Buffy: It's A Wrap

Cast and crew of UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer expressed pride in their show and sadness about its end as it wrapped its seventh and final season last week, and they celebrated with a party April 18 in Los Angeles. Alyson Hannigan (Willow) told SCI FI Wire that she was crying in her final scene and afterward. "And they said, 'Well, that's a picture wrap,' and it was just like, 'Wow, there's more [tears] in there.' It just came spilling out. ... It was very, very bittersweet, an emotional day for everyone. Lots of tears, lots of hugs. ... It was great, though."

Production on the Buffy finale wrapped production last week, marking the end of the show's original episodes. A wrap party at the Miauhaus studio in Los Angeles drew current and past cast members and crew, including creator Joss Whedon, executive producer Marti Noxon and actors Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Anthony Head (Giles), James Marsters (Spike), Amber Benson (Tara), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Seth Green (Oz), Tom Lenk (Andrew), Julie Benz (Darla) and Danny Strong (Jonathan).

Anthony Head, who arrived with his two teen daughters, described himself as "gutted" on his last day. "I felt really odd, like really sort of in a really strange emotional place," he said in an interview. "It was like saying goodbye to a very, very, very old friend. And at the same time, you knew that it wasn't goodbye. And you knew that there was more life in it, and I'm going to see these guys. It's what it is. It's come to the right time and place."

Noxon said, "I feel everything. I feel like I'm graduating from college or high school all over again. I feel like I just spent some of the greatest times of my life. You can only hope that you didn't peak in high school, you know?" She added that the upcoming May 20 series finale "is some of the strongest stuff we've ever done. I just think it's awesome. ... It kicks ass."

For his part, Whedon said he was exhausted, but happy with where the show ended, and added that he plans to spend more time with his wife and newborn son now that the show is over. "We were able to do the show we wanted to," he said in an interview. "We were never dictated to. ... We always did ... what we were told to by the story. Because, eventually, if you're making art, it starts telling you what to do." He added that he'll miss writing the show the most. "Being in that room, just beating our heads against the wall, trying to break a story," he said. "Cracking each other up for hours at a stretch. I mean, I love filming. But filming has so much going on. It's not like being in the room with the writers. It's just us and the characters. And writing those voices myself. Being alone with them. Those are the things I'll miss the most." The Buffy finale airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT on May 20.