Hollywood Zen 11/08/2000

A far cry from the manipulative demon who gave Cordelia a fateful wish, Emma Caulfield takes life and career in stride. Great looks. Electric talent. Neurotic to the core. Obsessed with who’s getting what part, and how much they’re getting paid to do it.

Sounds like the requirements for most actors and actresses, right? That’s not entirely true when t comes to Emma Caulfield, the laid-back actress who brought life to the devious Anyanka this past season on Buffy. Sure, she’s got the knock-out prerequisite covered — if more demons looked like her, we’d set up shop in the Hellmouth and take our chances.

She’s also got the skills to be convincing in an array of roles, from the eternally bitter patron saint of scorned women to the wide-eyed love-interest of eternally side burned Brandon Walsh on Beverley Hills, 90210. Where she veers from the frazzled actor stereotype, however, is with her infectious easy-going vibe. Off-camera, Caulfield seems completely at peace in the center of the otherwise tense and fast-paced show business world going on around her.

“I still get crazy from time to time; I still obsess from time to time. I mean, who am I kidding? I am neurotic. There’s no escaping that. I don’t know any actor who really isn’t. There just comes a point where you just have to let it go,” says Caulfield. “I suppose it is a very Zen attitude towards the business. I didn’t used to have this attitude — I used to drive myself insane. I just realized one day that life is too short. There’s no point in obsessing over the things you don’t have. Everybody in this business, I think, is where they’re supposed to be.”

Lately, Caulfield’s place to be has been Sunnydale, CA. She debuted in last season’s standout episode “The Wish” as Anya, a new girl at Sunnydale High with great taste in accessories who turned out to be a misguided 1,120-year-old demon who’s flunking math. Her amulet gave Cordelia the power to transform the universe as if Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, creating a city where the Master never died and the vamps have taken over. When her amulet was destroyed by the alternate Giles, her powers were stripped, trapping her in mortal form. Though her character is sorry to be stranded on Earth, Caulfield is thrilled that Anya has survived to make several appearances on the show.

“As far as I know, I don’t think [Joss Whedon] ever intended to have Anya around for more than one episode,” she recalls. “He found this great way to have her interact with the plotlines that had been developed throughout the entire season. It’s great. It’s so nice to work on a show like Buffy, which has a creative head who’s so involved with all the plots and the characters and the intricacies of the show. There’s no loose ends with anything he does, and it was really nice to go along with this character as she was being developed and figure it out with him in a weird way. You wonder where this character is going to go, and then once she’s gone there, it’s brilliant.”

Caulfield is a veteran of television guest appearances having popped in on shows as varied as Nash Bridges, General Hospital and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

“Dustin [Diamond, who plays Screech] is very nice,” says Caulfield, expertly anticipating the next question. “Actually, as silly as it sounds, [SBTB] is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done in front of a live audience. It’s the closest thing to being in theater without actually being in theater. It reminds you of why you’re in this business, because there’s just such a kinetic energy that goes on with a live audience. It’s always had a fond place in my heart.”

Prior to her work on Buffy, however, Caulfield was probably best known to viewers as Susan Keats, college sweetheart of Jason Priestly’s character through the 1995-96 season of 90210. In fact, she landed that part after first catching the attention of executive producer Aaron Spelling through her very first television appearance on another one of his projects, the short-lived series Burke’s Law.

“I was lucky enough to bypass the rigmarole of having to test and doing all that nightmare,” she says, “I could just come in under this nice little arc and then end up staying as a series regular.”

While Caulfield looks back fondly on her 90210 season, she says she also enjoys spending time with her Buffy cast-mates — despite an atmosphere of down-and-dirty competiveness behind-the-scenes: “We have Scrabble tournaments,” she says. “What else are you gonna do? You can only read so much. Most of the time is spent waiting around, so you get, hour-long Scrabble matches going, and that’s really fun. Everybody gets along with everybody. It’s fun to work on a show where everybody there is so happy to be there and to work in a creative environment.”

It also probably doesn’t hurt that Caulfield has the chance to play such a fun and acerbic character struggling with the bitter ironies of her life. Anya is a teenage girl who’s been around for more than a millennium — and still can’t buy a beer. She harbors an off-the-charts resentment for all men, yet longed to go to the prom. And despite her demonic roots, even she didn’t want to be around to witness another Ascension.

“It’s a fun character to play,” says Caulfield. “Anya remains mortal and ambivalent. She’s just struggling with being human, and really, don’t we all struggle with that from time to time? It’s fun. She’s very irreverent — and definitely bitter.”

Like many of the show’s guest stars, Caulfield also appreciates the opportunity she’s received to get involved with one of TV’s most acclaimed and complex shows.

“It’s funny; people who don’t watch the show hear Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they immediately think it’s gotta be campy cheese,” she explains. “It has its element of camp to it, but it’s so much more than that. It’s such a well-written, creative, original show. It’s really nice to be a part of something like that.”

And while the big question remains as to whether fans can expect to see the actress resurrect Anya as part of any future Buffy episodes, true to form, Caulfield is only certain that whatever will be, will be.

“That’s sorta the topic du jour, isn’t it? I don’t really know what’s going on with Buffy, that’s being decided at the moment. Whatever happens with that will help to determine everything else I’ll do,” she says. “I’d love to go back to Buffy; I love working there, and if it works out that way, then great. If it doesn’t, then it’s not meant to be. I sorta have that philosophy on everything in the business; if it’s not this, then there’s a reason and you’re going to get something else. We all can’t be at the place we want; there’s too many of us. Wherever I’m at, I’m just grateful and happy, because I’m lucky. I’ve been fortunate.”

To paraphrase the Beatles, Emma Caulfield’s just lettin’ it be, while she keeps her own Zen philosophy toward show business close to her heart. Buddha would be proud.