Interview with the Writers of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story

What was it like collaborating on this story? What did you each bring to the table?

AB: This is not our first collaboration rodeo – Chris and I have worked on books, audio dramas and an animated web series together. The beauty of working with Chris is that he has incredible ideas, but he’s always down to refine them and make them even stronger through collaboration. He doesn’t judge what I bring to the writing party and knows how best to tease out all the good bits in my ideas. It’s a joy to work with him – and to be able to collaborate on Slayers, in particular, was exciting and scary. Exciting because I know the work I do with Chris is always high caliber…and Scary because we had a huge cast to service and we wanted to make sure all the arcs were satisfying. Working on Slayers was a tall order – but between Chris, Lydia (our incredible Audible UK exec who helped us develop the story) and myself, I think we’ve created something really special.

CG: The best thing about collaborating with Amber is the brainstorming. We’ll talk before one of us goes off to work on some scenes, and then afterward, and every time, the “what if we...” conversation leads to something so much cooler than it would have been otherwise. Her creative mind is devious, and funny, and she comes up with ideas that range from filthy to brutal to beautifully absurd. She’s also always a conscientious caretaker of her fellow cast members and of their fans, as much as her own. We were always cognizant of the fact that these characters, and actors, have been through a lot, and we wanted to make sure to respect that and give them each something to make it worth returning. And, at the same time, when it came to making this series our own, we knew that while the character might not be the main character, that creating Indira as the entry point into our story was vital. This is what happens when you’ve been creatively collaborating with someone for twenty years—Amber and I are very much on the same page. I have total faith and trust in her, personally and professionally.

Slayers starts in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but quickly collides with a new alternate universe. What’s this new Sunnydale like?

AB: Alternate Sunnydale is very similar to our world…but with a few very important tweaks. And my favorite one is we get to see Charisma Carpenter playing a bad ass slayer. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be a part of this project, initially. The idea of Cordelia the Vampire Slayer just makes me really happy.

CG: The most important element of our alternate Sunnydale—our new Sunnydale—is that nobody there has ever met someone named Buffy Summers. So you can backtrack to the point where Buffy arrived at Sunnydale High in her universe and see all the things that didn’t happen. But this alternate Sunnydale has then had sixteen years or so of its own dark history, which creates so many opportunities for the future. Probably the most important point is that in this world, Willow never performed the spell that gave all the world’s potential Slayers their Slayer-powers simultaneously. There’s just Cordelia...until our story begins...and she has gathered her own found family around her, and suffered unthinkable losses, but she’s still standing.

What can you tell us about the new Slayers – Indira and Cordelia?

AB: Alongside Cordelia the Vampire Slayer, we have an incredible young Slayer called Indira – and it’s through her eyes that we learn how the world of Slayers works. Indira is played by Laya DeLeon Hayes – who is incredible. She knocks this out of the park - and the chemistry she has with the other actors will blow everyone away. The scenes with Cordelia and Indira are heartbreaking – and the scenes Indira has with Anya get laugh-out-loud funny.

CG: Exactly. Our first day in the studio, Laya came in and was just incredible from the first take. You could see a physical response from the other actors in the studio. Everyone stood up a bit straighter. The cast is made up of stellar talent. Charisma gives an incredible performance in this. Listeners will love this new Cordelia, who is just badass and whose story will break your heart, and that is 100% thanks to Charisma. I commented online that I still recall so clearly the moment after we recorded her most dramatic scene. There was silence in the studio. When I say people in the studio and in the sound booth were wiping away tears, that is not exaggeration. The Cordelia we know, no matter how much she came into her own as part of the Angel series, still always had what I think of as “sidekick energy”. This show is an ensemble. I don’t think you can call any one character THE lead (although certainly Spike and Cordelia fill traditionally leading roles), but there’s definitely no “sidekick energy” coming off this Cordelia. And Indira...as I’ve said, she’s our entry point. She’s seeing all of this for the first time, but she’s also a fangirl. I don’t want to talk too much about her personal journey here, because I want the audience to come along for the ride with her.

Did you write this with existing fans or new audiences in mind?

AB: Because of the ongoing Sag-Aftra strike, I’m gonna let Chris answer these questions.

CG: Certainly both. We’re building something new here, and that’s for everyone who’d like to come and listen. We have new characters, new versions of older characters, new relationships, and it should certainly be accessible for total newbies. But fans of the original series should have a deeper, richer experience because they know the history of these characters. The Buffy fandom changed the nature of fandom completely and forever. I used to visit the Bronze posting board and I’ve been to numerous conventions. With all the novels, comics, and video games I’ve written in the Buffyverse, I’ve had a wonderful time and met incredible people. Most of them are hugely supportive, but I’ve also been absolutely roasted for my approach to certain story elements. That’s okay. I embrace it, because it all comes out of the passion the fans have for this world and these characters, and that’s a passion I share. You won’t find anyone who cares more about Cordelia than Charisma Carpenter. You won’t find anyone who cares more about Tara than Amber Benson. You won’t find anyone who cares more about Spike than James Marsters. You won’t find anyone who cares more about Drusilla than Juliet Landau. Each member of the cast cares deeply, both about their characters and about their fans. Nobody worked harder in the studio than Emma Caulfield, who had at least three different character voices to do and often had to do those characters in the same scene, something arguing with each other. Emma can literally do anything. She’s a powerhouse.

