Sarah Michelle Gellar as been acting since making her debut in a Burger King commercial back in 1981, but she entered the hearts and imaginations of many of us when she was cast as Buffy Summers in 1997. Since then, Sarah Michelle has starred in numerous movies and TV shows, achieved 1990s/2000s greatness by marrying Freddie Prinze Jr., and gone on to become a mom to two children.
Sarah Michelle recently spoke to LittleThings about what life has been like for her family the last two years, how she's encouraged her children to nurture their own love of reading, and a recent partnership with Wells Fargo that gave her the opportunity to help others realize their own passions in life.
Sarah Michelle partnered with Wells Fargo to promote its Active Cash Card, which was designed with one major thing in mind: helping individuals and families find ways to fund their own passion projects. While we spoke, she explained that she was interested in the project immediately because it spoke to her experience during the last two years in a way that is pretty universal.
Sarah Michelle said, "When Wells Fargo first came to me with the idea of the Active Cash Card, it really made me stop and think and take note of the last two years, and to re-evaluate the things that bring us joy, and how to bring those back to our lives."
Like the rest of us, Sarah Michelle and her family put a lot of living on hold in 2020. "It's hard when for two years you've stopped. Joy is such an important part of physical and mental health."
Working with Wells Fargo gave Sarah Michelle the opportunity to ask herself: What are the things that bring us joy?
As a dedicated reader and lover of books, Sarah Michelle quickly connected the opportunities provided by Wells Fargo with her own passion: finding and collecting first edition copies of the books she adores. Once she realized that this partnership was a way for her to help others do the same, she was all in.
Sarah Michelle's love for reading extends beyond the enjoyment she gets on her own from the act — her two children are also fans of reading, which is something that Sarah Michelle deliberately nurtured in her home. In her experience, the best way to get kids into reading is to make sure they see everyone in their home (parents and caregivers included) reading just for fun.
As she put it, "I hear people say so often, 'Ugh, my kids don't want to read!' and I'll say, 'Well, do you read?' and you realize that they pick up those cues from you. Sometimes on a Sunday afternoon, we all get on the couch together and read. They see the passion it brings me, and it travels down to them."
She had another tip for parents who want to inspire a passion for reading in their kids: let them read whatever they want, whether or not it's something you would personally choose. Sarah Michelle explained, "Reading is all about sparking your imagination and creativity. You don't have to read War and Peace … whatever it is they like, find those passions and encourage reading."
Of course, I couldn't let the conversation end without asking one important question: Have her children seen any of her work? Sarah Michelle acknowledged that while most of her films aren't quite kid-friendly, the two did spend a bit of time watching Buffy. The verdict? Just like the rest of us, they're pretty into it.
