There have been reports that Marc Blucas, who is in his second season playing Riley, the boyfriend of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," might not last the entire season on the show. Heck, there are reports that he might not last much longer at all.
But if that's so, Blucas isn't talking. He's a regular, in-the-opening-credits, co-star "for the season, as far as I know now," he said recently.
"He certainly lives in the first episodes," Blucas said. "He gets to do a little fighting. He gets to do a little rolling around in bed. We're picking up right where we left off last year. So I couldn't ask for more."
As a matter of fact, the actor said he was really upbeat about his second year on the show.
"There's a comfort level that comes with it," he said. "There's knowing the character after having a season under my belt. Knowing where he's been, because when you start off you really don't know these things."
And, like all the "Buffy" cast members, Blucas raves about the show's writing, which is all under the direction of creator/executive producer Joss Whedon.
"I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes my character this season, because Riley is learning the gray areas now," Blucas said. "And that's a hard time, but that's an interesting, fun time as well. But I think he'll finally let his hair down a little and relax.
"But knowing Joss, my shirt'll probably be off a lot, too."
As for Whedon, he refused to comment on Riley's future, which may or may not mean anything.
"I'm not ruling out something terrible happening to anybody," he said.
And Blucas did admit that he's at least a little bit worried about what's going to happen to his character, given that Buffy has a new little sister, Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg), this season.
"I have this sneaking suspicion I may be stuck baby-sitting in a few episodes," he said. "That's my guess, because Joss has a way of making the opposites come together. Unless it's Spike (the vampire) baby-sitting her, which I don't think will happen, it'll be probably be me."
THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT: By necessity, Blucas has become one of the best slouchers on TV.
As Riley, Buffy's boyfriend, Blucas has a lot of scenes with Sarah Michelle Gellar. And he towers over her — Blucas is 6 foot 3 inches tall; Gellar is not much over 5 feet tall. But, while it's a challenge to make the height difference work on camera, it's one they've managed to overcome.
"It's a combination of a couple of things," Blucas said. "One, Sara is used to it, because David Boreanaz (who plays Angel, Buffy's ex-boyfriend) and I are about the same size. And, two, I slouch well, and she stretches well so we know how to cheat it."
A "BUFFY" MOVIE? As to all those rumors about a big-screen movie featuring "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," well, they're just rumors. If it happens at all, it's not going to be for a while.
"Not 'til after the series is over, if ever. As far as I'm concerned, the 'Buffy' movie comes out every week. For the amount of work that it takes, it feels like that."
Of course, Whedon did admit that he does have an idea for a movie if it ever comes to that. And he'd like to see a good "Buffy" movie instead of the awful 1992 flick that was ruined after he wrote the script and it was out of his control.
But not until after "Buffy" ends its TV run, which won't be for a while.
"If a show's working, they're not going to take it off the air," Whedon said. "There was a time when I thought, maybe, of ending it with the 100th episode. I don't think that's going to happen. We've already started thinking about ideas for next season based on where we're going this season. As long as we have stories to tell, no, we're not going to end it."
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