Unveiling Anya's Mysterious Third Alter Ego in Buffy The Vampire Slayer Sequel

Summary

Emma Caulfield reprises her role as Anya in the Buffy sequel series and also plays the vengeance demon Anyanka and a mysterious third alter ego.

Caulfield's performance in the audio drama highlights the contrasting nuances of Anya, Anyanka, and the third character, and she characterizes the experience as both draining, exhilarating, and peculiar.

The audio drama presents an opportunity to rectify Anya's character arc, delivering a more satisfying resolution and enabling the actors to venture into unexplored territories while keeping the essence of their beloved characters intact.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Emma Caulfield hints at Anya's different persona in the new follow-up series. Caulfield, along with other Buffy cast members, returns to their iconic roles for an Audible audio drama set ten years after the original show, in an alternate universe where Buffy Summers does not exist. Instead, Cordelia Chase (voiced by Charisma Carpenter) serves as the sole slayer. She enlists the help of Spike (James Marsters) to confront Drusilla (Juliet Landau).

During an interview with Comicbook.com to promote Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, now available on Audible, Caulfield reveals that she not only reprises the role of Anya but also portrays the vengeance demon Anyanka and an additional character. In the following quote, Caulfield discusses the origins of the third persona and the distinctions among each character. Read the quote below:

I experienced it firsthand, and it was both physically and emotionally draining, exhilarating, and slightly strange because the third part was completely different from the others. It's difficult to explain without actually talking about it. However, in the moment, when the time came to perform, I had an idea. I asked, "Can I quickly try something? I want to see if it works." They agreed, so we decided to focus on that particular part. But then I suggested, "Actually, I want to perform the entire piece, all of them together, seamlessly transitioning from one to another like this, this, this." And that's exactly what I did.

I don't want to give anything away, but there were significant differences in Anya's voice, Anyanka's voice, and the voice of the third character. I must have appeared genuinely insane because it felt utterly insane, and there's no doubt that I must have looked crazy.

The New Buffy Series Does Justice To Anya

During one take, I found myself getting tangled up due to the excessive movement. It's something I usually avoid when being filmed. However, in order to capture the right emotions for the sound, I got caught in my long cord attached to the headphones. At the same time, I started sweating as I immersed myself in my internal dialogue. Interestingly, I am currently going through a workout session where I need to replicate those emotions on various pages. While attempting to remove my sweatshirt, I became entangled in it, yet I didn't want to disrupt the characters. Unfortunately, we weren't recording at that moment, which is a pity because it would have made it into my personal blooper reel. However, strangely enough, I believe we still kept that particular take, so we'll have to wait and see.

Anya, like many other characters, becomes entangled in the pervasive theme of unfulfilled resolutions that permeates Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 6 sees Xander abruptly deserting Anya on their wedding day, leading to her subsequent narrative disorientation. Despite lacking a concrete purpose, Anya remains a part of the group, a fact that is accentuated in a particular episode in Buffy's seventh season. Here, Anya regresses back into her vengeful demon persona.

Anya ultimately retreats from the edge, but for the remainder of that season, she is essentially pushed to the side until the series finale. She meets her demise in the final battle, with her death barely acknowledged, which highlights how the series fails to fully explore a compelling character with great potential. The audio drama serves as a course correction for those seeking a more satisfying conclusion to Caulfield's character.

Carpenter has discussed how the audio drama aims to do justice to various Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. Based on Caulfield's comments, the sequel series also offers the opportunity for the actors to explore new avenues and experiment with the unforgettable characters they portrayed with such brilliance. This makes the audio drama a unique undertaking in its own right.

Source: Comicbook.com