HOLLYWOOD — "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" made Sarah Michelle Gellar a star. But is the actress now turning her back on the role and the man who cast her in it?

Well, yes. But no. Maybe.

All we know for sure is that Gellar won't be reprising her role as Buffy Summers on "Angel" this season. Despite having indicated her willingness to do so before "Buffy" filmed its final episode last year.

"Last year, Sarah said that she would be interested in coming on 'Angel.' And then this year she said that it felt too soon," said Joss Whedon, the man behind both "Buffy" and its spin-off. "That's something I actually understand."

Whedon readily acknowledged how hard it was for Gellar to go beyond a role "that's sort of taken over your life and your public persona for years and years and years. . . . It's very difficult to just sort of say, 'OK, I'm going to throw that back on on somebody else's show' and dive in again."

And, while some have flayed Gellar for her about-face — pointing out that not only did she owe a lot to Whedon but that "Angel" star David Boreanaz made a guest appearance during the final season of "Buffy" — Whedon has no harsh words for the actress. And he swears it's not just because he'd still like to see Gellar on "Angel" some day.

And Whedon disputed reports that there's been some falling out between him and his former star — that things between them are fine.

"Honestly, I think they're OK," he said, admitting that he hasn't spoken with Gellar directly for a while. "She's been working. What we heard from her manager was that it's just too soon. It wasn't anything more than that. It wasn't like, 'Oh, you and your vampire ways. I turn my back on you.'

"Obviously, I would love to see her on the show. And she's welcome any time that she decides she is ready. But I don't know if that will happen. And with a cast like (the one on 'Angel'), it's not my first priority."

While he's not giving anything away, Whedon obviously has an idea for a script that would feature Gellar as Buffy. But, with "Angel" still awaiting word on whether it will be renewed for next season, he may never get the chance to write the script.

"I live in hope," he said. "But I don't break story in hope. I break story in what I got."

IN THE "SHADOWS"? Is Whedon worried because the WB is talking to uber-producer John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing," "Third Watch") about a vampire series of his own on the network next season?

Well, he wasn't worried about it. Because he didn't know until questioned about it by TV critics.

"I wasn't aware of that. I quit," he joked. "At least it's not an important, successful producer."

Still, "It does not strike terror in my heart," he said. "There are a certain amount of things to say. There are innumerable people to say them. . . . Somebody else is going to take that very ancient thing — the vampire — and do something completely different with it."

Different, but not new in this case. "Dark Shadows" was an ABC daytime soap from 1965-71; NBC revived it briefly in prime time in 1991.

And Whedon didn't even know what vampire show Wells was working on until told by the Deseret Morning News.

"So it's 'Dark Shadows'? All news," he said. "I really do live in a bubble."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com