Sarah Michelle Gellar, who became a cultural icon through her lead role in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” has opened up about her upcoming return to series TV in the CW’s “The Ringer,” and about why it took so long, Entertainment Weekly reports in its Inside TV blog.

The actress explained her long absence from TV since "Buffy" went off the air in 2003, saying it was partly about trying to come to terms with the whole “Buffy” thing–and giving respect to fans of the show.

“Sometimes … you need that time to understand that it was a cultural phenomenon, a legacy," she told the publication. “I want to honor those people who were so good for me and show them something worthy of their time and worthy of them. I think it was worth the wait.”

Gellar said she was attracted to "The Ringer"–in which she plays identical twins–because it offered a type of challenge she hasn’t had before.

"With ‘Buffy’, I got to do so much,” she said. “So what do you do next? What do you do that an audience hasn’t seen you do? … Bringing to life two characters and making them different, but at the same time interesting, and [showing] the similarities is definitely a challenge I’ve never done.”