Emmy Award-winning actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is a veteran of television, theater and the big screen, having worked for nearly 18 of her 23 years. In addition to starring in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and films, Gellar is also a spokesperson for Maybelline cosmetics.

Gellar will soon be seen on the big screen in a feature film directed by James Toback, "Harvard Man." She plays a mischievous and criminally inclined Boston College cheerleader whose life becomes complicated when her Harvard basketball star boyfriend gets mixed up with her mobster father.

In 1999, Gellar starred with Ryan Phillippe and Selma Blair in "Cruel Intentions," a modern-day retelling of "Dangerous Liaisons" set in Manhattan. A major departure from her role on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," she portrayed a conniving manipulator who conspired to destroy the life of anyone who got in her way. For her performance, Gellar won an MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance. She also appeared last season in the romantic comedy "Simply Irresistible."

In 1998, Gellar starred in two feature films written by Kevin Williamson ("Dawson's Creek")—the blockbuster hit "Scream 2" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer." She won a Blockbuster Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and was also nominated for an MTV Movie Award.

The versatile actress won an Emmy Award in 1994 for her role on the daytime drama "All My Children." Also, she played a young Jackie Kennedy in the critically acclaimed miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie."

A New York native, Gellar currently resides in Los Angeles.

DAVID BOREANAZ
as "Angel"

A native of Philadelphia, Boreanaz was exposed to television at a young age—his father is a veteran weather forecaster for WPVI in Philadelphia. Since seeing the inspiring performance of Yul Brynner in "The King and I" at the young age of seven, Boreanaz had a feeling that acting would be in his future. After graduating from Ithaca College, he moved to Los Angeles to try his luck in Hollywood.

While studying the craft of acting, Borneanaz lived the life of a starving actor doing such jobs as parking cars, painting houses and handing out towels at a sports club. Yet, it was while walking his dog in a Hollywood neighborhood that a manager spotted his brooding, intense look and instantly signed him as a client.

His first big break was a guest shot on "Married...With Children" playing Kelly Bundy's (Christina Applegate) biker boyfriend. He has also appeared in the television movie "Men Don't Lie."

On Stage, Boreanaz has performed at the Ensemble Theatre in "Hatful of Rain," at the Gardner Stage in "Italian-American Reconciliation" and "Fool for Love," and on theatre row in "Cowboy Mouth." His feature film credits "Aspen Extreme," "Best of the Best 2" and "Eyes of the World."

Currently, Boreanaz lives in Los Angeles with his dog, Bertha Blue.

ALYSON HANNIGAN
as "Willow Rosenberg"

On "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Alyson Hannigan plays Buffy's friend and confidante, who entering her sophomore year of college continues to experiment in the wicca world. In real life, Hannigan is a veteran actress who has been performing since the age of 4 and garnered rave notices for her break-out performance in the big-screen comedy "American Pie."

Born in Washington, D.C., Hannigan moved with her family to Atlanta at age 2. She began her career acting in commercials, working steadily in national spots for accounts like McDonald's, Six Flags Amusement Parks and Oreo cookies. At age 11, she moved to Los Angeles in hopes of breaking into film and television.

Her breakthrough role came when she was cast as Dan Aykroyd's misunderstood daughter in the feature film "My Stepmother Is an Alien." She also went on to guest-star on a number of popular television shows.

She currently resides in Los Angeles.

NICHOLAS BRENDON
as "Xander Harris"

Nicholas Brendon, who portrays the sardonic Xander with sensitivity and humor, already has a varied list of credits in television, film and theater. He made his feature film starring debut this summer in the comedy-slasher movie "Psycho Beach Party."

