u/James-Samuel17

I was just looking through the acting careers of some actors like Mila Kunis, Viola Davis, Andrew Scott and such and it made me realizes how fascinated i am by acting. I mean, writing is extremely important to me and I want to be that but I also want to be an actor (kinda like Phoebe Waller Bridge who is both and excellent at both.) I think i’ve done my fair part of praise for the writing on both shows, which is phenomenal, like top tier writing style by Whedon and the writers team but this whole deep dive into actors made me realizes how insanely talented the Buffy cast is, like they struck gold with the writing and the cast, which is what makes Buffy one of the greatest TV shows ever made alongside The Sopranos or The West Wing (mentioning them because apperently back then Buffy was considered as good as those two) despite not having big budget or whatnot. The actors are so good with a few standout to me like

Sarah Michelle Gellar (amazing lead god. She’s so good in everything, Cruel Intentions she’s a sociopath but looks so good doing it and even on some not so great movies like The Air I Breathe, she still shines. She should have won an Emmy for Buffy and an Oscar for Veronika Decides to Die. Glad to see her having a Renaissance and I hope to see her on some Vanity Fair video where she breaks down her career a bit, she’s one of my all time favorite actress along Kristen Bell, Michelle Williams, Viola Davis, Shannen Doherty, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Reese Witherspoon, Edie Falco...),

Anthony Head Stewart ( i first saw him as Uther in Merlin and GOD this man knows how to be dick but still have depth and he elevated the material given by the writing on that show, that was sometimes quite rough. And then I saw him in Ted Lesso and he was amazing as usual) ,

Alyson Hannigan (best tv crier hands down and was equally amazing in How I Met Your Mother, she’s a natural at this. Her dark willowarc, especially the Warren scene made me with she played some villains in career because she can be chilling as hell but that’s what I love about Buffy, it’s that some of those actors had some opportunities stretch out their acting skills and range with Buffy/Angel more than with a ton of movies),

James Marsters (turned a short term villain into one of the most iconic TV characters ever. He gave Spike so much layers and from season 5 onwards he’s nothing short but spectacular. The fact that he initially took the job because he was a starving father but then the show ended up being a role of a lifetime is so crazy to me. He just had charisma, comedic timing and then proved to have such range in drama and an excellent love interest),

Emma Caulfield (the most underrated one among the cast because this woman is a BUCKET of talent but didn’t get half of the career a lot of them had. She really initially came on for one episode but was so good, the writers had keep her. ),

Nicholas Brendon (I know some people don't like him and his character and for good reasons don't get me wrong but he was really talented. Buffy was his very first role and he nailed it so much. He just go Xander right and while I don't like his character, he embodied the role so well, I can't see anyone playing him. His comedic timing, especially physical comedy is really impressive. Physical comedy is something I came to appreciate more and more as I was watching Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls in Veronica Mars. I was watching Coherence with Nicholas and he was so good, such a shame what he became. May he rest !)

Michelle Trachtenberg (she was nothing short but awesome. It’s especially impressive considering her young age but she was holding her own against a much older and experienced cast. She gave some really incredible performances like in Conversations With Dead People, she was so chilling in it. Obv, I found her also so great in Gossip Girl where she played a similar character to SMG’s Kathryn, Georgina Sparks. May she rest in peace !),

David Boreanaz (this guy has been the leading man of three long running TV shows and is about to get into another show soon, which is so surprising when you see how weak his acting was in season 1 but season 2, for me and Whedon apparently from what I heard, confirmed me that he was a good actor like his switch as Angelus was masterful, again the writing was on fire too but David just blew me off. Obv, that’s when he got his own show that he got to shine and some of his scenes are Emmy worthy, the one coming to my mind is the hospital scene where he yells at Wesley he won’t forgive him for taking his son in Forgiving. My sister and I were introduced to him in Bones and he was really good in it too),

Eliza Dushku (it’s crazy to think that Faith wasn’t in that many episodes but each time I think of Buffy/Angel, she’s one of the first things to comes to mind because that’s how good Dushku was the role. I think a lot of the roles she was given wasted her talent because they were focused on making her the typical hot brunette girl, kinda like Megan Fox to some extend but in Buffy/Angel she was so good. Her whole episode Five By Five stays one of my favorite TV episodes ever and part of that is her masterful performance like her breakdown at the end or the torture scene with her and Wesley. I also love how well she went into a manic state from Consequences onwards, she was so good. Dollhouse was also a good show for her acting skills and Tru Calling too),

Alexis Denisof (another powerhouse in acting and his developpement as Wesley is nothing but mind-blowing. He handled his character like no other and I could not see anyone in his place but to be fair J couldn’t imagine anyone for the other characters too. I also saw him in the Shakespeare adaption of Whedon and he was also so stellar in it. He was also on Legacies and god this show was horrible and a Buffy knock off but he managed to stand out, that’s how good he is),

Amy Acker (if Fred is sometimes a hit or miss for me as a character, it was NEVER an Amy problem because she was always amazing in the role. Her and Denisof killed me in A hole in The World, such monumental performances. Fred’s death may have been tragic but it allowed me to see the greatness that is Acker because the way she switched her entire persona is just.. WOW. Just give her an Emmy right now. Also found her amazing in the adaptation and jn Persons of Interest, where she plays an amazingly chilling character),

Charisma Carpenter (just like Eliza, I feel like a lot of projects I’ve seen her in capitalized a lot on her beauty and she would often play the hot bomshell or hot stepwife or something but I found her really amazing in Buffy. Her comedic timing is so good and then on Angel, she can get so good with the dramatic, especially in the last episode of season where she get so many visions, god this scene is hunting. And speaking of the visions, she really sold them half of the time, with the episode That Vision Thing where they get physically harmful on her and it’s just heartbreaking. She was also quite good in Charmed where she played a little character but give it depth, enough so that it’s one of the most memorable side characters despite being in 3 episodes).

I think there’s probably more but feel free to add. I just love this cast so much !!