Big Hit UP Close with Emma Caulfield Sept 2001

Are you a big fan of the hilarious ex-demon Anya on Buffy? Of course you are! Ever wondered what the actress behind this cool character is really like? Well, Carolyn Stewart grabbed the awesome Emma Caulfield for an exclusive interview during her recent trip to Australia to find out...

What's in your fridge at home? Baking soda and water. (laughs) That's about it right now. What would be the first thing you'd grab from your house if it was burning down? My pictures. Photo albums. They are actually all in one spot. Surprisingly I am organized with that actually but it just sort of reminds me of something I would like to do which is get a safe and put all the negatives in a safe. I need to do that. But yeah, I would get all my pictures for sure and probably... well, oh my God, my cats! (laughs) I mean, if they weren't already running out of the house! If my cats weren't already outside at that point, definitely my photo albums and the stuffed animal that my boyfriend [Andrew Woodworth from the group Elephant Ride] gave me.

Of all the people who know you, who do you think knows you best? My boyfriend. We've been friends for 11 years.

What do you order at McDonald's? Cheeseburger, fries and a diet Coke. If I'm really hungry I get the cheeseburger meal with the two cheeseburgers, extra-large fries and diet Coke and I eat it all, I want to you know. I eat it all! I love eating unlike a lot of... whatever, I won't start!

What did you get for your last birthday? I got a beautiful pair of earrings [puts on a cute voice] from my honey. A trip to Catalina [Island, located just off the coast of LA] also courtesy of my honey, and a bunch of other stuff. You know, DVDs, CDs and flowers, stuff like that. I did well. Yeah, I scored!

What can't you leave home without? I have a little portable voice/picture compact. It looks like a make-up compact and you flip it open and the upright side holds a picture and the bottom of it is a little voice recorder with a play and record button that you can record messages on. Inside it there's a picture of Andy and I that's my boyfriend, with a message that he did that he did that I wish I had for you so you could really appreciate why I never leave home without it! He's got a gift for voices. He's the funniest person you'll ever meet in your life. He's hilarious and he recorded this little message for me and I always carry it. And rosary beads.

What's the worst thing you've ever done for a dare? Oh, wow! (pauses) Oh my God, I know I've done something embarrassing, I've got to think back to my high school days because I think that's when I think I did Truth or Dare. What I should say is Nash Bridges (laughs). Silk Stalkings! Yes, Silk Stalkings, that should be the worst thing I ever did for a dare! How do you know when you're in trouble with your parents? They're really good with, like, one word responses. They still talk but they're very, "uh-huh", "mmm-hmm", "nice". I've never been addressed with my full, real name which I'm sure if you've really dug you'd find out what it is but I'm not going to volunteer it. (laughs)

What's been your greatest holiday? I have to say this one. My trip here. It's been so nice. It really only rained that one day that we were here and even still, it didn't stop us from going out. We ventured our and got soaking wet and we were just laughing the whole time because it was just so gorgeous and then the sun broke and the most enormous beautiful rainbow I have ever seen in my life. Huge. Huge. It just went from literally one side of the city all the way over to the next one and it had this little, tiny off-shoot from it. I wish we had a camera so we could make a postcard of it. This is what we deal with every day in Sydney... from our penthouse suite... right by the Harbour. It was really nice.

What's your earliest memory? My sense of smell is really acute. Probably whenever I smell a certain plant, and I don't know the name of it, it's a flower and it's got buds and it's multiple-coloured. Actually, you have them all over here. Whenever I walk by them I'm like, "Oh my God!" Green and orange and it smells really, really good. That specifically reminds me of the nursery. I remember going to the nursery as a kid with my mum. I couldn't have been more than four.

What have you been up to in Australia? I love it so much. We have had the best time. Eager to go home but kind of sad about it too. I wish we had more time. Next time. We didn't really leave Sydney. We didn't over-do anything. We went to the zoo which was lovely and a little ferry ride by the Opera House which is great. Went to the aquarium. Went shopping, of course. Found a little local sports bar, One World Sport at Darling Harbour, with tons of video games and pool. I love that place. It's so much fun! We went miniature golfing which I know sounds random but we love miniature golf.

What Aussie saying do you like the most? (laughs hysterically) "Gaan get fucked you mongrel!" That's the best! Can you print that? I've been trying since I got here to get the accent down and say it like a true Aussie.

Have you spoken to Sarah Michelle Gellar while you've been in Australia? No. I'm very happy for them [that SMG is engaged to Freddie Prinze Jr]. That's great. He's such a sweet man.

Something people don't know about me is... I collect chicken knick-knacks. (giggles) If I won an Oscar, my speech would be... Long-winded.

If I could pick any guest star for my character to kiss, I'd choose... My boyfriend. (laughs)

If I was in trouble, the first person I'd call would be... My boyfriend. No wait. It would be a tie. My boyfriend and my mum. Both are great and handy and always know exactly what to do to make me feel better.

If I had a dinner party and could invite five famous people. I'd choose... Ooh! Bono, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman. That would be fascinating. William Shakespeare. Can they be alive or dead? It's going to be hard to bring him back from the dead but this is my perfect imaginary dinner party! (long pause) Ronald Reagan. (laughs madly)

Sarah Michelle Gellar is engaged, as is Nicholas Brendon. Of the Buffy cast who do you think will be next in line to tie the knot? Oh God. No comment. No comment, I'm so not going there. that's trouble! No comment.

Have you ever met a Buffy fan who doesn't mention the bunny suit to you? No. No. Eventually it comes up. Always. And I'm so happy about it because honestly I think that's one of the most endearing things about that character is the bunny suit. Love the bunny. Anything involved with bunnies and Anya is just so much fodder for fun conversation.

Now that you have the pick of the Buffy wardrobe, who do you dress up as for Halloween parties? Oh! (laughs) You can't print that! Well, I'm a big fan of going topless with maybe a pair of acid straps. (laughs) How about that? Of course not! I'm totally joking! I haven't had a decent Halloween costume in... a long time.

in real life, would you fall for a guy like Xander? I did kind of. Andy's more self-assured, but humour is key. Humour, humour, humour. Gotta be funny. (laughs)

What will you tell people about Australia? That it's a lot like being back at home except cleaner. The people are more friendly. It's like taking the best parts of being at home and making them even better. It's just an amazingly beautiful country and I only wish I had more time. Next time, which there definitely will be next time, maybe in the next summer and we can do some water sports or hike and do some stuff that we didn't get a chance to do. It's a place you'll want to come to more than once.