Born Again
by Rob Francis
(Issue 2, Buffy)
Julie Benz, the talented actress behind Darla, reveals to Buffy Magazine how being reborn for Season Two of Angel was a dirty job, and the difficulties of a certain other birth in Season Three.
Julie Benz has been through the wringer since she first appeared on Buffy. She played an unnamed vampire - the first to appear on the show - in the Buffy pilot episode, then played Darla in the show's first season until she was staked by her former lover after snacking on Buffy's mom.
Darla was miraculously brought back to like as a mortal by Wolfram & Hart for Angel's second season and then resired by Drusilla and returned to her former immortal glory. She and Angel rekindled their former passion, and then Dru and Darla made a meal of most of the Wolfram & Hart lawyers.
But things soon started to go downhill. Angel turned on his former partners in crime and doused them with gasoline, leaving them to burn. Darla and Dru survived, but were badly scarred and not seen for many months. When Darla next turned up, at the start of Angel's third season, it was only to present us with yet another miracle - this time her conception of a human son with Angel.
This story arc has infused much of Angel's third season, culminating in Darla's shocking are tragic suicide in "Lullaby" in order to save the baby.
But while we may have seen the last of the girl who would happily have lived forever, Julie Benz never tires of talking about the character which has made her an immortal legend...
Buffy
Magazine: How much character background were you given to work with the part of
Darla? Was there a series 'Bible' or similar to fill you in on her
back-story?
Julie Benz: There was absolutely nothing. She was originally just 'Vampire
Girl,' and died in the pilot. I never thought in a million years that
she'd stick around so long.
I think Darla has evolved as a collaboration. Joss was
very involved in the creation of her. He was the one who had the vision
and saw the potential in the character and what she could do. David
Greenwalt and Tim Minear, particularly this past season on Angel, had a
lot to do with it as well. And hopefully a little bit of myself is thrown
in there as well.
There was one speech, in the Buffy episode
"Angel", where there's a lot between Angel and Darla; where it alludes
to their past. I think they used that as the launching board for bringing
her back and exploring their past in Season Two of Angel. That one
speech revealed a lot.
Given
that you played the first vampire in Buffy, did you find it a challenge
to approach the part?
I was nervous at first. I didn't originally audition to play Darla.
I auditioned to play another character, and then got offered the role of
Darla. So I really had no idea or concept of what they were looking
for. I didn't have a clue. Then I went in for a make-up test.
They did the make-up test on me and I went back to my trailer, looked in the
mirror and smiled. and thought, "That's pretty creepy!"
I think of Darla as being very cat-like. She's very
animalistic, so I used that. The make-up really does 90 percent of the
job, so I don't really have to do anything. Just smiling and being happy
with the prosthetic on is really a creepy effect.
My vision is hindered a lot - firstly with my contact lenses,
and then my prosthetic piece, which is sculpted so that it cuts into the middle
of my eye so I can't see very well. I tend to have to look up a lot in
order to see straight. I didn't feel the teeth hindered me at all,
though. I actually think they corrected my speech!
Talking
of speech, Darla has always had an American accent. Was there ever any
intention to five her more exotic origins, as with Angel's Irish heritage?
They actually didn't want an accent from me, and I think at the time we did
"Becoming," we still hadn't figured out where Darla had come
from. They just knew she wasn't from around there, and when Angel asks her
where she's from, she says, "I'm from everywhere." So they
definitely wanted it without an accent. But then it was revealed in Season
Two of Angel that she was from the Virginia colonies.
Had
that been your theory on her origins?
I had two different theories. One - which I was told was not correct -was
that she was originally a Vestal Virgin from back in the Roman days, who had
fallen from grace and was taken by the Master. But they said, "No,
she's not that old," because the Master had to be older than Darla and that
would have made her very old. My other theory was that she was a
prostitute, which was eventually what she turned out to have been.
Did
you enjoy working with co-stars David Boreanaz, James Marsters and Juliet Landau
on the scenes set in earlier eras?
Some of the best times on the set have been with the four of us working together
on the flashback scenes. They are so much fun to do, even though we would
be shooting all night and we'd be tired. there's something about being on
the back lot at Universal, dressed up in period costume, and just the energy
between the four of us.
Does
the immortality aspect of being a vampire appeal to you?
I don't think that, personally, I would like to be immortal. I
think it'd be a very lonely life. You'd lose your loved ones through the
years. I just don't think I would enjoy it. I would love it from one
standpoint - to go through the different ages and see how the world evolves and
all of that. But on the more humanistic level, it would really sadden me
to lose my loved ones and just continue to live and not have them round.
So I don't think immortality is something I would want - unless everyone I knew
around me had it - in which case we'd probably all kill each other because we'd
get so sick of each other!
You
had quite a few raunchy scenes with David Boreanaz in Angel's second
season. Were those fun to film or was it just embarrassing having the
entire crew watching you 'perform'?
David Boreanaz and I have a very special working relationship. I
think it's very rare, the relationship that we have and the camaraderie that we
have on set. We actually have a lot of fun. At some points it just
gets ridiculous and one of us gets the giggles, then the other one does and the
next thing you know we're rolling around with laughter and we can't keep a
straight face, because they're telling us, "More kissing," or,
"Flip over," and you just go, "Okay, this is getting silly!"
The crew itself is very sensitive when we're half-naked and
are doing those scenes. I like to set up an atmosphere of joking and
having fun, as does David, so we like to do it with a sense of humor, just to
get through it. It can get awkward and silly, and people see parts of your
body that maybe you don't want them to see.
I remember I once walked out on the set and said to the crew,
"Okay, from now on, I have the world's most perfect body. I don't
care if you don't believe it, but if anybody ever asks you, I have a perfect
body!" They all had a good laugh over that.
How
about Lindsey McDonald? Do you think he and Darla will ever get to
consummate their relationship?
As far as I know, Christian [Kane] won't be joining the show for the rest
of this year. But it was really a joy to work with him last season. I
ultimately believe that Lindsey and Darla are soul mates. They're both so
damaged as people, and in a way they almost belong together. But I don't
think that's possible now.
Not yet finished.
