Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy

by Havens, Candace

It ain’t like I’m sleeping.

  -joss

  9

  Joss the Mentor

  “He brings along talent and, in a way, nurtures it. I’ve learned so much just by being around him.”

  —Marti Noxon

  Whedon may have started life as a shy reclusive boy, but he has learned to work effectively with his writing team, cast, and crew. Whedon has developed into a skilled director, leader, and mentor, and one gets the impression that this transformation was quite deliberate. Just as he changed his name to Joss to launch his Hollywood career, Joss quite deliberately built the skills he needed to realize his vision. He taught himself to direct and, equally challenging, he taught himself to be the leader and a mentor for his cast and crew.

  Joss has developed a low-key, self-effacing style of leadership. He isn’t harsh and he doesn’t scream, but he is very demanding and it’s absolutely clear to everyone that he is totally in charge.

  “He knows what needs to happen,” says Greenwalt. “I’ve worked with him on Buffy and Angel and he is probably one of the most focused men I’ve ever met. At the same time he’s just a guy doing something that he loves, and it’s that joy he has that makes everybody want to be there. It’s hard not to want to work with someone who is so passionate about everything that he does.”

  I’ve worked with him on Buffy and Angel and he is probably one of the most focused men I’ve ever met.—David Greenwalt

  “We all spend more time on the set than we do at home,” says Whedon, “so you have to create that dynamic where people feel like they are all working toward the same thing. When people enjoy what they’re doing and have fun at the same time, they are going to do a better job.”

  He believes in people.

  —Marti Noxon

  “He believes in people,” says Noxon. “His instincts are unbelievable. Is he a good boss? Yes, because he makes you work hard and at the same time you never realize just how hard you really are working. That’s what is so great about him. He makes it fun to be a part of it. I don’t mean sappy kind of ha-ha fun. But like you-are-working-on-something-importantand-it’s -all-heading-in-the-right-direction kind of fun.”

  Whedon’s executive producers make it sound like fun and games, but these shows take a lot of time to film. The hours are long, and the cast and crew have their cranky moments. There are also times when the stories fall off track and they must work quickly to get things back in order. Joss, for all his kindness, is unrelenting on issues of quality.

  Whedon invests a great deal of time in mentoring and developing his staff. Many of the people who work with him in high-level positions started as assistants or interns. He has a way of teaching and pushing without being obnoxious about it.

  “Look at him,” says Basinger. “He’s a young guy in this business and he’s incredibly generous and nurturing. He gets so excited when someone else has an idea and does something great. He definitely builds up talent. His first assistant that he hired was one of my students. He has moved on and now writes for Dawson’s Creek. Joss spent a lot of time reading his work and helping him. You don’t see that much in Hollywood and you certainly don’t see it in the young people who are still making their way.”

  Whedon often returns to his alma mater to encourage the new film students in their work. “I taught my musicals class in the fall [of 2001],” Basinger continues. “He was very excited I was doing it because he was doing Buffy the Musical. So we kept talking about it on the phone and going over stuff. I always feel it’s not good to ask favors. Finally he called me and he asked, so how is your class doing? I said, ‘Oh they are great. They love the films and we are really into this.’ He asked, ‘Are they going to watch Buffy the Musical?’ And I told him of course they were, I was giving it as an assignment.

  Joss with Buffy executive producer Marti Noxon, who he calls, “one of great brains and beauty” (and she’s a pretty good singer as well).

  “And then a while later, he called back and asked if I thought the students might like it if he came by. I laughed and said, ‘Are you kidding?’ I said, ‘I didn’t feel I should ask you.’ He’s in the middle of his season working his butt off and I’m going to ask him to fly back to Middletown to ask him to talk to my musicals class. But he volunteered. He came and he showed Buffy and they went wild for it. He talked about what he learned. He said, ‘Everything I know about musicals I learned in this room,’ which of course isn’t true. He learned plenty more somewhere else. I didn’t teach him to compose music.

  “The thing is that it was great for my class because it made them feel like if he could do it, maybe they could. He’s very generous in that regard. He’s wonderful to them. He listens to them and answers questions. He takes them seriously and he encourages them. And best of all he hires them. He’s hired a lot of our graduates to work for him. Right outside his door, one to the left and one to the right, sit two Wesleyan film majors. He’s taken interns and been great about that.”

  The thing is that it was great for my class because it made them feel like if he could do it, maybe they could. He’s very generous in that regard.

  —Jeanine Basinger

  It is difficult to find anyone who has worked with Joss, past or present, who has anything bad to say about the man. He inspires loyalty in his casts and crews, and in the process teaches his generosity to others.

  “He really gave me a chance when no one else would,” says Noxon. “He pushes you to be better than you ever thought you could be. He’s the one who pushed me into directing, and it was something I was very afraid of at the time. He does that, though, for everyone. There isn’t a person here who isn’t a hundred times better than when she or he came to the show. And that comes from Joss. He brings along talent and in a way nurtures it. I’ve learned so much just by being around him. Sort of by osmosis.”

