5 Minutes With A Vengeance Demon: Andy Burns Talks To Buffy’s Emma Caulfield

Since the end of Buffy in 2003, Emma Caulfield has kept busy acting, most recently appearing on ABC’s Private Practice. She’s also started a web comic called Contropussy. I had a chance to talk with Emma at Fan Expo in Toronto about her present, the past, and some shared passions.

Andy Burns: I was on your myspace and realized that you and I have something in common. We both want to meet Bono.

Emma Caulfield: On yeah. Love him.

Burns: Why?

Caulfield: Why not? I mean, the guy is brilliantly talented. He’s inspirational. He’s brilliant. He’s managed to accomplish a lot in his life. And I love his music.

Burns: Which brings me to the next question – what did you think of No Line On The Horizon?

Caulfield: I hated it.

Burns: Really?? How come?

Caulfield: It felt like a big hot mess to me. And it’s painful for me to say because I’m a huge U2 fan. They’ve been my favourite band for as long as I can remember. I was very disappointed by that album.

Burns: What’s your favourite album by them?

Caulfield: Achtung Baby probably. The Joshua Tree a very close second. It’s a toss-up, but I think Achtung Baby is my favourite.

Burns: What can you tell me about the web comic you’re doing?

Caulfield: It’s called Contropussy. You can log onto Contropussy.com. It centers around a cat called Contropussy. A controversial cat, thus the name. On a surface level its Sex In the City for animals, but on a deeper level we explore human behaviour through a different kind of animal. Nothing is taboo or off-limits. The more we make people uncomfortable, the better.

Burns: Why did you decide to go the web comic route?

Caulfield: We wanted to build the audience that way. We wanted to do a grass roots kind of thing. And that world is something everyone was telling me is extremely popular and it’s one I knew nothing about. So that’s phase one. Then we’ll go to print and then eventually animate it, hopefully in six months, something like that.

Burns: Considering the fact that you come from a genre show, were you always into sci-fi and horror?

Caulfield: I love sci-fi. Not horror, but I do love sci-fi. It’s my favourite genre.

Burns: Is there any film in particular that you always dug?

Caulfield: Aliens. I can quote it from start to finish. It’s embarrassing. 2001, obviously. As far as tv goes, Battlestar Galactica, the redo. Amazing. And I own all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I do, and I’ll admit it freely.

Burns: On that note, we should talk about Buffy The Vampire Slayer. How did you feel about how things ended with Anya?

Caulfield: I asked (Buffy creator Joss Whedon) to kill me off, or at least suggested it might be a nice way for my character to end. I didn’t necessarily expect it to be so, I don’t know, quick or blunt. But I think her dying the way she did, in terms of being heroic, I think it was a nice way to go out.

Burns: I remember watching and thinking “did that just happen”?

Caulfield: Yeah, and then it was just done. There was no real discussion about it. It was weird. But she was a great character and she went out how she should have gone out.

Burns: Do you miss her at all?

Caulfield: No. Is that bad? No, I don’t. When something is done, it’s done.

Thanks to Emma Caulfield for talking to Biff Bam Pop! Check out her myspace here and her new web comic Contropussy.