Where are our favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters now?

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 10: (L-R) Bonnie Somerville, Nicholas Brendon and Owain Yeoman arrive at the premiere party for New Fox TV Show “Kitchen Confidential” at Brasserie Les Halles on September 10, 2005 New York City. (Photo by Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)

Nicholas Brendon – Xander

His place in the Buffy-verse: Nicholas Brendon played the lovable, albeit hapless, sidekick, Xander Harris. In constant need of being rescued from the weekly big bad, Xander never really developed a power of his own, unless you count charm and charisma. He was deeply devoted to his gang, and made every effort to do his part in staking vamps. He often failed miserably, but sometimes he came through in the clutch, and nobody ever felt as proud of themselves as he did.

His post-Buffy career: After he left the character of Xander behind, he went on to play Kevin Lynch on the super popular procedural Criminal Minds. He gained quite a bit of a cult fandom from the part, but it never really catapulted him into the pop culture canon like his stint on Buffy. Even less auspicious was his short arc on the MTV show, Faking It. 

Where is he now? Since 2014, he’s been writing for the Buffy comic book, contributing his insider knowledge to the series. Unfortunately, however, the perils and stresses of celebrity really took its toll on the actor. Grappling with addiction, he’s had several stays in rehab and multiple arrests over the years. In 2017, he was arrested for battery, and he’s been keeping a low profile since. It seems that Brendon has a little bit of that Xander pluck, though, as he’s got a handful of projects in the works, including a series (Dark/Web) and an upcoming feature film (The Inspector Chronicles).