Nick at Night

Seventeen Magazine
February 2000

In between TV seasons, Buffy’s sidekick goes Psycho. By Justine Elias

“Come on in!” yells Nicholas Brendon. He waves a visitor into his trailer on the set of the independent film Psycho Beach Party, a low-budget horror comedy due out next summer that spoofs the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello flicks of the ‘50s. “Oh, wait! Be careful! This whole thing might tip over!”

There’s no room in Brendon’s trailer for big egos. In fact, there’s not much room for anything, since half a dozen cast and crew members – and a tiny Yorkshire terrier belonging to one of his costars – have piled inside for an impromptu party. Filming on an isolated part of Zuma Beach, north of Los Angeles, is a total change of scene from the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Brendon, 28, plays the A-plus wisecracker Xander. There isn’t much to do here besides hang out and drink iced lattes to stay sharp for the all-night shoot.

When the other actors are called to the set and Brendon has some time to relax before his scene, there’s finally some room on the couch. “Okay, I’ll give you the tour,” he says, spreading his arms from one wall to the other. “Here’s the little TV – no cable, sorry. Here’s the radio and tape player! Nice. We’ve got a microwave. And here’s my phone, if you need to make a call.”

Another of the film’s stars, Thomas Gibson of Dharma & Greg, pokes his head in to see what’s going on. “Thomas plays the coolest surfer guy on the beach, the one my character idolizes,” Brendon says. “And that’s what Thomas is like in real life.”

Since Brendon’s stint on the set will last for just three weeks, he hasn’t done much in the way of sprucing up his trailer. Only a garish Hawaiian shirt, one of his costumes, brightens up the brown-on-brown decor. It’s not like shooting Buffy, “which we do for nine months a year,” says Brendon. “Then, our trailers start feeling like prison cells, so we add stuff – posters, videos, CDs – to make them a home away from home.”

Though Psycho Beach Party is not a big-budget movie, it does afford a few perks. When Brendon is able to get a day off, the producers arrange for him to stay at a nearby beachfront hotel. “It’s like a little vacation,” he explains, “so I can get some rest.”

… Before Brendon has time for more serious thoughts – or for his latte – he, too, is called to the set. A van pulls up to drive him across a huge parking lot and four lanes of highway to the brightly lit California beach. “Playtime!” he says happily, waving goodbye. “We’ll be here till the sun comes up, rocking on the beach.”

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