The Six-Time Oscar Nominee Who Played Memorable Roles On Both Buffy And Charmed
One of the great things about the old broadcast TV model, in which seasons stretched to 20+ episodes, mere months separated one season from the next, and production schedules were thus unforgivingly demanding, was that producers always had an insatiable need for new talent. Filming 22 consecutive 42-minute episodes over the course of a few months? Your principals aren't going to be enough to cover all the ground your story will invariably traverse, and besides, they wouldn't have the time or energy even if you asked.
The solution to this problem? Guest stars!
Series from this golden age of television, from sitcoms like "Friends" and "Frasier" to dramas like "Charmed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," were powered by guest stars in the same way the larger Hollywood machine is powered by the legions of extras, bit players, and uncredited walk-ons who fill each frame with glorious humanity. Those last two series in particular saw an impressive array of once and future A-listers pass through the halls of Sunnydale High and visit the Halliwell manor. From Ashanti as a demon assassin and Clea DuVall as an invisible girl to Bruce Campbell as a witch hunter/FBI agent and Jon Hamm as a Pharaonic potion maker, there are dozens and dozens to revisit and delight in seeing your favorite faces in their baby career eras, trying desperately to stand out and be seen. But very, very few actors who'd become household names appeared in both series.
... With one especially notable exception.
Amy Adams appeared on both shows in the same year
2000 was a big year for both "Charmed" and "Buffy." Over in Aaron Spelling land, "Charmed" was navigating from season 2, which solidified the series as a ratings smash, into season 3, the end of which would see star Shannen Doherty make a shocking exit (conclusively revealed very recently on Holly Marie Combs' podcast "Let's Be Clear" to be the result of a legal ultimatum issued by co-star Alyssa Milano). "Buffy," meanwhile, was navigating its own monumental shift, as 2000 marked the last year the show would fully air on its original network, The WB, before being offloaded onto UPN, a move that coincided in many fans' views with a drop in quality.
The year 2000 should now be remembered for another milestone in both "Charmed" and "Buffy" histories: the guest appearance of Amy Adams in both series. Adams wasn't a total unknown at the time. Incredibly, her acting debut was in Michael Patrick Jann and Lona Williams' 1999 cult classic "Drop Dead Gorgeous," a film oft-championed over here at /Film. She followed that up with memorable roles in "Psycho Beach Party" and the direct-to-video sequel to "Cruel Intentions." (Thankfully, Amy is finally returning to horror with "Nightbitch.") But her back-to-back appearances on "Charmed" and "Buffy" deserve a re-evaluation.
Uptight Beth and unlucky Maggie
Adams appears as Beth in "Family," season 5, episode 6 of "Buffy. She plays Tara's (Amber Benson) uptight, conservative cousin who visits Sunnydale with Tara's brother (Kevin Rankin) and father (Steve Rankin — unclear if there's an offscreen family tie. The resemblance is ... not resembling) in hopes of persuading her to move home. The entire extended family is unsuccessful. "Family" sees Tara finally find her footing in the series, and her rejection of her deceitful, duplicitous, and repressive family only strengthens her ties to paramour Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and the rest of the Scooby Gang. It's Benson's episode for sure, Adams did get to perform an iconic bit of dialogue:
"You selfish b****. You don't care the slightest bitty bit about your family, do you? Your dad's been worried sick about you every day since you've been gone. There's a house that needs taking care of, Donny and your dad having to do for themselves while you're down here living God knows what kind of lifestyle! I can't wait 'til your little friends find out the truth about you."
On "Charmed" Adams played a decidedly sadder role. In season 2, episode 16, "Murphy's Luck," Adams plays Maggie Murphy, an innocent soul who has been cursed by an unseen darklighter (Arnold Vosloo) to believe that everything terrible that comes her way is bad luck, not his sinister interventions. By the episode's end, we learn that Maggie is destined to become a white lighter, which explains why she's ended up the victim of a ceaseless, celestial negging campaign. Even at the outset of her career, Adams brought all the composure, nerve, and spontaneity we'd come to love her for in modern classics like "Arrival," "Sharp Objects," and "Her."