Sarah Michelle Gellar Remembers Buffy Co-Star Anthony Head In Instagram Tribute

Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Sarah Michelle Gellar has paid her respects to her former co-star Anthony Head in a touching tribute.

Shortly after the news broke on Friday that Anthony had died at the age of 72, Sarah Michelle, who worked with him on Buffy for many years, took to Instagram to publish a bittersweet post.

Quoting the show’s heartbreaking season five finale, in which Buffy gives a tear-jerking monologue about why she had decided to sacrifice her own life to save her sister Dawn and the world, the post began: ”Tell Giles I figured it out and I’m OK.”

Giles, Anthony’s character in the show, was Buffy’s “Watcher” or mentor on all things slaying, before eventually becoming the titular character’s father figure over the course of the series.

She continued: “Well I don’t have it figured out and I’m not OK.”

“But I know I’m the lucky one because I knew you,” Sarah Michelle wrote, before giving a shout-out to Anthony’s daughters, Daisy and Emily.

“Thank you to Daisy and Emily who not only shared their dad with me, but with the world.”

rah Sarah Michelle’s post included a slideshow of backstage photos of herself and Anthony.

The last slide showed screenshots from an exchange Buffy had with Giles in the season two episode Lie To Me, in which a character Buffy thought was a childhood friend ended up double-crossing her in an attempt to become a vampire.

After Buffy realised she’d been conned by her friend, she turned to Giles for some guidance and comfort.

“Does it ever get easy, life?” Buffy asked Giles, to which he responded: “What do you want me to say?”

“Lie to me,” Buffy then said, prompting Giles to tell her: ”Yes, it’s terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats.

“And, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and… everybody lives happily ever after.”

Check out Sarah Michelle’s post for yourself here.

Outside of Buffy, Anthony made quite an impact on the small screen, especially here in the UK.

The British actor was well known for playing Rupert Mannion, the smarmy former owner of A.F.C. Richmond, in Ted Lasso, in addition to roles in Little Britain, Merlin and an iconic string of Nescafé ads that aired in the 1980s.