Sarah Michelle Gellar believes Buffy the Vampire Slayer "changed the course of television".

The actress played the title character in the TV show, which was about a teenager who discovered it was her destiny to kill vampires and demons. It aired from 1997 to 2003 and Sarah believes it is one of the reasons there are now so many solid roles for women available on TV.

"Buffy came at the right time Now you see these great roles on television all the time. Glenn Close in Damages? One of the greatest actresses of all time. Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters? TV is where the roles are," she explained.

"Without wishing to sound obnoxious, I do think it changed the course of television. It certainly changed genre television. It just came at the right time for that."

Although she appeared in Buffy so long ago, Gellar is still happy to talk about the role. She knows it was her big break and loves reliving her time on set.

"Fed up with it? No! No, no, no! I'm so proud of it, and I actually like talking about it more now than I did then. Because I was 19, 20. Sometimes I think, to get true perspective, you have to step away, to realise the impact that something had," she told British newspaper The Sunday Times.

The 34-year-old is now back on television in her show Ringer, in which she plays twins.

She's appeared in movies in the past, and finds it difficult when people suggest moving back to the small screen is a step down.

"I don't feel like I didn't succeed The Grudge is still the second-highest female opening ever. And Ringer doesn't feel like a retrograde step, not to me. That is the weird perception, but I think it's slowly changing," she said.

Gellar has two-year-old daughter Charlotte with her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. Being a mom has changed her perspective on work as she wants to be there for her child as much as possible.

"I would never fault anyone's decisions and choices, but being a parent was so important to me. I just couldn't be the parent who goes from country to country and leaves their child, or schleps their child with them," she said.