"My thirst is to do things that are different, that haven't been done, that I've never experienced before," Gellar says. Photo by: Sara De Boer / Retna
Sarah Michelle Gellar
 | Sarah Michelle Gellar
She may be a scream queen, but Sarah Michelle Gellar sees her screen flirtation with the supernatural another way: "This is the field where women can really rule." Just in time for Halloween, the actress, who had a cult following as TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, stars in The Grudge, a remake of a Japanese horror film. Gellar, 27, recently talked about playing with ghosts, filming in Japan and hanging out with husband Freddie Prinze Jr.

Do you believe in ghosts?
I believe in the idea of spirits. I've been to houses where murders have happened and you have that feeling, that sort of eerie feeling. I get a lot of deja vu. I always feel like I've been here, and experienced this. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I definitely believe in the idea of something that powerful transcending.

What was the difference between doing this movie and Scream 2?
Cleavage. You could not wear a turtleneck in those movies.

Do you think you're being set up as the next Jamie Lee Curtis – a scream queen?
No. I don't scream at all in this movie, if you'll notice. I yelp a lot. ... (Horror) is the field where women can really rule. I'm not the girlfriend. I'm not the wife. This is where women can take a hold of a movie and have a proactive job and the guy is the boyfriend, and people want to see the women be triumphant.

Were you recognized in Tokyo?
You know, the first three months that I was there, I obviously stood out a little bit being a little blonde American girl abroad, but I (had) a little bit of anonymity ... I was able to really experience something that I had desired for so long on a real level, not coming in through a back entrance and keeping my head down at a tourist attraction.