Loaded's artical on Emma Caulfield (feb 2001)

Demon Turned Human Confectionery, Anya

Shit Kicking, Leather-wearing, crossbow firing queen of all the bitches. That’s Anya, the
beautiful if stroppy compadre of Buffy The Vampire Slayer who, with her sharp tongue, blunt
opinions and leather trousers, has so convincingly upped BTVS’s sexual ‘stakes’. She was a
demon for 1,120 years before being cruelly turned into a human. And she’s struggling with it.

"well she has only been human for about a year," sympathises Emma Caulfield, the actress who
plays Anya. “think how long it takes us to work out the world whener’re babies. You know, she
used to be a vengeance demon and suddenly she becomes this 20-year-old mortal. She’s just
figuring out how to do it.”

I suppose only being human for one year might be a good excuse for rudeness. We should be
grateful she’s not burping up sick and screaming all night. But what about Emma? She is, by
reputation, a very shy young lady. Is the character of Anya possessing her, demon-like, and
making her real-life persona a little more evil?
“yeah actually,” she laughs, “sometimes I do find Anya rubbing off on me. Not to the extent that I
actually...”
Kill people?
“Yeah! Anya’s just so honest, and if I had to pick one quality from that character that I’d want to
emulate, it would be that. Not that I’m dishonest, but if you live in LA, everyone’s so phoney and
there’s so much bullshitting that its kind of contagious — you find yourself doing it despite
yourself. So she’s rubbing off on me that way. I’m more honest about what makes me
uncomfortable and what makes me comfortable”

But new found honesty or not, it must be difficult being shy and famous at the same time
“well, the shy thing’s not so much about people recognizing me,” she explains. “It’s more about
situations like this, where its one-on-one and the whole point of this meeting between you and me
is to talk about me. That’s very disconcerting.” She pauses for thought.
“That’s weird”
Not as weird as some of the people she meets, I bet. Those freaks who are into sci-
fi/supernaturallhorrer programs are all as mental as a Buddhist in a china shop, aren’t they?
“All TV is a form of escape” Emma reasons “and some need to escape more than others. I’ve met
a few fans who were really very, very strange. They really don’t have any self-perception at all,
they have no idea about the reality they’re living in, But I really think those people are few and far
between. At least I’m hoping they are. Otherwise I’m going to have a hard time sleeping at night.”

But Emma should be able to pick a nutter out from a crowd of Buffy freaks with ease. She’s got a
degree in psychology, and was all set to be a shrink until stardom opened its flashy mouth and
swallowed her whole. How’s about doing some psychological deconstruction of her character
Anya, then? Could she tell us what, for example, is inside her id?
“oh, Anya is everybody’s id” she laughs “Anya is ‘id’ personified”
Of course! Erm... and remind me, what is an id?
“The id is our base impulse. We have the id, the ego and the super ego inside our psyche. The id
is Freud’s way of describing our animal instincts, the things that our ego and superego keep in
check. I think Anya’s struggle represents our id — and all the characters that surround her are the
ego and the superego, helping keep her in check.”

As you might have noticed, Emma is no whining dunce. She makes me feel I have the intellectual
prowess of Rory McGrath’s beard. It’s said that, in between breaks in filming, she doesn’t nip out
to the bogs with Buffy to do her nails and gossip about the size of so-and-so’s stake. Instead, she
and the rest of the cast like nothing better than a highly competitive game of scrabble.
https://www.angelfire.com/tv/buffy4000/anyaloaded.htm1 16/05/01
Loadeds Artical on Emma Caulfield (Feb 2001) Page 2 of 2

“oh my God,” she laughs and sighs at the same time, “yes, we really do. And they’ve gotten pretty
ugly. I’ve had some ferocious games with Marc Blucas [who plays Riley) where he beat me by
one point. He’s amazingly good at scrabble. It’s really annoying.”
So what’s the best word you’ve had?
“once I had ‘melee’, and I connected it with two other words on a triple word score, so I got 80-
something points. And he still beat me. He still beat me, man!” she’s getting angry now. “he came
back! That’s what’s so annoying. I came up with that word and he still beats me.”

I’m amazed he doesn’t let her win, out of pure fear. Some of Anay’s Vampire-fighting in Buffy is
utterly brutal. If an Loaded readers were to come across a vampire while walking home from
Tosco’s. how should they go about killing it?
“Hmmm...” she considers this for ages. “god... if it was just a one-on-one battle?”
Yeah. We’re allowed a stake and perhaps one other weapon.
“well, all you really need is the stake. I think you need to size up the situation — if you’re much
smaller, run like hell and get back-up. If you’re not, get get the stake out and hope it hits. Oh, and
remember to aim with the pointy end out.”