Hong Kong wire team,
like practicing and learning all these skills,
and we just had the best time.
And I brought my stunt double from "Buffy" to Australia.
So we both got to take advantage of that.
And then we were able to then bring some of those skills
back to "Buffy" because we had trained for so long
that we were able to sort of utilize that skill,
so it was a double bonus for us.
"Star Wars Rebels" was a gift
in any way you can look at it.
Anytime you can be a part of the Star Wars canon,
that's just huge.
And that, to me, is sort of the biggest of the big.
But one of the greatest things that came about that
is I got my own ride at Disneyland.
And basically, there was a Star Wars Rebel Academy
where you could learn how to use a lightsaber,
and you fought the bad guys.
And so the Seventh Sister
was one of the characters you could fight.
And so I had to go in and record all of this.
And then I got the opportunity to take my kids
to Disneyland, and they all got to enjoy this ride
and go fight the Seventh Sister.
And my poor husband who did six, seven seasons
of that show did not get a ride,
but my one season got an attraction at Disneyland.
- Well, someone might've wanted
to alert the Captain of the Guard.
I almost called for an airstrike.
- One of the main reasons that I was so attracted
to being part of "Masters of the Universe" in playing Teela
was it was bringing a whole new essence to a cartoon
that was sort of narrow-minded in its attention
towards these male characters.
And it always felt in "Masters of the Universe"
that female characters were an afterthought.
And Teela is such a relatable way into the story.
There really wasn't a character that I found my way into
in the original stories, and I think that's why
I was so excited for who Teela was
and the strength that she brought and the humanity
that she brings to that story,
and just how badass-- Can you say "badass"?
It's...social media, right? You can say badass.
I mean, even her haircut, when Kevin showed it to me,
and I think the other really attractive thing
was just getting to work with Kevin
and his excitement and his passion.
I think playing strong women definitely affects
how you show up in your daily life.
I think that it reminds you that we have the power.
We all have the power, and the power is here,
and it's how we utilize that power and what we can bring.
And it's not necessarily always a physical power.
It's an emotional power.
It's bringing people together.
It's the power of being in the right place and all of those.
So yeah, I do think that I try to--
I definitely gravitate towards those characters.
Ultimately again, as an actor,
you just want to do performances and give performances
and be a part of shows that people remember
and that that's what your legacy is.
And the fact that I have gotten
so many incredible opportunities
to play so many important female heroines,
I just-- I feel very lucky, I truly do.
Thank you for the walk down memory lane.
Remember, "Masters of the Universe: Revelation"
is on Netflix, July 23rd.
(upbeat music)