IGN Demon girl, interrupted 13/04/2000


chat with IGN Sci-Fi (12-4-00) by Sarah Kuhn

Question, Buffy Buffs: how exactly would you all expect Anya, that outspoken demon girl with an attitude, to act at a movie premiere? Well, she’d probably make a whole slew of wildly inappropriate comments to some of the big stars in attendance, flash a quizzical smile at the paparazzi, then be on her merry way down the red carpet.

Now, here’s a tough one: how would Emma Caulfield, the young actor who brings sparkle and zip to Anya’s hysterically clueless one-liners every week, behave? Well, quite differently, actually. “I don’t like [going to premieres], doing any of that, because it’s like my natural impulse is ‘Well, they’re not gonna care if I’m there,’” she says. “And it sounds like some bogus actor speak, but it’s genuinely the truth. I can be fairly audacious when I need to be, but for the most part, I’m pretty shy, and I have a very skewed perception of myself, I think.”

Hold on a second — Anya, formerly known as Anyanka, 1,120-year-old demon savior to scorned women everywhere and full-fledged Slayer sidekick is...shy? Well, yeah, actually. Before I even pick up the phone to chat with Emma, I’m nervous I’ve heard that she doesn’t like, um, interviews. “I hate them,” she confirms good-naturedly. “And more than interviews, I hate photo shoots. I despise them. I had to do one for TV Guide recently, and the whole time, I was just like crawling out of my skin: ‘Are we done? Are we done?’ I’ve gotta try to find a way to just smile, so people don’t think I’m such a bitch! [At premieres], the whole time going down the red carpet [I’m thinking that] I just want to get inside, I don’t want my picture taken, who the hell cares about me anyway? I just want to sit down and hide. And I know in the back of my mind, it’s like the worst thing someone in my position can do, because people are going to be thinking, ‘Who the hell does she think she is?’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, if you only knew!’ I’m so not that. I’m a basket case in matching shoes and handbag.”

While Emma’s aversion to such things may seem odd, considering she’s on the verge of becoming a big-time TV star (before Buffy, she did guest turns on Beverly Hills 90210 and Saved by the Bell), it also sets up an interesting juxtaposition. Emma’s worried that people will mistake her shyness for aloofness, while Anya...well, Anya doesn’t much care what anyone thinks. “I think there’s a lot of sweetness in her, [but] I don’t think she knows what to do with it,” says Emma. “She’ll say something really nice, and then the next breath, she’ll just say something hideous. And I don’t even think it’s because she’s a bad person, she just doesn’t edit her thoughts, and the things that come into her mind are things that probably come into everybody’s mind, and they downplay them or they ignore them and they feel bad for thinking them. And they go out of their way to try to think or do something else, when in reality, I think we’re all capable of thinking the things she thinks.”

She’s going to have plenty more opportunities to say such things, come next season: Emma has just been officially upgraded to series regular. “I was initially signed on to do just one, and then it sort of snowballed from there,” she says. “It’s been a really nice surprise. I’ve had a really great time. Someone asked me recently if I was really overjoyed and overcome with excitement [about] being part of the show. And I think it came out wrong, what I said. I mean, of course, I’m really happy to be on the show, it’s what I’ve wanted, and I’m glad we could work the whole thing out.

“But, in a way, too, it was sort of anticlimactic because I’d been there for so long. And it wasn’t like I showed up one day and they made me a regular after one episode. I mean, I really paid my dues. I’ve been there for a season and a half. And I think I misrepresented my response to whoever that was, that I was not really happy, but it’s not true. I mean...I was really happy!” Right, but it’s not like they had some kind of ceremony for her or anything... “Yeah, you know, they held a parade!” she laughs.

Certainly, Emma’s been working as hard as ever on the show — we’re chatting during a rare break in her Buffy filming schedule, and it’s a particularly hectic time as they’re just about to wrap the fourth season. “We’re almost done shooting the finale — the finale’s a two-parter, but the actual last episode of the season isn’t a part of that finale,” she reveals. “It’s just sort of a stream-of-consciousness, non-sequitur type episode. It has nothing to do with anything, it just exists, in and of itself, which I think is a really cool way to end the season. [The two-parter] ties up a lot of issues that have been lingering for the past half a season. And, you know, in traditional Buffy style, a lot of people die...”

Gulp. Anyone important? “Oh, no, nothing like that. You know, it’s traditional big blow-out...you know, stuff,” she says, laughing. “You know I can’t talk about it! It’ll be fun, though.”

As with most of the Buffy players, Emma can’t reveal specifics about upcoming episodes, but she will say that she just shot her first few scenes with James Marsters’ deliciously evil Spike. Rumor has it that she comes on to him...true? “No, I don’t come on to him,” she laughs. “See here again, you’re asking me to divulge. Let’s just say the scenes are very...fun.” OK, then. Emma also mentions some scenes she recently shot dealing with the off-kilter romance between Anya and Xander (Nicholas Brendon). “We shot an episode, I think it’s actually the one that airs after ‘Superstar,’ where it deals a lot with our relationship and what’s going on,” she says. “It’s tied into some other stuff that goes on in the episode. I wouldn’t even know how to explain it, I don’t even know that it makes sense to me. It was confusing shooting it. But it’s pretty much the two of us, and it explores that question in a little bit further detail for you.”

IGN Sci-Fi: Now that you are a regular, you’re officially part of the Scooby Gang. So who are you in that construct? Like, I talked to Amber [Benson] recently, and she said she was Shaggy...

Emma: Oh! God. I don’t know, do they have a character like me? Um...I don’t know. I’m so unfamiliar with...

IGN Sci-Fi: The Scooby Doo mythology?

Emma: Yeah! I mean, I wish I could speak a little bit more in depth about it. [laughs] Well, you know...maybe I’m like the dog. You know, like teaching an old dog new tricks, I mean that’s sort of symbolic for my character. I’m Scooby! [laughs]

IGN Sci-Fi: Quick 90210 question: do you think Anya would go for Brandon Walsh?

Emma: Oh my God, totally! Oh, yeah! Brandon and Xander are very different people, but Brandon has the same sort of likable, affable, endearing quality that Xander has, and they just express it in different ways. And, you know, Jason’s hot! Brandon’s a good-looking guy, so why wouldn’t she?

IGN Sci-Fi: If they were going to make an Anya action figure, what accessories would she come with?

Emma: Oh...um...Well, something sexual I think. You’d have to, right? Like a whip or...something! Maybe a pair of handcuffs. You’d probably have to throw in that power amulet thing. Something like that, some power source. Maybe an alternate Anya, you know, with the demon mask.

IGN Sci-Fi: Was it a total pain in the ass to be in that bunny suit for the entire episode?

Emma: [laughing] It was really hot. Very uncomfortable. But a lot of fun. I gotta say, that I think it was one of the few times when I read it and I saw the description on the page, that the actuality of that was so much funnier than what I even had in my head, which was pretty damn funny. And I had a really good laugh at myself — I was really amused when I saw the dailies, and then I saw the finished project. And it was so, so endearing to me — that was one of my favorite Anya moments. Something I thought of as sort of a turning point for that character. The character really, despite herself, lightened up.

Indeed. And so we wrap up our chat, which, for all of her worries about interviews, and all of my worries about her worries, turned out to be, dare I say...fun? Emma may think she’s not the best interview subject, but she’s actually quite charming, down to earth, and slyly funny. Before I take my leave of her, I ask if there’s anything else she wants to talk about. “Should I have something to say?” she says, sounding concerned. “Would that be interesting? Sure, let’s talk about France’s economy or something...”

You might not want to hear this, Emma, but I think they’d much rather talk about you.