Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar started acting in television commercials from early childhood and went on to appear in films, made-for-television movies, and a number of short-lived television programs. She gained recognition on the daytime soap All My Children. In 1997, she began what would be her most recognizable role, portraying the title character on the program Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a spinoff of the 1992 film. The television program was played more seriously than the film, taking a cue from the film Scream (1996), and incorporating intelligent, jargon-savvy teen dialogue. Gellar's smart performance led the mid-season replacement series to a spot as a network flagship, and her overnight success in the horror genre earned her roles in the slasher pictures I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Scream 2 (1997)