Official Buffy Magazine Interview

 

Excerpted from the official Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine, Issue #5, Dec. 2002, "Show Me the Bunny," written by Jenny Lynn:

On writing "Selfless" - "We started pitching Anya stories to Joss.  This one sort of broke at dinner one night.  I kept getting up and going to the bathroom and when I would come back, Joss would have the act breaks.  And then we all decided that I should just keep going to the bathroom because Joss seemed to really be doing well whenever I went to the bathroom!"

On the Russian scenes - "We knew we wanted a [Halfrek] scene and we sort of knew Hallie's timeline.  We knew it had to have taken place sometime after the late 1800s.  And Russia was just a place we hadn't been to.  We've been to lots of cool places in Buffy, and this one was something new."

"That (showing the flaming man in the background) was a good example of how David Solomon definitely made the story better, because I had written it so we could do it very cheap.  David came up with a couple of little things that he could do that made all the difference: showing Russia in the background [via green-screen], our Imperial Banquet Hall, our Flaming Guy.  He just made that whole thing possible."

On the spider demon - "In the original script, there was more of [the spider], but I actually think that that was one of those happy accidents, that because we couldn't afford it, we came up with some cool stuff because we couldn't show the spider too much."

On Anya's song, "Mrs." - The writer admits that he had to do some convincing to get Joss Whedon to write another song.  At the time when Drew was outlining the script, Joss was simultaneously directing the pilot episode of his new series Firefly and breaking stories for both Buffy and Angel.  Drew laughs, "He's like, I can't.  I can't do it.  There's no way.  And the next morning, he walked into my office and said, I wrote your song.  I don't think Joss is human.  He's super-human."

On working at ME - "Selfless' marks a turning point in the writer's own life, as this is his first produced script.  After working as an assistant on other TV shows, Drew says about this experience, "It's the greatest thing.  It's the most fun I've had in my entire life.  What's great about this group is that I'll write the episode, and then as soon as I turn in the script, it starts getting better."  However good they looked in Drew's imagination, he says the art department, director and everybody involved with the show make it look even better than he envisioned.

(After the last shot of the day wraps) Drew Goddard whips out his own digital camera and takes a few pictures of the set as mementos of his first script to air on TV.  He says, "Honestly, this has been like heaven, only better.  I wish everyone had the opportunity to write for Buffy, because it's the greatest job in the entire world."

For more information on the filming of "Selfless," including an interview with director David Solomon, check out the official Buffy magazine at your local bookstore.