Leno: My next guest, a beautiful and talented young actress, who stars in the popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You can also see her in the number one movie in the country, Scream 2. Please welcome Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Leno: Hey, it's nice to see you again.
Sarah: Thank you, it's nice to be here.
Leno: Alright. And congratulations on all your success, you've got a hit show and you've got two new hit movies this year.
Sarah: Things are pretty good right now.
Leno: Things are pretty good. Now, you know Richard, right?
Sarah: Yes, Richard and I worked on All My Children together, about...I think it was '95.
Leno: Oh, okay. That wasn't that long ago.
Sarah: Well I'm only twenty years old so, remind you, it's a couple of years ago for me.
Leno: A good percentage of your life.
Sarah: Yes, it was quite a percentage.
Leno: Do we have a picture? I think we have a picture of you guys.
Sarah: Yes, I think we do have a picture.
Leno: Yeah, that's the old Richard there.
Sarah: That's the old Richard and the old Sarah.
Leno: Do you like the new testosterone Richard?
Sarah: I can't walk as cool as him though, because I was trying, he was teaching me, but I...I don't, I'm not as cool as Richard, but...
Leno: Yeah, well that's okay.
Sarah: But I want...where are the canolis? I keep waiting for the canolis.
Leno: Oh, well they were here. I'll get you one...we'll get you one. Now you started acting, really as a little kid right?
Sarah: I was four. I was four. I was eating in a restaurant and some woman came up to me and said...you know, "do you want to be on TV?" And I said, "yes, my name is Sarah Michelle Gellar, I live at..." and I gave her my address. And I didn't know what I was doing.
Leno: Isn't that dangerous?
Sarah: You know, it probably wasn't the smartest thing...I don't do it anymore, I did stop.
Leno: Now wait, where were you hanging out...were you by yourself at 4, just having drinks at a bar?
Sarah: Ya know, I had had a really rough day and I was kicking back at the bar. I was having a play date thank you. It was a play date.
Leno: Well who was the woman? Just a woman?
Sarah: She was an agent. And then she sent me on a movie audition a week later and I got it and the whole time my mom's thinking, "that's nice honey, go play." And I'm thinking, "no I'm going to be on TV mom, really." And she's looking at me like I'm insane.
Leno: And what was the movie?
Sarah: It was called An Invasion of Privacy and it was with Valerie Harper, Richard Masur, Jerry Orbach, Carol Kane, Jeff Daniels, it had an amazing cast.
Leno: Wow, that's pretty good. And what year would that be?
Sarah: Um...a long time ago year?
Leno: Like 1983, I'm doing the math.
Sarah: Was that when it was, '83?
Leno: It's really depressing, that that was...you were only four in 1983...
Sarah: I was four.
Leno: Alright. Ya know, we were lucky, I happen to have a clip of this movie, and here, take a look, here we go.
Sarah: Oh my God.
[Invasion of Privacy Clip]
Leno: Awwww.... Awwww.....
Sarah: Aww...
Leno: And of course Valerie Harper, right?
Sarah: Yes, Valerie Harper played my mom.
Leno: Wow, that's pretty neat.
Sarah: It was an amazing experience.
Leno: Yeah, now did you, like...go a long period after that without working? Or were you working pretty steady?
Sarah: I went right into the Burger King commercials after that and then it sort of, I sort of fell into it and realized that it was something that I wanted to do so I stuck with it.
Leno: Well now you're really busy, I mean, were you doing these two movies at the same time you were doing the TV show?
Sarah: I finished Buffy and started I Know What You Did the week we finished Buffy and then the day I finished I Know What You Did I started Scream 2, and then I did Scream 2 and Buffy simultaneously.
Leno: Now, are you...are you like good at pressure, do you handle that well? Or do you just go...
Sarah: Yeah, I'm fine, I handle pressure really well, I don't know what you're talking about. Yes, um. I think the old saying "if you want something done, get a busy person to do it" is sort of, you know, how you do it. And I have my mishaps every once in awhile.
Leno: Now I heard, now see there was this thing around, you know these stories, you see these things, that you were driving around in your underwear, do you know what I'm talking about?
Sarah: Yeah, yeah, it was...it, it happened, it was...you see I had, it was, I guess it was right around the time we were finishing the last episode last year, and I was a little tired and I was getting out early on a Friday night, which was rare, and so I made plans to go out, and I...in the morning laid out my slip, and I laid out my dress and my boots and the whole deal, and I got dressed and I'm driving to work and I had a convertible at the time. And I'm driving down the 405 and I'm...getting all these really weird looks, like cool looks, and I'm thinking, "I must be looking good driving on the 405 today!" And, but like, just guys, just really looking, and I sort of look down and I realize, "oh my...I put my slip on...and I failed to put the rest of my outfit on." So I like, I drive off the freeway, like...thank you.
[Audience howls]...(points to audience member) I think I saw you on the freeway that morning. I, I drove off the freeway, and like put the top of my car up and figured I'd pull up to my trailer, like right next to, you know, right next to it, and I'd run in and put on a pair of sweatpants, because I always keep sweatpants in there. But I ran into, uh, our executive producer on the way, on the way in, and he's like "get out of the car" and I was like, "I've got to make a phone call" you know, "it's really important," and he says "get out of the car." So I sort of stand up, kind of doing one of these [she stands] like, "oh my." And he just looks down and completely started laughing, and then made me walk to set to show everyone how unbelievably tired I was.
Leno: Well that, I mean...I've never, does that happen? See these things never happen to me.
Sarah: It almost happened to me today but thankfully I remembered, so.
Leno: No, see...I run into like, Dennis Franz when he forgets his un...it's never someone like you.
Sarah: No, well I'll call you next time I forget my clothing
Leno: Are you surprised by the success of the Sc...this is the biggest movie opening in December history, right?
Sarah: Ever, it's Miramax's biggest opening, it was 39.2 million.
Leno: That's pretty amazing.
Sarah: It was unbelievable.
Leno: Now we have a clip.
Sarah: Um...we have a clip of Scream 2?
Leno: Right, let's take a look.
Sarah: Okay. [cough]
Leno: This is, this is you about to Scream I guess.
[Scream 2 Clip]
Leno: Well that's great.
Sarah: We were at the premiere and all of the sudden you hear people yelling, "don't answer the phone you stupid girl!" And I'm thinking...
Leno: Does that happen, do people yell at you in the movies?
Sarah: Oh, I haven't seen it in a theater theater but at the premiere, everybody was, "don't be stupid, everybody knows you don't answer the phone."
Leno: Ha, ha, well there you go. Well, we're not going to tell what happens to you, maybe you live, maybe you don't...we won't give it away.
Sarah: They haven't even told me yet.
Leno: No? Well okay. Well congratulations on your TV show and come back and see us anytime. Thank you Sarah. We'll be right back with Dale Midkiff after this. Sarah Michelle Gellar.