  Joss the Genius

  One of the odder things about researching Joss Whedon is how often the word “genius” comes up. After all, we’re talking about a television writer, not a Nobel Prize winner. Is Joss Whedon a genius? Here’s what some of his colleagues had to say:“I can’t tell you the thoughts that went through my brain when the word ‘musical’ came up, I couldn’t imagine how it would work, which is why Joss is the one writing it. And you can’t tell him no. He’s lovable, kind, funny, but you don’t tell him no. So we made a musical, and we actually had a lot of fun doing it. To be honest, I’m sure there were times when Joss wasn’t sure he could pull it off, but he did it. That’s the genius of Joss....

  “There are times when I’ve gone to him and I didn’t understand why we were doing certain things and he explains it in such a way that it all makes sense. You just have to trust in that genius.”

  —Sarah Michelle Gellar

  “Is there a word beyond ‘genius’? It is crazy. I know he doesn’t sleep and he certainly doesn’t have time to eat. Why is that man alive? He has three shows on air and makes phenomenal television. He’s an incredible storyteller, writer, and director. I hope there is something very wrong with him, because he is way too talented.”

  —Alexis Denisof

  “Then meeting Joss . . . he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in mv life. He’s a genius.”

  —Sean Maher

  “That’s the great thing about working with Joss, he’s like an actor’s dream. He’s great with actors and he’s really into listening and collaborating. He’s very intelligent, articulate, and kind. People call him a genius, but I think it’s a huge understatement. ”

  —Morena Baccarin

  Joss shares an affectionate moment with Alexis Denisof.

  “I couldn’t tell as the season went on, and I feel really strongly about this, if I was the one in control of the character. I thought I had control of him on my own. The reason Joss is brilliant is that I think he was manipulating me so well that he made me feel like I was in control and in reality it was him the whole time.”

  —Adam Busch

  “There’s n
ot a question about [whether Joss is a genius]. I don’t know of anyone who has met him that doesn’t think he is amazing.”

  —Amy Acker

  “I loved Joss Whedon. He’s so smart and creative. He made one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in my life. Did you see the episode where the guys are floating down the street, ‘Hush’? I watched it in my own living room and it scared the hell out of me. I felt like a little kid again. I’d never seen that before. These guys were chilling.

  “Then he did that musical, which was just amazing. I just think guys like him are just a breed of their own. They are so far ahead of the times and just have incredible creative capacity.”

  —John Ritter

  “Joss is a genius and given half a chance to show what he could do I knew some kind of magic would happen.”

  —Gail Berman

  “You don’t get much more real talent than Joss Whedon.”

  —Seth Green

  “It was the most wonderful experience of all time. It’s been something I’ve been looking forward to from the first moment we were doing the presentation for the pilot and Joss and I and Sarah Michelle were talking about loves, and we all said how much we love musicals. I said, ‘You love musicals too,’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, but I do musicals, and we said well we must do one together. Every year I’d ask him if we were going to do it this year, and he’d say, ‘No, no,’ because we don’t want it to look like we are doing it because we can’t do anything else. Then he had this idea of how to take simple story lines and he took that and turned it into pure genius.”

  -Anthony Head

  10

  The Real Joss

  “I don’t want to create responsible shows with lawyers in them. I want to invade people’s dreams.”

  -Joss Whedon

  Joss Whedon’s talents as a writer, director, and producer are undeniable, but talent is only part of the picture. Behind Joss’s low-key, self-deprecating exterior lies a man with an incredible intensity and drive. But Joss’s ambition doesn’t lie in the conventional mode. Growing up, Joss found the world to be a scary, unfriendly place. He found solace in the world of the imagination. Often the comfort of television, movies, music, and comics were all that sustained him. This has become his life’s work–creating worlds of meaning, passion, and hope in an unfriendly and meaningless world.

  Whedon has become a wealthy man, but he isn’t driven by money. He’s become successful, but success in the conventional sense doesn’t motivate him. Joss is first and foremost a fan working for his fans, and for him success is about getting under the skin of his fans. “The most obsessive, nerd fans of this show are me and my writing staff,” he says. “I can stump anybody on any episode. I’ve said this before, but it is how I feel and I know no other way to say it exactly: I would rather have a hundred people who need to see this show than a thousand people who like to see this show.”

  I would rather have a hundred people who need to see this show than a thousand people who like to see this show.—Joss

  Whedon describes himself as a “bitter atheist” who finds meaning only in his creations. “I’m a scary, depressive fellow. There’s no meaning to life. That’s kind of depressing. There’s no God. That’s a bummer, too. You fill your days with creating worlds that have meaning and order because ours doesn’t. And so, yeah, I’d say the fact that I’m a pretty depressive fellow also has to do with my ambition, staving off the inevitable.”

  Joss’s need to write and create new worlds seems to extend beyond the normal creative drive; it’s what keeps him going. “You know, I always get cranky when I’m not writing,” Joss admits. “I’ll be mad and I don’t know why. I just feel like I’m angry with everybody, and I hate everything, and life is a sham. Then I’ll realize I haven’t written anything. And rewriting doesn’t count. It has to be an original script.”

