…Into every generation one Slayer is born.
Years before she became the first actress to play the role of “Buffy Summer,” Kristy Swanson was making quite the name for herself. Just two years into her acting career, Kristy had already appeared in a horror television show – “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” – and had small roles in Pretty In Pink and the Golden Globe-nominated comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. With other roles in horror films Deadly Friend (1986) and Not Quite Human (1987), a spot on “Growing Pains,” and featured, recurring roles on “Knots Landing,” and “Nightingales,” Kristy was quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s It Girls.
It wasn’t until 1992’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer that Kristy Swanson became completely recognizable. In the campy horror-comedy, Kristy plays “Buffy,” a teenage girl imbued with special powers to hunt vampires. While it didn’t perform too well at the box office, the movie quickly became a cult classic and is still broadcast on television on a weekly basis to this day. This movie would be the basis for the “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” television series, which Miss Swanson would not return to and passed the torch onto Sarah Michelle Gellar.
After Buffy, Kristy went on to star in The Chase with Charlie Sheen, Higher Learning with Omar Epps, Big Daddy with Adam Sandler, and Dude, Where’s My Car? with Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott. She also continued to dominate television; appearing on hit shows such as “Early Addition,” “Just Shoot Me!,” “CSI: Miami,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “One Tree Hill,” and “Psyche.”
Has Kristy ever returned to horror films? Occasionally, but mostly in creature features. She appeared in two killer shark movies – Red Water (2003) and Swamp Shark (2011). She also appeared in Living Death in 2006 – a role she is rumored to have filmed while pregnant – and will appear in Mimesis 2 due out in late 2012.
Kristy Swanson is making the rounds at various horror and comic book conventions. Go out and meet her. I had the opportunity and she was just a joy to meet and talk to. Hopefully she will return to the horror genre soon. Anything is possible and her career is still stronger than ever.
