There are certain TV shows that are cult favorites, one with dedicated fans that keep it alive over the years. Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer is definitely in that category, and remains a vital part of pop culture as a result. Many of the beloved actors have recently reprised their roles for Audible’s new series Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. That includes actress Emma Caulfield Ford, who spoke to CinemaBlend about the challenges in playing Anya again for this new audio-only project.
While there were talks of Buffy reboot years ago, those plans never came to fruition. Luckily for fans of the Hellmouth, we’re treated to a new story via Slayers, which was written and directed by Tara actress Amber Benson. I had the chance to speak with WandaVision’s Emma Caulfield Ford about this project, and asked what it was like slipping back into character as the fan favorite Scooby Gang member. She told me:
I will say I couldn’t find her voice at all. And I re-watched some episodes and was like ‘Hmm, okay. But also you’re 24 here.’ So my voice is naturally going to sound a bit different. But this is just hard, and then I would try without that and just do it in my head. Like, ‘I can’t quite get it.’ And something magic happened being in the room with these people who I adore. And it took me like three or four takes, I think.
That makes alot of sense. The finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired back in 2003, so it’s been literally twenty years since the cast has had to play their signature characters. You can’t exactly blame Ford for having a hard time finding Anya’s signature voice again. But luckily all it took was a couple of takes and being back with her cast in order for her to end up embodying the character again for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story.
Of course, the big questions fans might have had prior to the Audible series’ release might have been: how the heck is Anya back? After all, she was killed by a Bringer in the series finale. Alas, Slayers tells a multiversal story. In the project, an alternate version of a number of characters pop up, including an Anya who is a witch and the best friend of slayer Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter). Later in our same conversation, Emma Caulfield Ford spoke about how playing an alternate take on the character further complicated her process, sharing:
Also kind of tweaking it because she’s not this universe’s Anya, you know? It was wild. I haven’t heard it but I had the most fun in years doing it.
To make things even more complicated, that’s not the only character that Ford plays in Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. The demon Anyanka also factors into the audible series’ ambitious narrative, aka the Vengeance demon we met back in the show’s third season. The actress, who will return to the MCU in the Agatha series, spoke to me about bringing the demon to life, saying:
Anyanka was hard. That was really hard primarily because I didn’t do Anyanka very much. I had the first episode with her… So it was kind of like doing it from scratch a little bit.
Well, my mind is spinning. It’s pretty understandable that Emma Caulfield Ford had some challenges when recording her audio for Slayers. On top playing multiple alternate version of Anya, she only had her voice to bring them to life. But having gotten to hear the first few episodes of the Audible series in advance, I can confidently say she nailed it.
Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is available now on Audible, while the original Buffy series is streaming with a Hulu subscription. Be siure to check out the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch.