Whedonesque : Comments on 12058 : (SPOILER) 'I was the test pilot for the vampire look'.

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December 15 2006

(SPOILER) 'I was the test pilot for the vampire look'. Not one but two interviews with the wonderful Julie Benz. The IGN.com one is fantastic and if you're an Buffy and Angel fan, you will want to read it. The TV Guide interview focusses more on the Dexter finale and it's a lovely read as well. But if you had expected Julie to be in Halo 3. Well....

Simon | Cast&Crew | 13:07 CET | 27 comments total | tags: julie benz, buffy, angel, dexter

Does the IGN one also spoil the 'Dexter' finale or can I read that in safety ?

(yep, i'm that much of a maniac ;)

Saje | December 15, 13:41 CET

Strange that they'd give Miranda Keyes (Julie Benz's Halo character) an accent all of a sudden... what with her being a fairly major part of Halo 2 and her father (big character in Halo 1) not having any kind of accent either.

DK | December 15, 13:46 CET

You should be ok to read the IGN interview (where she lays to rest that Angel season 2 rumour). The spoiler tag is primarily for the TV Guide one.

Simon | December 15, 14:32 CET

Yep, The IGN one is a great read.

Loved this:

IGN TV: Have you shared your own experiences with Michael C. Hall playing a mass murderer or given him any tips?
Benz: Noooooo. Because you know, he just slices them up. I get to suck their blood. It's a little different.

Numfar PTB | December 15, 14:43 CET

BTW - if you have not heard Dexter got a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Television Drama series for Michael C Hall. How cool is that. Of course it would have been better had Julie got a nom too.

[ edited by RavenU on 2006-12-15 14:15 ]

RavenU | December 15, 15:40 CET

where she lays to rest that Angel season 2 rumour

OK, I wasn't part of the fandom then, and the article doesn't say. What was the season 2 rumor?

palehorse | December 15, 17:13 CET

From what I recall Darla was supposed to feature heavily at the end of season 2. But Julie had to go and do something else and so rewrites happened and Angel and co went to Pylea instead.

Simon | December 15, 17:19 CET

julie benz is the best.

aapac | December 15, 17:33 CET

That is quite odd that she's not in Halo 3, but her character is. Very weird.

Septimus | December 15, 17:45 CET

I always wondered if that was her singing on Angel. It sounded so much like her. Now I know. I always enjoy that scene. Apart from our man in green, I think she's the most talented singer on the show.

[wcip]Angel | December 15, 18:51 CET

You should be ok to read the IGN interview...

Cheers, Simon. Good interview that, loose but still focused and with insightful questions (though I am and i'm not looking forward to the 'big cliffhanger' on 'Dexter' cos I know there's a 9 month wait for season 2, yeesh).

It's good to hear she really appreciates and largely enjoyed playing Darla too, always seems a bit unfair when the actor's miserable yet we're having so much fun as viewers.

Saje | December 15, 18:58 CET

I always wondered if the producers of Halo liked Buffy, with levels named Once More, With Feeling and Tabula Rasa I thought that might be too much of a coincidence.

I cant wait for Halo 3, but it is weird that Julie wont be voicing her character, but it might be because Miranda is turned or something. With the way that Halo 2 ended, I wouldnt be surprised if some of the good guys turn bad and some of the bad guys turn good...

jerryst3161 | December 15, 21:00 CET

From what I recall Darla was supposed to feature heavily at the end of season 2. But Julie had to go and do something else and so rewrites happened and Angel and co went to Pylea instead.

Ah, good times. I remember fondly all that especulation about what was going to happen both in the end of Angel season 2, and at the end of Season 5 of Buffy.

Numfar PTB | December 15, 22:15 CET

Funny enough Simon, I am not sure if that was attributed to just Julie, cause I have heard something similar in regards to Christian Kane's departure from the series around the same time as well. Christian was actually rumored to be offered to become a regular cast member during season 2, as well. Both Julie and he were offered other projects and the time would cut into the later half of Season 2, so they were each written off, then the rest of them went to see the Numfar Dance.

For some odd reason I know have playing in my head the video of Numfar dancing to the Pointer Sisters song the Nuetron Dance. Someone shoot me.

