10 Casting 'What Ifs' From Buffy The Vampire Slayer
5. Selma Blair
Selma Blair famously shared the screen with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 1999 cult hit Cruel Intentions, their shared kiss winning them an MTV Movie Award. The pair have remained close friends ever since, but once upon a time they both auditioned for the same role.
Blair revealed in an Instagram post in 2018 that, shortly after being replaced by Katie Holmes on Dawson's Creek, Blair auditioned for the role of Buffy. In her own words, she "didn't even come close." Holmes, Gellar, and Blair are now all very good friends.
Blair went on to star in Legally Blonde and both of Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy movies. In the world of TV, she is best known for her roles as Kate Wales in Anger Management, and as Kris Jenner in American Crime Story. What alternate direction her career might have taken if she had bagged the part is a fascinating question.
Buffy would almost surely have gone in a different direction without Gellar's mixture of solemn reflection and a more happy-go-lucky approach. Blair's Buffy may have proved to be a colder, more ruthless take on the slayer - but in reality, we will never know for sure.