Sarah Michelle Gellar has opened up about how the loss of Robin Williams deeply affected her and led her to step away from acting for several years.
Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed she stepped away from acting after Robin Williams’ passing
Sarah Michelle Gellar spoke about the experience following Robin Williams’ death on the Shut Up Evan podcast. She explained that she was already going through a very intense time in her personal life. “I had had children back to back. I started Crazy Ones when my son was three months old.”
“I was breastfeeding the entire time. And then Robin passed away, and everything just sort of hit me. It was like, the postpartum hit me, and that loss was so huge. And I just felt a little directionless for the first time in my life,” the actress shared.
That emotional weight pushed her to rethink her priorities. “I thought, ‘Maybe that’s my sign that I’m not living the moments enough, because they can go away so quickly,” she reflected. At that point, she decided to take a break from acting and she has no regrets.
“I’m so glad I did on so many levels,” she said. Stepping away allowed Gellar to be fully present with her family. She explained, “First of all, I’ll never get that time back with my kids. I didn’t miss a show, a performance, a first step, a lost tooth. Every moment, I was able to be there for. And that’s not something you can do as a working actor. Our days are long. We travel a lot.”
Time away from Hollywood also changed how she views her career. Gellar said she now chooses projects differently and no longer feels pressure to constantly work. The actress admitted that leaving acting always comes with uncertainty, but she feels grateful that audiences have stayed with her.
“Sometimes audiences move on, and that’s okay. That’s acceptable,” she said. The X-Men star further added that she’s thankful there is “still a place” for her. After several recent cameos in movies, she’s returning to live-action films with Ready or Not 2: Here We Come and the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival.
Williams’ death deeply affected her, as the iconic comedian tragically died in 2014 by suicide at the age of 63.
Originally reported by Ojas Kulkarni on ComingSoon.