RavenU | December 15, 22:55 CET

Thanks, Simon and RavenU. I guess the only thing I had read was that Angel and gang went off to Pylea so that Angel would be in another universe so he couldn't help Buffy. Of course, the series got Fred as a result, and we all got Numfar's dance, which I love, but I have always thought the whole Pylea excursion was one of the weakest parts of AtS. It would be interesting to know how that season would have ended had Julie and Christian been available, assuming the rumors were true. Would we even have had Fred? One of those great mysteries, I suppose, that we'll never know. But theirs were two of my favorite characters in the series. I'm really happy that we got more of them later on.

palehorse | December 15, 23:41 CET

Hey guys. Glad you enjoyed my interview with Julie on IGN. I do wish I had gotten more specific with her about the rumors I'd heard, which dealt with either she and/or Christian having a conflict, to more touchy ones dealing with money, etc. I do think it was odd how season 2's main storyline dealt with Darla and Lindsey so much, only for them both to be gone with several episodes left. But that's all in the past, and either way, she was awesome to talk to and really friendly and cool.

Eric G | December 16, 00:54 CET

What a beautiful classy lady, with a sense of fun and humor to boot. On all of the DVD special features for Angel Julie is the actor mentioned the most by her fellow castmates and it's very deserved. I mean she went from Vampire Female #1 in the unaired pilot of BtVS to doing 8 years in that universe. That really says something. As a fan watching the shows new I always loved to hate Darla and wished she would die every episode (not really meaning it but I mean she was totally evil.)
Inside Out is one of my top 10 Angel episodes and it's mostly for 2 reasons: Julie's acting with Vincent (the 2 people have never met but I believed they were family) and it has the most beautiful score of any episode but thats besides the point.
Anyhoot a round of applause for the lovely lady Benz.

theMidnighter | December 16, 03:01 CET

Reading the IGN interview really made me smile -- she comes off as so nice and sweet, which just points to her talent because Darla (esp. in AtS season 2) was so good at being bad. Love that she's getting so much notice for her work on Dexter as well -- my favorite new show of the season (OK, it has to fight it out with Heroes...).

dottikin | December 16, 04:10 CET

More great interviews with Julie -- she so rocks! :-)

billz | December 16, 14:53 CET

Aha, I take it the moratorium on 'rocks' is over then ? Rock on billz ;).

(she's also fantastic, brilliant, great, tops, ace, A No. 1, pure dead gemme, the bees knees, the cats pajamas and the mutts nuts)

Saje | December 16, 17:01 CET

There was a moratorium on 'rocks'? Nobody told me! I use that word to describe random things and/or people at least ten times a day. So glad that it's over. Rock is life, after all.

Oh, and Julie rocks! ;)

Demon-X | December 16, 17:51 CET

No one told me about the moratorium either. Could explain why I haven't been posting much lately though.... :)

Dexter is awesome, definitely fighting it out with Heroes for the title of favourite new show of the last 2 seasons.

Paul_Rocks | December 16, 20:38 CET

FYI: I think the moratorium was self-imposed.

This is a wonderful couple interviews. I too am happy to see JB getting well deserved attention for her work in Dexter. She has done a wonderful job in all of the episodes I have seen. (Don't get Showtime, but they had it at the hotel I was staying at recently.)

newcj | December 16, 21:24 CET

Dexter is much better than heroes.

electricspacegirl | December 16, 22:22 CET

Yes, my self-imposed moratorium on rocks stemmed from overusing it during B3 weekend, to the point of possible breakage. I tried to find a 12-step program, but there's not much support for people addicted to a word. Not to mention, I wound up saying "great" about 10 billion times, which was just as bad and not nearly as, er, rockin' as saying rock/rocks/rockin'. And I wound up staring blankly into space a lot because I had nothing to say that, er, rocked. So now I'm back on the, er, rock. I'm possibly becoming addicted to er, too. (Just don't let me drive, dudes, mmm'kay? I don't need a DWI-R3 [driving while implying rock/rocks/rockin'].) ;-)

billz | December 17, 00:09 CET

Take it from a lifelong rocker, billz. There is no such thing as too much rock. Never attempt to stem the flow of rock. It will lead to nothing but heartache and pain. Not to mention possible physical discomfort in extreme cases. I may be channeling the mighty Tenacious D, at this point. ;)

Regarding Dexter and Heroes. I've yet to see either show but they both look like series that would interest me in different ways. I think comparing the two might be a little unfair due to the extreme differences in theme. I'm looking forward to trying them both out.

Demon-X | December 17, 01:20 CET

*"WOO"s in a rockin way*, rock on, The Immortal! And, yes, Dexter and Heroes are both very good, er, rock, but each in their own way. ;-)

billz | December 17, 04:23 CET

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