Sarah Michelle Gellar Honors Buffy Summers with Message About Bravery on Character's 40th Birthday

Sarah Michelle Gellar is paying tribute to one of her most iconic roles.

On Tuesday, the 43-year-old actress honored her Buffy the Vampire Slayer character, Buffy Summers, on what would be the character's milestone 40th birthday.

Gellar, who portrayed the heroic teen character on the hit supernatural drama series, shared a throwback photo of herself in character as Buffy on Instagram, where she urged her followers to find inspiration from Buffy's bravery.

"I just realized that today is Buffy Summers 40 bday. I can't even believe that," Gellar began the caption of her post. "She taught that the the hardest thing in the world is to live in it. So in her honor let's all be brave. Live."

"This may not be the way we are used to living our lives, but let's find the beauty. So we can all live long and safely," the actress added, alongside the two hashtags, "#happybirthdaybuffy" and "#buffy40."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed Gellar as the titular hero and aired for seven seasons before ending in 2003.

Years after the series originally wrapped, Gellar previously revealed that her two children — daughter Charlotte Grace and son Rocky James with husband Freddie Prinze Jr. — were recently introduced to the popular series amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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While appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show back in October, Gellar told host Kelly Clarkson that her two kids had never seen Buffy before and decided to give it a try while quarantining at home.

"We just started. I had never thought to show it to them," Gellar admitted at the time. "They asked during quarantine, we were trying to find shows to binge, and I was like OK I didn't even know if they'd be into it, but they are like so into it."

In addition to rewatching the series with her kids last year, Gellar also channeled her famed character by rewearing on one of Buffy's iconic outfits.

In May, the actress slipped back into the cream-colored prom dress she wore on the 1997 season 1 finale of the hit WB series, for an epic throwback post on Instagram.

"All dressed up and no where to go," the star captioned the photo, in which she posed in the gown while standing in her home. Gellar paired the flowing frock with a leather jacket just like she did on the fan-favorite series.

The only thing missing from her throwback ensemble was the crossbow Buffy used while battling The Master (Mark Metcalf) on the series — a confrontation that famously led to her death before her bestie, Xander (Nicholas Brendon), brought her back to life.

"'I say we party,'" she added, quoting the episode and adding the hashtag of its name, "Prophecy Girl."

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