With his aspirations of playing professional baseball quashed when an arm injury cut his sports career short, Brendon turned to acting for a new challenge. He persevered while working as a television production assistant on "Dave's World." After he landed a guest-starring role on the series, Brendon continued to pursue his dream of becoming an actor and soon he was called to audition for the role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

In television, he previously had a recurring role on the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless" and guest-starred on the popular primetime comedy series "Married...with Children." He played an evil corn follower in the feature film "Children of the Corn III—Urban Harvest," and starred in Los Angeles theater productions of "The Further Adventures of Tom Sawyer" at Theatre West, "My Own Private Hollywood" at The Black Hole Theatre and "Out of Gas on Lovers' Leap" at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Offscreen, the Los Angeles native enjoys playing basketball, camping and spending quality time with friends and family, including his identical twin brother, Kelly.

CHARISMA CARPENTER
as "Cordelia Chase"

Charisma Carpenter had no plans to pursue acting, but fate intervened in Los Angeles while she was working as a waitress to save for her education. Carpenter was discovered by a commercial agent, and her career in front of the camera began. She appeared in more than 20 commercials, including one for Secret antiperspirant which ran for two years.

Her first big break in television came with a guest shot on the popular series "Baywatch." Not long after, she auditioned for Aaron Spelling, who cast her in the role of Ashley in the NBC series "Malibu Shores."

Carpenter was born in Las Vegas, and lived there until she was 15, when her family moved to Mexico and San Diego to take classes at the School of the Creative and Performing Arts.

After graduating from high school, she traveled through Europe. Upon returning, she moved to San Diego where she held various jobs to support herself through junior college. Her job experience at that time included working in a video store, teaching aerobics, and waiting on tables—the job that ultimately led to her acting career.

Offscreen, the brunette beauty enjoys the outdoors—rollerblading, hiking, sky diving, rock climbing, running and horseback riding—as well as traveling and cooking. She also continues to dance, and is a former San Diego Charger Girl cheerleader.

Carpenter currently lives in Los Angeles with her dogs.

ANTHONY STEWART HEAD
as "Rupert Giles"

Anthony Stewart Head has enjoyed a successful acting career in his native England for many years, but before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" it was a popular series of coffee commercials that brought him his greatest recognition in the United States. Head starred as the intriguing romantic lead in a dozen Taster's Choice commercials, each tracing the budding romance between two neighbors who share a love for the same coffee.

Head was a regular cast member on the sci-fi television series "VR.5." He also guest-starred on the series "Highlander" and the critically acclaimed police drama "NYPD Blue." Additional credits include the Showtime movie "Royce" with Jim Belushi; and the feature films "A Prayer for the Dying," "Devil's Hill" and "Lady Chatterley's Lover."

More recently, Head starred in E! Entertainment Television's first original movie, "Best Actress," and starred in "Silent Witness," a murder mystery in which he portrayed the primary suspect. He will be seen in the upcoming "Metal God," a feature film starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.

He has performed in several BBC Productions, including "Secret Army," "Accident," "Bergerac," "The Grudge Fight," "Howard's Way" and "Pulaski." Head also starred in the British television productions "Enemy at the Door" and "Love in a Cold Climate."

Head was born in Camdentown, England, and grew up in Hampton. He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and got his first show business break playing Jesus in "Godspell." He went on to star in a number of West End theater productions, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Julius Caesar," "The Heiress," "Chess," Peter Shaffer's "Yonadab" at the Royal National Theater, and "Rope."

He is currently working on the adult animated feature film in development "Dark Secrets," which he co-wrote.

Head divides his time between homes in Los Angeles and England

SETH GREEN
as "Oz"

A veteran of film and stage, Seth Green has been acting professionally since age six. By the time he was twelve, he had a leading role in the Woody Allen's feature film "Radio Days." Since then he has starred in numerous television and film projects, including "Austin Powers:International Man of Mystery", "the X-Files", and "Stephen King's It."

Green began his role as Oz on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 1997. Joss Whedon, the show's creator told green, "Oz would have the same reaction to spray cheese as to true love," says Green. "Oz is unflappable and I love being the guitar player on TV, I'm living out my rock and roll fantasy." Four episodes turned into five, then eight, and now it's endless. "The show is so fun and quirky but there's a lot of heart to it, that's what's so appealing," describes Green. "It's smart, scary, and funny."