What will surprise the fandom the most about this series?

CG: It’s so interesting to ponder that question. Like, absolutely nobody will be shocked that Juliet Landau is just extraordinary as Drusilla. This is a different Drusilla, more confident, more in control, but just as—well, “bananas,” to use Amber’s word. But Juliet is absolutely mesmerising, to the point where you kind of forget sometimes, in the studio, what’s meant to come next. You’re just watching her do her thing. As for surprises, there are so many story surprises that we can’t reveal now. There are lots of surprises in store with Tara, for instance, and with Giles. But honestly I think the biggest revelation for people is going to be James Leary as Clem. We were all in love with Clem in his appearances on the series, and Amber and I have been friends with James Leary for many years. But the surprises around him come for both Clem the character and for James the actor. Clem is a character that we knew so little about, and in this show we got to bring him forward to be a much more vital character and offer some very surprising revelations. But in doing that, we also got to showcase what a wildly talented actor James Leary really is. The comedic timing is brilliant, but there are moments of pain and empathy and sweetness that I know will make people fall in love with Clem.

Do you have a favourite moment or line from the series?

AB: The scene between Indira and Cordelia where we get insight into why Cordelia is the way she is…It makes me tear up every time.

CG: So many. Amber sort of stole mine, so I’ll go the other direction. I can’t explain why without spoiling some things, but when Emma—as Anyanka—needed to change her voice for a period of time, the result was so damn funny and not at all what we were expecting. My instant thought was, we can’t do that, it’s ridiculous. But that reaction lasted only half a second, because it made us all so happy that we instantly said, no, we have to do it that way. It’s wonderful.

You directed as well as co-wrote the series, what was it like being in the recording booth as these characters came back to life?

AB: Once again, I’m gonna defer to Chris because of the strike.

CG: I’ll tell you this from the perspective of someone who is a fan as well as storyteller. Every member of this cast is more thoughtful, more skilled, and more talented than I ever imagined—and I’d already had a deep respect for each of them. They love what they do, they’re deeply serious about it, and what they bring to these performances is stunning. I wish every fan could have been in that studio to experience these actors at work. There was a wonderful feeling of reunion, but also an embrace of the fact that we were doing something new, and a beautifully warm welcome for Laya, who is an absolute star in her own right. Characters who’d never, or barely, crossed paths on television were together now, and the actors relished the opportunity to work together. Seeing Spike and Drusilla together again, getting to do some really fun and silly stuff with Danny Strong as Jonathan, seeing Amber discover Tara in a variety of new ways, seeing Cordelia become a real hero...it was wonderful. Maybe the best part came on the days when we had Anthony Head live from the UK. We were in the studio in LA with him on a massive screen that all of the cast could see. The level of love and respect they all have for Tony came through so clearly. Having him there created such warmth. You could feel it radiating from everyone.

Why is audio a good way to tell this story? For anyone not familiar with multi-cast audio and spatial sound, what can they expect?

AB: There are a lot of pitfalls when creating a drama that relies solely on your ears. We had to be very mindful that scenes made sense auditorily because there were no images to give context clues. But when you do it right, an audio drama can be even juicier than a film or tv show. It can be very intimate – especially when you’re listening on headphones and Spike is whispering in your ears. I think it allows the listener to fully immerse themselves inside the story in a unique way. Close your eyes and it’s like you’re a participant in the story…not just a listener.

CG: From a practical standpoint, audio has no age. Vampires are not supposed to get any older, and audio allows us to continue that illusion. Audio also means we can do whatever we can imagine without having to worry about a budget for FX. No makeup, no CGI. We can blow up worlds or have a demon army or an evisceration or a love scene, and with audio, our job is to make you imagine it all in your mind. Your imagination creates all of the FX we could ever put on screen—so thanks for that, everyone. The king of all of this, audio-wise, is our co-director Kc Wayland. Amber and I loved working with Kc and his team. His knowledge, skill, and instincts are so damn impressive. He knows what a scene needs, every time. Also, his performance as Tara’s monkey familiar, Mr. Pickles, is one of the highlights of the series. You only think I’m joking. That might not have worked on television, but it works perfectly in audio. And the audio immersion is extraordinary. You are inside every scene, there in the room. Every time Drusilla delivers a sinister, creepy, bizarre line of dialogue, you’ll be there with her, and if you’re smart, you’ll be terrified of her.

Drusilla returns as the big bad. Does she have any new tricks up her sleeve?

AB: Once again, I’ll defer this to Chris since I can’t talk about other incarnations of Drusilla.

CG: So many. So many. (Insert evil laugh here.) This is a different Drusilla, full of pain and hope and malice, balancing grief and new love, and murder. Most importantly, she has ambitions that make her more dangerous than you can imagine!