Sarah Michelle Gellar
The face of the late-90s teen boom: a soap-opera Emmy winner who became Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, in a single year, also starred in two of the era's defining horror hits. For a stretch around the turn of the millennium, Sarah Michelle Gellar was the girl who could stake a vampire, outwit a masked killer, and anchor a cult-favorite TV show all at once.
Born in 1977, Sarah Michelle Gellar first broke through on daytime television as scheming Kendall Hart on 'All My Children,' winning the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actress in 1995. But 1997 was the year that made her a star three times over: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' premiered that March, and the same year she appeared in the slasher hits 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'Scream 2.'
Buffy Summers became her signature role — the show ran for seven seasons through 2003 — while her film career leaned into the era's teen and horror appetite, most memorably as the manipulative Kathryn Merteuil in 'Cruel Intentions' (1999). As the calendar turned, she carried into the 2000s with 'Scooby-Doo' (2002), playing Daphne Blake, and the American remake of 'The Grudge' (2004).
Her life offscreen tracked the same crossover: she met Freddie Prinze Jr. while filming 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' in 1997, began dating him in 2000, and married him on September 1, 2002. With the Slayer minted in the 90s but half her peak playing out in the 2000s, Gellar sits squarely on the seam between the two decades — a defining teen-era star of both.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The cheerleader who was also the chosen one. Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Summers staked vampires over the Hellmouth beneath her high school, and the show's mix of monster-of-the-week horror, teen angst, and quippy dialogue made it a genre-defining WB touchstone.
Cruel Intentions
A sharp, seductive update of Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses transplanted to Manhattan's prep-school elite, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. Written and directed by Roger Kumble, it became a defining late-90s teen drama with genuine cultural impact.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Son of the 1970s sitcom legend Freddie Prinze, who died when Freddie Jr. was a baby. He grew up carrying one of television's most poignant legacies—and then became the face of the late-90s teen-movie boom. Dimpled, kind-eyed, and impossibly likable, he was THE heartthrob of an era that believed in nice guys.
Neve Campbell
A classically trained dancer from Canada who became the scream queen of the '90s. Party of Five made her a household name; The Craft proved she could anchor a cult phenomenon. By Scream 3, Sidney Prescott was her definitive role—the rare horror heroine who could carry an entire franchise. In the 2000s, she stepped back to pursue her own creative vision.