Julie Benz – TV dream queen
Julie Benz has made a career out of playing stylish female stars in a number of critically-acclaimed television shows. Her best-known roles include Darla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and Rita Bennett in Dexter.
Benz was born to a Pittsburgh surgeon and figure ice skater in 1972. Benz herself competed in the junior ice dancing U.S. Championship in 1988 and came in 13th. However, a stress fracture led to the end of her skating career, and the beginning of her acting. At the age of 18, she was cast in a small part in the horror double feature Two Evil Eyes (1990).
This launched a series of guest roles in shows like Married with Children, Step by Step, and Boy Meets World. She auditioned for the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1996, but lost to Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, Benz had too much talent to be relegated to the wayside. After taking the small role of Darla in the pilot, the character was expanded and made an integral part of the series’ story.
Benz has starred in a number of films since, both well-known and independent. Some of her more notable film roles include a vacuous high school vixen in Jawbreaker (1999) and Katherine in the Swedish film Kill Your Darlings (2006). However, her second great success came with her casting as the girlfriend of a serial killer in the hit Showtime show Dexter. At the end of the fourth season, her character was apparently killed off, but she has confirmed her return for the 5th season premiere.
Julie could have another hit on her hands with the new show No Ordinary Family, in which she plays Stephanie Powell, the matriarch of a family granted extraordinary powers in a plane crash. The series premieres on ABC on September 28.