  This explains Whedon’s intense frustration with what many would have considered a very successful screenwriting career. It wasn’t enough to be writing and contributing. Joss is a world-builder and he has to be creating worlds that he controls, that have meaning for him. Television was the only way he could achieve this.

  “It makes perfect sense to me [to work in TV as opposed to films] but it definitely surprises most people,” Joss insists. “Why are the best writers in TV? Because they can control their product; they’re given something resembling respect and they see what they create come up on the screen not only the way they want it, but also within a few months as opposed to—like—four years ... I love movies and want to make more movies, but if the idea is to tell the story, then this is the best way to do that.

  “Although I’ve been treated well by good people a lot of the time,” he reflected, “I have the usual bitter ‘They’re jealous of us—they need us and they hate us because they need us’ writer thing. Which is probably true. I think that on the totem pole [of film production], writers are still pretty much the part of the pole that’s stuck in the ground so that it will stay up.”

  I’m a scary, depressive fellow. There’s no meaning to life. That’s kind of depressing. There’s no God. That’s a bummer, too. You fill your days with creating worlds that have meaning and order because ours doesn’t.

  —Joss

  Joss’s success hasn’t made him content, nor has it banished his view of himself as an outsider. He doesn’t hesitate to take on his production company or his network when he feels poorly treated. Whedon was vocal in complaining about Fox’s decision to position Dark Angel against Angel on Tuesday nights. “The fact that they put [Dark Angel] on opposite a show that they produce, thereby hurting it, shows that they really don’t care,” Whedon told TV Guide Online. “Their big picture is clearly so big that whatever I think and whatever I am doing doesn’t matter, and I resent that. But I am not a ‘big-picture guy.’ I’m just making my shows . . . I am not someone who can say, ‘Work your schedule.’” Joss is also unhappy with Dark Angel’s name. “I watch [Dark Angel], and her name is not Angel, and she’s not an angel, so why the [expletive] would they call it that?” he complains.

  writers are still pretty much the part of the pole that’s stuck in the ground so that it will stay up.—Joss

  In a feat rarely seen in Hollywood, Whedon is producing three television series at the same time (Buffy, Angel, Firefly). Whedon promises to be deeply committed to each of these three series.

  “This year I am going to be writing a bunch of original scripts in addition to everything else,” Whedon promises. “I’m going to shoot four episodes total of all the three shows. I’m going to keep my hand in. Plus I’m doing stuff on the side just to relax, but don’t tell anyone.”

  her name is not Angel, and she’s not an angel, so why the [expletive] would they call it that?—Joss

  The “stuff on the side” is likely to include developing two other series (Buffy the Animated Series and Ripper), and writing movie scripts, comic books, and songs (he wrote a song for Anthony Head’s solo album, Music for Elevators).

  With all of his projects, with his deep commitment to the quality of Buffy and Angel, why would he agree to launch Firefly, a high-profile project that’s consuming the bulk of his time?

  “Because I’m an idiot,” Whedon jokes. But behind the jokes it’s clear that Joss has an almost obsessive need to create new worlds. From a fan perspective, this may be a good thing, but has he taken on too much? The 2002—2003 television season promises to be his most challenging yet. Firefly remains a high-profile project with an uncertain future, so Joss must concentrate his efforts on the success of this show. And with the departure of David Greenwalt, and Marti Noxon’s maternity leave, Joss must inevitably pick up much of the slack on Buffy and Angel.

  Whedon is not willing to choose between his shows; he’s committed to all of them and fervently denies that he is detaching himself from any of them. “I haven’t been as hands-off as people like to think. This season, I was there, except when I was shooting the Firefly pilot. But
yeah, everything I saw that I could have made better or had a different vision for, I go, ‘Aaaarrgh!’ But then, I’ve always done that.”

  So, is Joss headed for meltdown? His answer doesn’t inspire confidence. “I’m going to be more involved in Angel and Buffy even than I was last year. At the same time I’m going to be completely immersed in Firefly. And the trick to it all is increased efficiency. I’m also going to be home more, too. I have all of the New Year’s resolutions. It really is a case of efficiency. We juggled some writers. They are all aware that they have to step up in ways they haven’t before. That’s [a] great opportunity for a writer or writer/producer. I have built this family, and although Daddy [Greenwalt] left and we all feel bad about that, I still have a huge extended family who are great, creative people. It’s just a question of using the time and using the people and making sure that no one is ever not busy.

  I’m going to be more involved in Angel and Buffy even than I was last year. At the same time I’m going to be completely immersed in Firefly. And the trick to it all is increased efficiency.—Joss

  “Is it impossible? Yes! Are we going to accomplish it? Yes! Because I won’t abandon Buffy this late in the game. I won’t abandon Firefly this early in the game and I especially won’t abandon Angel right in the middle of its power. Angel is the one that no one really knows about. It’s flying under the radar. It had such a good year.”