I personal don't care for Dawn that much, so if she can that's great, but if not, no big deal. Eliza Dushku, David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Amy Acker, and everyone else, I'd be a little more upset!

BufSlyAngel | March 15, 18:30 CET

If I ever become the celebrity, I will definitely not set a certain path for me. I want to be in a variety of films, t.v. shows, etc.

But, yeah. Who needs Dawn? If hell begins to freeze over and there actually were a Buffy movie, then someone could explain how Dawn was away at boarding school. She was hardly in the Chosen, anyhow.

Christopher | March 15, 19:14 CET

The vibe I get is a diplomatic 'no'. Many actors say, "Yeah! If Joss wants me, I'm there!" But then again, those actors have also been around a while and have seen what low quality work there is to be had. Michelle's young, and probably has dreams of greatness, and I think she doesn't realize exactly how good Buffy was in the grand scheme of quality.

But since Dawn was really the least important(and most annoying) character to me, I would actually probably appreciate her absence from any future projects.

And on a side note, it's funny because she *so* seems like a budding SMG. From the soaps to ice skating, even down the the 'Never say never'.

Rogue Slayer | March 15, 19:16 CET

The vibe I get is a diplomatic 'no'. Many actors say, "Yeah! If Joss wants me, I'm there!" But then again, those actors have also been around a while and have seen what low quality work there is to be had. Michelle's young, and probably has dreams of greatness, and I think she doesn't realize exactly how good Buffy was in the grand scheme of quality.

I will start by saying that I rather like the Dawn character. The more I have watched the final three seasons the more I have concluded that she added an interesting layer to the narrative. Mind you, I am possibly in the minority in thinking that both S6 and S7 were superb. I have no particular opinions about Michelle Trachtenberg. She strikes me as a young actor of some ability.

Rogue Slayer, I understand the point you are making but I am not sure I would necessarily agree with you. It could be argued that Trachtenberg has been the most successful of the 'Buffy' cast in the couple of years since the show ended, perhaps even including Sarah Michelle Gellar. I don't think any of the actors would simply turn down other work on the off chance that just maybe there might possibly be a vague chance of a 'Buffy'-related project at some undefined point in the future. Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but it does seem that Trachtenberg is getting a lot of work and I'm sure she is hopeful of a long and successful career ahead of her. I say good luck to her.

alien lanes | March 15, 19:29 CET

What MT has going for her in youth-obsessed Hollywood is youth. She does lightweight scripts/storylines well (I'm not saying she is a lightweight actress here), so she has a decade or so of date movies ahead of her. As Rogue Slayer says, the other actors have been around awhile -- but that also means that the women are within a handful of years from that point where Hollywood begins to think of them as "too old." MT is probably not wrong in thinking that she has a variety of options opening up, although the arrogance of youth is a bit hard to swallow. Like others here, I think of her as the most expendable of the main characters in the Jossverse, and I doubt we'll see her there again. Her purpose has already been served, as was evident in s7.

[ edited by palehorse on 2005-03-15 17:36 ]

palehorse | March 15, 19:34 CET

I don't think any of the actors would simply turn down other work on the off chance that just maybe there might possibly be a vague chance of a 'Buffy'-related project at some undefined point in the future.

That's not even remotely what I meant. Obviously the actors are doing their best to get pilots, movies, etc and not waiting around for Joss. I think the general idea is that if they don't have anything going on at that moment in time, or they don't have anything *better* going on, they'd be on board. Because they understand the concept of quality vs quantity(quantity here being a lot of factors). And also, I think people just appreciate the 'respect' that is inherent in an answer like, "Anything Joss wants me to do, I'm there!" versus well, like what palehorse said, the 'arrogance of youth'. And mind you, it's not just specified to youth, since we've seen it with other actors, but I do get that a bit strongly from her. It's fine if she doesn't want to pay lip service, because maybe she genuinely doesn't want to revisit the character at all. But if I were a Buffy actor and I didn't want to do a Buffy project and there was very little chance of a Buffy project anyway, I think I would at least spin my answer a bit differently. But like I said, she doesn't owe anyone lip service. I just hope, for her career's sake, she has a level head on her shoulders(or whoever makes her acting decisions does) and that someday she can look back on Buffy and realize what a rare opportunity she had.

But I know, she's young. She hasn't had the life experience that a James or Tony has had, so she can't quite grasp what an amazing thing they did.

Rogue Slayer | March 15, 19:50 CET

I think we should give Michelle Trachtenberg a break. What was that term Alyson Hannigan used? "It's acting, stupid!" She was acting on scenes that were written for her. I think it's unfair to judge her for acting her scenes. Which I feel she did very well, particularly in season seven.

Madhatter | March 15, 20:02 CET

I think we should give Michelle Trachtenberg a break. What was that term Alyson Hannigan used? "It's acting, stupid!" She was acting on scenes that were written for her. I think it's unfair to judge her for acting her scenes. Which I feel she did very well, particularly in season seven.

I'm personally judging the character of Dawn on the character's traits, and the actress on the things she says/does publically.

