Live with the Ex-Demon Aug 2001

BBC Host: Hello, and welcome to tonight’s live chat with Emma Caulfield - Anya in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Emma is ready to start answering your questions.

Here’s the first question.

Jennifer: If you were a vengeance demon, what would you do to who and why?

Emma: Hmm. I probably would find one of my ex boyfriends and kick his a*** - he deserves it.

Mike: You’ve worked on Beverly Hills 90210 and now Buffy, both huge TV programmes. How different is Buffy to Beverly Hills 90210?

Emma: The hours are a lot longer, it’s just a completely different type of genre so there’s a lot of expensive make up and time that is alloted for special effects and that sort of thing. Now that I’ve been in it for so long it all just seems very normal to me.

I have a great time working with the cast of Buffy, it’s like a little family. The crew is amazing, we all hang out at work, it’s all very friendly and familiar.

90210 was a little bit more rigid, but it had it’s moments.

Nathan George: Is the Buffy schedule too hectic sometimes?

Emma: It’s only really difficult when we split up the week into day shoots and night shoots. To start off on a Monday at 6am, wrap at 7pm and then as the week progresses the start times get later and later as you’re shooting nights.

You could be shooting at 3am in the morning and then go back for a 6am call the next morning, your body gets really confused.

I make sure I sleep as much as I can and relax in the trailer when I get a chance. On the weekends I just try to sleep in and go to the gym and drink a ton of water!

Bernie Porrelli: Did you know you were going to become a regular on the show? Did you also want to become a regular?

Emma: I didn’t know when I first started. I was only supposed to do one episode. The season (Season four) when I came back I found out about half way through that season that I would be there longer.
All the seasons are blending together now, as time elapses. I feel like I’ve been there forever. I was thrilled when they told me, as I wanted to stay.

John Llewellyn: Do you enjoy the acidic lines that they give you?

Emma: I love the lines they give me. I really just have the best things to say all the time. Every time I go through the script I’m so honoured and pleased, just totally overjoyed at the great things my character gets to say.
We have a whole team of writers who take care of all our dialogue so I don’t get much input. I just gladly do what they tell me to.

I like to have input in terms of my characters’ development. Luckily, what they have given me is all right there, I don’t have to really reach very far to find fulfilment. She’s a very well developed character.

Jennifer and Sarah: Are you anything like Anya in real life?

Emma: I suppose I’m a little bit like her. I have an appreciation for being direct. My boyfriend recently told me I don’t know how to be false. I think Anya is a lot like that.
She’s pretty loyal and I’m pretty loyal but other than that, our similarities stop there.

Kookie: What are your feelings about the show’s absence in the Emmy nominations?

Emma: I was very upset about it. I think the show is long overdue for recognition. I think it’s one of the best written and well done shows on TV.
It’s disheartening that the Emmy board continue to shut out Joss Whedon. I don’t understand how they manage to get away with it every year. It’s astonishing that after five seasons that they can’t recognise the success of the show.

Solitaire Lightning: Do you think your study of phsycology helped in the development of Anya?

Emma: I suppose I should say yeah, but probably not. In general I have an analytical mind. Probably my approach to what I do would be the same if I had majored in something else.
I tend to break everything down into little pieces in general so I think one thing would affect the other but I don’t think it made much difference. I’m constantly toying with the idea of going back and getting my degree.
I loved school but I can’t really commit myself to one or the other. But who knows, maybe my life will take me into some direction that will allow me to finish college.

Barney: What do you really think of rabbits?

Emma: I love rabbits. I don’t eat them! They’re just so adorable. It’s such a funny thing about that character. I have no fear of them at all.

Andrew B: Are you happy about Buffy moving network in America to UPN?

Emma: Ultimately you want to be somewhere you’re appreciated and I believe we’ve found that on UPN.

Liz: Was it hard to join a cast that had been together for almost three years when you started?

Emma: Surprisingly no, it was pretty easy. I was welcomed with open arms. We all get along, Alyson Hannigan and I are very good friends, we hang out a lot.
It’s like a little family. All us sidekicks get along very well.

Lee Whale: Which has been your favourite episode so far?

Emma: I think it would have to be the finale from two seasons ago, the dream sequence. I love that one, I think that was great.
My most challenging acting scene is in The Body, which is an episode that you will be seeing in the future.

Paul Johnson: Why do you think Anya fell for Xander?

Emma: I think initially it was physical, they had a physical connection but ultimately I think she’s attracted to his loyalty to his friends and his inate humanism! Plus, he’s a construction worker so he’s got the body!

Ceri: How has your life changed since you first appeared on Buffy - has it changed for the better?

Emma: My life in general has just been amazing over the last couple of years. I’ve had a good life. I’ve been lucky. The last few years a lot of things have just fallen into place. I’ve had a lot more peace in my life.

Appearing on Buffy is starting to open doors that otherwise would have been closed. I’m actually trying to work out a movie deal right now, I’m in the process of negotiations. Watch this space!

Anna FM: What was the most embarrasing thing you have had to say as Anya?

Emma: It was probably what I gestured not what I said. From the episode Hush. I think anyone who saw it knows what I’m talking about.
It causes lots of laughter, always, when Anya has something to say. It’s so embarassing but fun.

Tom Rice: Do you sing in the musical episode in season 6?

Emma: I do. I have a couple of numbers actually. I think everybody should be very frightened. Joss wrote all the stuff so it’s all original work.
We just got a CD and the script in advance so we could work on everything. We got a vocal coach and dance coach. I think ultimately it looks great.

