Sarah Michelle Gellar Stuns ‘Big Bang Theory’ Fans With Surprise Cameo On Series Finale
Buffy made a cameo on Big Bang. Sarah Michelle Gellar, the star of the long-running TV supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer, appeared on the series finale of the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory—and she slayed her cameo.
Gellar guest starred as herself as she accompanied Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) to Sheldon and Amy’s (Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik) Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony in Sweden. The unlikely plus-one was spawned after Sarah and Raj met on the airplane on the flight from Los Angeles and she agreed to be his date to the big event.
Big Bang Theory showrunner Steve Holland told TV Line that show creator Chuck Lorre came up with the idea that a lonely Raj would be sitting next to someone “fun” on the plane. Holland also admitted that he is a big Buffy fan. Luckily, Sarah Michelle Gellar also happens to be a huge Big Bang Theory fan.
Holland also said producers make sure that the scene made it clear that Gellar and Raj are just friends. In real life, the actress has been married to Freddie Prinze Jr. since 2002.
“There is a line in there where she says to him, ‘This is not a date. We’re aware Sarah Michelle Gellar is fairly famously married in real life [to Freddie Prinze Jr.], so we didn’t want there to be any confusion there.”
Holland noted that while he didn’t find romance, it was still nice to see Raj “get a win” by hanging out with his celeb crush.
Entertainment Tonight notes that the Big Bang Theory has referenced Gellar’s vampire-killing character in the past. Still, fans were stunned to see the star of the cult hit on the Big Bang Theory series finale, as you can see by the social media reaction below.
Watching final Big Bang Theory. Only Buffy could get a guest appearance! #vampireslayer
— Lisa Apolinski (@LisaAblogger) May 17, 2019
That was an awesome finish to The Big Bang Theory. (#Buffy was a nice addition!) I’m going to miss this series. #BBT #TheBigBangTheoryfinale
— S.A. (@macgeek1969) May 17, 2019
Well, Buffy the vampire slayer was in the Big Bang theory’s finale, I have to say, one of the best finales I’ve ever seen!
— Sonja Dawn (@FunnyMentalLife) May 17, 2019
Holland told ET it wasn’t that hard to keep Gellar’s s guest stint a secret because it all happened very fast.
“We filmed it the day before [audiences] saw it in the live show, so we didn’t have to keep it a secret for long. Actually, we shot it that morning,” Holland explained.
The Big Bang Theory producer did add that he had to tell everybody on set and on the cast to be careful on social media and not to post any pictures before the big guest star surprise played out on TV.
The Big Bang Theory ended its 12-season run with the farewell episodes, “The Change Constant” and “The Stockholm Syndrome.” The Emmy-winning comedy aired a whopping 279 episodes over its successful run on CBS.
You can see Sarah Michelle Gellar on The Big Bang Theory finale in the clip below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFIldbrri6M