And yes, I'm bored if anyone can't tell from my multiple posts.... :~)

Rogue Slayer | March 15, 20:14 CET

I liked the character of Dawn. Initially in season five she was very annoying, but it opened up a whole new family dynamic for Buffy and that was a part of it. However the character became much more developed and there were moments in the season where Michelle Trachtenberg displayed very good acting and the character seemed to have a place in the story. I thought season seven in particular was a great season for Dawn, and although she didn't have a huge amount of screen time (although you could say almost all of the main characters were shortchanged to some extent, particularly towards the end of the season- Xander, Anya, Giles, even Willow in my opinion. It became more focused on Buffy, Spike and the battle against The First) she really shone, showing much more maturity both as an actress and as a character.

So I for one would be pleased to see Dawn in any future Buffy projects. It wouldn't be essential, but important.

Razor | March 15, 20:50 CET

First of all, apologies Rogue Slayer for my misinterpretation of your earlier post. By and large I do agree with what you say. I must admit that I don't read anything into Trachtenberg's comments. She gave fairly innocuous answers to the questions. I certainly agree with you that she was, in effect, giving a diplomatic 'no'. She doesn't strike me as being particularly arrogant, although she is obviously ambitious and that will bring a certain amount of arrogance with it.

alien lanes | March 15, 20:53 CET

Same here. Silly me.

[ edited by Madhatter on 2005-03-15 19:06 ]

Madhatter | March 15, 21:03 CET

I thought Dawn was both a terrific narrative-loop in the series and a great character in her own right, although underwritten much of the time. Although I am less sanguine than most here about either the possibility or the desireability of future Buffyverse projects, if such things are to happen I'd like to see Dawn to the same extent I'd like to see pretty much any other character. There's a lot of, um, potential in that character.

And I think MT is doing a great job getting out there and mixing it up in terms of projects and aspirations. I find no fault with anything she said here. I agree with RogueS that she may not fully appreciate the quality of BtVS; on the other hand, I hope she believes she will continue to find interesting and powerful roles. None of us should wish for these actors to be restricted to playing Dawn/Spike/Wesley et al. for eternity. They should seek as much creative success as they can achieve, in or out of the Buffyverse.

SoddingNancyTribe | March 15, 21:30 CET

According to IMDb Dawn was originally supposed to have all these cool powers like telekinesis and the ability to speak with the dead. Maybe that's something that could be explored more in any future Buffyverse projects that have the character in it.

Storyteller | March 15, 22:49 CET

Who’s your boyfriend?
Shawn Ashmore

I hate her.

lol. No no.

I'm sad that she seems to not be totally open for anything Buffy, but again, I didn't really care for Dawn...so I'm not that dissapointed.

Edit: ok...maybe a little bit of hate. It is Iceman afterall.

[ edited by Rogue on 2005-03-15 21:30 ]

Rogue | March 15, 23:22 CET

I like Dawn. She's a kind of character which had a lot potential. Problem with her is that she's still a teenager and that didn't fit with the rest of the cast. On the other hand, she has this kind of mystical aura around her, due to her background but also due to MT. She's an excellent character for episodes like Restless. A character with huge not used potential.

Koos | March 15, 23:40 CET

I love Dawn, and i know Joss can do wonderful things with her character in a hypothetic movie. I know, and i hope :p

Angel TheVampire | March 16, 00:32 CET

In season 5 she was really annoying but once Buffy realized she wasn't supposed to be there I liked her more. She didn't really annoy me anymore but I didn't care for her one way or the other except I hated her when she cut up Buffy's cheerleading uniform! That was classic season 1 apparel!

charisma | March 16, 00:32 CET

Well, if it makes you feel any better, due to some continuity goof, the cheerleading outfit Dawn cuts up in "Him" is completely different to the one Buffy wore in "Witch".

Razor | March 16, 00:40 CET

I thought Dawn was great, due to a large part to MT's acting. The character was annoying to Buffy, but great to watch. I felt a bit short changed in S7 where it started out looking like Dawn was going to be more active but then was forgotten when the potentials arrived. To use Buffy's comment from Checkpoint, she "has clocked more field time than all of you combined". Anyway, I digress.

Michelle has wisely sought out and chosen a wide range of roles, from Disney to child abuse, and looks to be doing well.

zz9 | March 16, 13:35 CET

One of the good things about the casts of Buffy and Angel is that the actors are so good and the characters have become so developed is that any future projects could carry on even if they did not include certain main characters, because the rest of the cast is so strong. Likewise, that is why there is such a wide choice of characters to have their very own miniseries/film.

Buffy, for example, could have survived had Buffy not been resurrected in season six, because although Buffy was a good character, the rest of the main characters were all complex and interesting enough to justify continuing without her. In a sense, the shows have become bigger than their title characters.

No offence to Sarah Michelle Gellar or David Boreanaz, but I just think it's great that the series (or 'franchise', if you will) are strong enough to continue without them. Who would have thought when Fred was introduced at the end of Angel season two that the character (and Illyria) would become interesting and likeable enough to want fans to have her own series?

Razor | March 16, 22:35 CET