As for playing a werewolf Green says, "They take their monsters pretty seriously without the show taking itself too seriously." And the transformation? "It takes a lot of time and it's really difficult to stand still," says Green. "It starts at 11:30am until 4:30pm They have to hand lay all of the hair on me, but the make-up artists there are so great, so sweet and considerate. They make it as painless as possible and the end result is worth the effect."

What does Green do when he's not starring in films and on television? "I read a ton of magazines, I play pool, I love to see any movie that's out, good or bad. The one bad thing about working," laments Green, "you can't watch all the movies."

EMMA CAULFIELD
as "Anya"
Best known for her role on "Beverly Hills, 90210," Emma Caulfield first appeared on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as a guest star during the 1998-99 season, portraying the demon Anyanka, patron saint of scorned women. Then, the character lost her powers and became Anya, an 1,120-year-old mortal teenager, and Caulfield joined the cast as a series regular.

Born and raised in San Diego, Caulfield began studying drama while still in high school at the La Jolla Playhouse and the renowned Old Globe Theatre where she won the distinguished honor of "Excellence in Theatre Arts." She continued her studies at San Francisco State University and UCLA.

Caulfield's big break came in 1995 when she joined the cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210" as Brandon's (Jason Priestly) journalist girlfriend, Susan Keats. Following her stint on the primetime serial, she landed the role of Lorraine Miller on the daytime drama "General Hospital."

Caulfield currently lives in Los Angeles.

JOSS WHEDON
as "Creator/Director"

Emmy and Oscar nominee Joss Whedon is one of Hollywood's hottest writers, having scripted several hit films and created one of television's most critically praised shows, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Whedon recently garnered his first Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his groundbreaking episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" entitled "Hush" and the series was honored with the Founder's Award from Viewers for Quality Television.

He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay with Disney's box-office smash "Toy Story," starring Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. His big-screen writing credits also include the feature films "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Alien Resurrection," the fourth in the "Alien" series which starred Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. He has also worked on the screenplays for the runaway hit "Speed," and Steven Spielberg's action-packed adventure "Twister."

After receiving a degree in film studies from Wesleyan University, Whedon moved to Los Angeles and landed his first writing job on the staff of "Roseanne," working as a story editor and writing several episodes of the top-rated series. He later pulled double duty on the series "Parenthood," co-producing and writing a number of episodes.

Writing is clearly in his blood, since Whedon could arguably be the world's first third-generation television writer. His grandfather was a successful sitcom writer in the '50s and '60s on "The Donna Reed Show" and "Leave It to Beaver," and his father wrote for the likes of "The Dick Cavett Show," "Alice" and "Benson."

In addition to serving as creator and executive producer on "Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Whedon has also written and directed many episodes of both series.

Whedon is married and resides in Los Angeles.

JAMES MARSTERS
as "Spike"

James Marsters, who first guest-starred on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as the goth-decked vampire Spike, joined the cast as a series regular.

Born in the remote northern logging town of Greenville, California and raised in Modesto, California, Marsters always knew he wanted to be an actor. From his debut as Eyeore in a fourth grade production of "Winnie the Pooh," he went on to study acting at New York's prestigious Juilliard. He began his professional career in the theater, performing in stage productions including "The Tempest" and "Red Noses" at Chicago's renowned Goodman Theatre.

Marsters made his onscreen debut guest-starring on the television series "Northern Exposure." He landed the prominent role of an ill-at-ease priest, which was cast locally in Seattle, soon after moving to the Pacific Northwest. He was inspired by the success to move to Los Angeles and within months was sinking his proverbial teeth into the role of Spike on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Marsters was recently seen in the feature film "The House on Haunted Hill," a psychological horror which also starred Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs and Lisa Loeb.

When he's not working, Marsters enjoys playing the guitar, watching football and spending time with friends at the beach. He currently lives in Los Angeles.