BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - GELLAR CREDITS CHILD STAR STATUS WITH SAVING HER

Former BUFFY star SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR credits her experiences as a child actress with saving her from leading a Hollywood bad-girl lifestyle. The actress insists growing up on TV series All My Children protected her from the excesses and behaviour of the current crop of notorious L.A. troubled stars such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie. She says, "You don't party when you're on a TV show. You got to bed for 10 hours and you learn your lines. I never smoked and I didn't drink alcohol until I was 21." But Gellar believes young stars who do go off the rails are simply "badly equipped for fame". She adds, "I don't understand the need to give in to excess and lead your life in public. It doesn't make sense to me. I look at all these kids getting fame and attention now and they're just not equipped to deal with success at such a young age."