On Saturday afternoon, Philly Comic Con played host to a Q&A session featuring the lovely Julie Benz. Best known for her work on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dexter, her exuberant demeanor lent an extremely engaging atmosphere to the proceedings. Unlike the previous day’s Terminator panel, this one jumped right into the question and answer portion, with a moderator encouraging fans to line up at the microphone before Benz even arrived. As such, things got rolling pretty quickly.
We encountered some major (albeit year-old) Dexter spoilers right out of the starting gate, so those who aren’t up to date on the series should consider themselves warned. In fact, when it became obvious that the question contained some spoilers regarding her character’s fate, Julie made a point of warning the audience to cover their ears if they didn’t know what was coming and even went so far as to euphemize, saying “She took a bath!” Spoilers aside, she addressed the development Rita underwent during that four year period (which she described as an amazing journey), as a “damaged, fragile little bird” who “grew stronger and stronger through the love of a serial killer”. She also revealed that she was not informed about her character’s death until about an hour before the scripts were given out, and then recounted that this was something of a difficult experience for her, joking (I hope!) that she “got through it with a lot of alcohol.” However, she says that she ultimately realized that she had a great run as Rita and that in terms of the story it made sense that it was time to go.
On the Whedon front, one fan asked she preferred working on Angel or Buffy, to which Julie replied that Angel was more fun, as she had more to do as an actor. She also told the crowd that Darla was originally supposed to be killed off in the Buffy pilot, but that she just kept getting stays of execution. Indeed, even when Darla finally was killed in the series’ sixth episode, she was ultimately brought back on Angel a few years later.
Another questioner wanted to know which shows she enjoys or would like to work on. Her reply was, simply enough, that anyone who follows her on Twitter knows that she is “obsessed” with both Parenthood and The Good Wife.
When asked whether she prefers to work in TV or in movies, she quipped that “I just like to be employed!” She then elaborated that she is more interested in the nature of the project and who she works with that the question of small or big screen. However, she also noted that she likes the sense of family that develops on the set of a TV series.
In response to another question, Julie recounted her involvement with Saw V, a role she says she accepted both for personal reasons and to see if she could make a movie that she knew she wouldn’t be able to sit through (not as a statement on the film’s quality, but rather her own discomfort with that sort of horror film). Regarding that, she also detailed a pair of incidents that highlighted that discomfort, including an on-set freak-out as they were filming the first trap (she explained that, even on set, the traps are incredibly realistic) and another in which she actually vomited on the set as a result of the film’s final trap, in which her character is forced to mangle her hand on a power saw.
The questioning returned to Angel, with a fan who wondered about her relationships with the cast, to which Julie responded she remains close with all of them, especially David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter. She also shared her four favorite episodes, a list that consisted of Buffy’s Hush (which Julie describes as “one of the best pieces of TV) and the Angel episodes Darla (“It’s all about me!”), The Girl in Question and Dear Boy, which includes her favorite scene of the series (in which Darla presses a crucifix to Angel’s skin, saying “God doesn’t want you. I still do.”), which was rendered especially memorable by the on-set intensity.
In another discussion of Rita’s character development, Julie stated that while she loved playing the character, her favorite “version” was Rita as she appeared in Season One (the “damaged bird”). She also describes the ultimate tragedy of Rita’s character; that she finally manages to live her dreams only to be murdered in cold blood.
Asked about the atmosphere on the set of Dexter, she explained that the cast was a very serious group, adding “I’m not!” She elaborated that this is likely due in part to their differing backgrounds, as much of the cast comes from theater, whereas Julie came from television. Further, she said she had to learn to rein in her tendency to joke around on the set.
When asked which character she would be most excited to reprise, Julie responded without so much as a moment’s hesitation: Darla. The reason, she said, is that “I would love to see what else I could bring to her.”
When the subject of genre preference was raised, she made a point of expressing her gratitude to Joss Whedon, who she credits with giving her the opportunity to do much of what she has in her career, both directly through Buffy and Angel and indirectly by pushing her towards more dramatic (rather than comedic) acting. Regarding her own preference, she stated that she loves action, describing her character in The Boondock Saints II as “a total badass”.
Asked how tough it was filming Rambo, Julie simply replied by saying “very”. She continued, adding that it was also very exciting, and noting the pride she takes in being the only girl to survive a Rambo movie. She also told us about a series of death threats the production received from the Burmese government. As a result, this was the first film she worked on that assigned her a security detail, though she often ditched them. As a whole, she describes the experience as “what filmmaking is all about.”
She also spoke briefly about her new show, A Gifted Man, which is set to air Friday nights at 8:00 on CBS. To describe the show, she first said “It’s about a gifted man!” before clarifying that it is a supernatural medical drama (an interesting combination, if ever there was one), adding that it is “a wonderful show”.
When one fan mentioned an episode of Angel in which she sang, Julie illustrated just how uncomfortable she was doing that, approximating her initial reaction as “Ooooh…I have to sing? Can’t you just set me on fire or something?”
Asked if she would return to No Ordinary Family in the event of a hypothetical pickup by Syfy (which always seems to be the desperate hope of fans of prematurely cancelled sci-fi series), she said that she would love to, but that it’s simply not going to happen. She went on to explain just how low the show’s ratings were, especially considering that it was competing against “three monsters”.
When asked if she was afraid of being typecast, she replied that nothing could be farther from the truth, explaining that she has had a diverse career and, indeed, feels like one of the least typecast actresses. She also added that she loves sci-fi work, saying that it offers richer material with which to work.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the next questioner made brought up Julie’s guest spot on Supernatural, asking how she got into the role. For those unfamiliar, Julie summed up the character as someone who was dying of a brain tumor and drew on her faith for hope. Taking a moment to get philosophical, she said that she simply imagined what that would be like, that when we face our mortality we want to believe in something, that everything will be alright and to simply have hope.
The panel closed on a touching note, when, rather than ask a question, the final fan in line said he had something to give Julie. As he approached the dais, Julie exclaimed “He’s going to propose to me!” When he reached the stage however, he handed her a small key, which, he explained, was “the key to our hearts”.
Tags: A Gifted Man, Angel, Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, comic booked, Comic Con, Convention, Dexter, Joss Whedon, Julie Benz, Nick C, No Ordinary Family, panel, Philadelphia, Wizard, Wizard World
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Written by Nick Cavicchio
Comic Booked's Managing Editor and self-appointed Spider-Man guru. Nick is a geek of all flavors, loving comics, video games and everything in between. Despite having no idea how he landed this gig, he is enjoying every minute of it.
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