Sarah Michelle Gellar: I Didn't Have A Relationship With My Dad
Exclusive! "What's amazing now is to watch the relationship between my husband and our daughter."
After saving the world from demons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and playing twin sisters on Ringer, Sarah Michelle Gellar is giving TV comedy a try. On The Crazy Ones—premiering Sept. 26 at 9/8c on CBS—she'll play an ad agency exec who's partners with her manic genius dad (Robin Williams).
The 36-year-old mom of two young kids with (hot!) husband Freddie Prinze Jr. predicts the lighter schedule of a half-hour comedy will be easier to manage—at least she hopes so!
YourTango: Charlotte is 3 and Rocky just turned 1. How are you juggling motherhood and work?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: They were great to me when we shot the pilot, when I was still breastfeeding. They would joke that when my outfits stopped fitting me during the day, it was time to take a break and let Sarah go back to her trailer. So it will be interesting. But it takes a village.
YourTango: What's different with the second child?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: I think it's easier only because the main thing as a parent you have to learn is to trust yourself. I think there's a confidence you have the second time that's just impossible to have the first time.
YourTango: Do you notice any similarities in the relationship you have on-screen with Robin Williams and the relationship you had with your dad, or that your daughter has now with Freddie? [Editor's note: Sarah's father, Arthur Gellar, passed away in 2001.]
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Father daughter relationships, until recently, were something I had to read about or ask people about because I didn't have a relationship with my father. But what's amazing now is to watch the relationship between my husband and our daughter and to really sort of understand it in a different way, and also to watch Robin with his daughter. I don't know if Robin makes me a better parent or being a parent makes me a better actor opposite Robin, because it's kind of the same thing, which is I have to keep a straight face. It's sort of like when my 3 year old says something really inappropriate and it's really funny, but I can't laugh. That's kind of like working with Robin.
YourTango: You and Freddie have been married for 10 years. What's the secret to a happy marriage?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: God, if I knew I would write a book and retire! It's work. You have to work at any relationship in your life. You have to nurture it and take care of it.
More exciting articles from YourTango!