Linda Rambo: What have you had to wear as Anya that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing in public?

Emma: Nothing I don’t think. Even the bunny costume I’d wear at Halloween!

Dracula: Do you like playing Human Anya more than demon Anya?

Emma: I think it’s a toss up. I don’t like the makeup that’s required for demon Anya. I had a very tough time with that. I felt claustrophobic.
Playing a villian you get to play out certain emotions that you normally would have to keep in check. The demon makeup took about three and a half hours to put on! It was awful.

Joanne Armstrong: What has been the weridest thing a fan has ever given you?

Emma: I haven’t really been given anything that weird. Compared to Alyson getting a horse, it’s not really a comparison. Being misquoted or being the victim of fraud which I was recently are serious downsides to being famous. I did a signing in Australia and a magazine wanted to do a follow up piece with me to tie in their previous interview and I’ve done so many, I thought sure.
Then I came to find out that I had never done an interview with them and they’d gone and printed a whole false interview with someone who claimed to be me, from a crazed fan who had enough information to pass off as me.
She said she had the fax in hard copy and I asked to see them and it wasn’t even my handwriting. Nobody knew anything about it. It turned out that the freak was at the convention and was hoping to see me.
That was weird. To be so delusional that falsifying a whole interview and tricking a magazine and presenting an image of me that was totally untrue. Especially as I had to explain it all at the signing.

Deepal Parmar: Will you be visiting the UK or doing any signings here?

Emma: I have no immediate plans but I’d love to come back and visit for a little while.

James Williams: Is Xander and Anya’s wedding going to go well?

Emma: We haven’t shot that yet, we haven’t got that far in terms of the story. I know ultimately what happens but of course I can’t say!
You can pretty much guarantee that anything that happens on Buffy always has consequences. It never goes smoothly.

Nikii Ford: What was filming The Body like?

Emma: It was very difficult. It was time consuming and emotionally draining but ultimately the most rewarding thing that I’ve done so far. There was a very sombre atmosphere on set.
To maintain that level of pathos and sorrow for 12 hours a day every day wears on you.

Vengeance Girl: Are you really leaving the show mid-way through season six as lots of spoilers are suggesting?

Emma: No! Anya isn’t going anywhere.

Hank Scorpio: What was your reaction to hearing about Buffy’s death?

Emma: I wasn’t surprised! Joss tells us a bit about what will happen in the future but he’s fairly cryptic about it.

Reece Reid: I’ve heard about the Buffy musical. How will that work then? Will it be Grease style?

Emma: It’s definitely not going to be anything like Grease. I just read the script and I have to reread it. There’s a lot of stage instruction. I need to read it a few more times before I get a visual picture but I don’t think it will disappoint anybody.

Lauren: Are we going to see more development in Anya’s past?

Emma: I don’t know. I really don’t know. I think they’re more focused on the present right now.

Matt Lang: Who’s the best singer in the cast?

Emma: I haven’t heard everybody sing so I don’t know. People I’ve heard sing have been Tony, Amber and James and they can all sing but the rest of them, I don’t know.

Jessie-Faith Joey-Hope: Can you see Anya doing an Angel and having her own series?

Emma: No. I can’t imagine that. I love doing Buffy and that’s it. I don’t think they have any plans for Anya to cross over.

Ken B: I saw you say in an FHM interview that if Elizabeth Dole runs for President, you’ll help and join her campaign. She’s rumoured to run as Senator in North Carolina. Will you drop everything and help her?

Emma: No, I can’t drop anything, I’m bound to my show. I do remember saying that and I think she’s amazing and I’m sure if anyone ever came to me and wanted my help in getting support for her I would gladly do so, but no political career.

Laura: Is it true that Willow is turning evil this season?

Emma: I can’t say that! I’d love to but I can’t say anything, I’d get into trouble.

[Note from the Editors - Emma said this in a very arch Southern Accent, and got very nudge-nudge with us. We think Laura may have hit the nail on the head there!]

Matt Rowe: I heard rumours of a Buffy cartoon. Will the original cast be voicing it? Will you?

Emma: There is a Buffy cartoon and it’s starting from high school so I suppose when they catch up to my arrival I might be. It’s not close to that yet so I really don’t know.

Edward Potts: What do you think of all the rumours flying round about how season six will play out?

Emma: Obviously I haven’t heard many of the rumours. I don’t spend much time on the net so I’m sort of in the dark. I’ve never heard the one about me leaving and it’s not true.
I’m very much in the whole season and have no plans to leave. I don’t really know many rumours though. I think this speculation is fun. If nothing else people are talking about the show. It’s almost always wrong.

Craig Burkey: Will the Series 6 have a lighter atmosphere as it got a bit heavy with Buffy’s Mum?

Emma: So far it’s been a little bit heavy but I think that it won’t be as heavy, no.

Annie: Jane Espenson often writes brilliant Anya episodes, and says the character is partly based on her. Is it odd playing someone’s alter-ego? Do you get on well with Jane?

Emma: I love Jane and I had no idea that the character was partly based on her. If that’s true I’m even more flattered to play her. Anya has a special place in my heart, she’s so great to play.

BBC Host: That is all we have time for. Here is Emma with a final word.

Emma: Thank you so much for taking the time out to ask me questions. I’m honoured and flattered that we have so many fans out there around the world. It’s a popular show and it’s made popular by the intensely loyal fans we have.

Thank you.


BBC Host: Emma is off to the studio in a few hours to shoot yet more Buffy... Sorry if your question didn’t get answered - there just wasn’t enough time to cover them all.

That’s it...cheerio and toodles!