Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy Read online

  Joss and a very preganant Kai Cole.

  No one has made money yet betting against Whedon, and so far in the season, he’s been delivering quality in all three shows. But where does he go from here?

  The early seasons of Buffy allowed Joss to wrestle with the demons of his youth, with the alienation and misery of high school life. In the later seasons of Buffy, in Angel, and now, in Firefly, Joss is grappling with larger issues, with adulthood and responsibility in a dark and meaningless world.

  But Whedon is entering a new world himself. He and his wife, Kai Cole, are expecting a child at the end of 2002. Whedon promised himself that he would spend more time at home, a promise he found difficult to fulfill. But with a new child, Whedon will have to make some difficult choices.

  If Whedon is like most fathers, his perspective on life and meaning will change profoundly with the birth of his child. Joss’s work is intensely personal and connected with his history and worldview It’s fascinating to consider how a new child will affect his work.

  With all his accomplishments, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that Joss is still a young man, that his best work is probably still ahead of him. And much of this work will likely be in film. Whedon has not abandoned this dream, but he is waiting to build the clout to do it his way. “I’ve gotten into this stage where basically I’m looking to develop something that I’m going to direct,” Joss explains. “That’s all about trying to make a movie that’s made by me. Something that I can look at and say, ‘That’s good.’ Everything that’s happened before has sort of fed into this kind of attitude of ‘Nobody cares about the writer.’

  “The two worlds. Although people can move between them easily, they don’t have much to do with each other. I’m still nobody. They’re starting to notice me now, so that could change. But nobody in Hollywood seems to be saying, ‘Hey, let’s go talk to that “Sweden” guy’ When you get to, like, Stephen King level, then they want to film your sweatsocks. ‘You wrote down a phone number? I’ll option it!’ But I’m not at that level.”

  But he’s getting closer. It won’t be long before Whedon gets an opportunity to write and direct a major iconic film, the next Spider-Man or Batman. Or he’ll get the freedom to develop a world of his own, in the mode of Star Wars, Terminator, or Alien. Either way, expect Whedon to blossom into one of the great filmmakers of his generation. But don’t expect him to go Hollywood. Joss will always be a writer first, a true fan, and a geek at heart.

  Copyright © 2003 by Candace Havens

  Design and supplemental materials copyright © 2003 BenBella Books

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Havens, Candace, 1963-

  Joss Whedon : the genius behind Buffy / by Candace Havens.—1st BenBella Books ed.

  p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-936-66154-1

  1. Whedon, Joss, 1964- 2. Television producers and directors—United States—Biography. 3. Television writers—United States—Biography.

  4. Buffy, the vampire slayer (Television program) I. Title.

  PN1992.4.W49H38 2003

  791.45’023’092—dc21

  2002154551

  CIP

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