Under Your Spell by Abbie Bernstein
In an interview written during the filming of Season Six, Amber Benson talks about her time on Buffy and those rumours that someone on the show was about to die…

‘Hush’ is a cool Buffy episode for a number of reasons. Apart from earning Joss Whedon an Emmy nomination for his script, it broke the ice in a big way between Buffy and Riley, and introduced Amber Benson as young witch Tara Maclay, who would go on to become the big love of Willow’s post-Oz life.
    Amber meets me at a local coffee shop, looking very fetching in a woolly black sweater and maroon scarf, and shows an immediate enthusiasm in talking about her three seasons on Buffy and that song from the musical episode…

Do you get a lot of, ‘Gee, you’re not like Tara,’ from people?
It’s funny, because everybody on Buffy thought I was really quiet and shy until they got to know me. Everyone thinks that I’m tall and fat and shy. “I’m like, “Well, I’m short, and I’m slender and I’m very outgoing.” Playing Tara has been very cool, because I’ve got to explore that very shy, quiet, nervous insecure part of myself that is there, because we’re all insecure.

What did the producers tell you about Tara when you auditioned?
At first, it looked like it was just going to be a one or two-shot deal, just a girl from the Wicca Group. I had no clue whatsoever that Willow and Tara were going to become an item. In fact, I didn’t even know Seth Green had left the show, so I was like, “Oh, yay, I get to work with Seth!” “He’s not here.” There was a lot of feedback about Willow and Tara’s vibe after ‘Hush’ aired. “Gosh, is she a lesbian?” Everyone had been kind of joking about it, “Oh, there seems to be this…”
    Three or four episodes in, Joss took me aside and said, “You know, I’m thinking of going in this direction.” I didn’t see it, but I’m not sorry that it went that way because we’ve been able to explore an amazing storyline. I think the best part of what Joss and Marti Noxon and all the other writers and producers have done is that, instead of making it about, “Oh, look we’re going to have the episode where they kiss!,” they’ve really made it about a relationship. So I’m really proud of being able to play this character.

What’s the response been like?
I get the most amazing letters. First of all, you get shy people, because Tara really is quiet and reticent, and people really relate to that. I mean, there are a lot of people who don’t leave the house because they’re so uncomfortable. I get people who say, “I went outside today because I watch you guys and I feel like it’s okay to be who I am, because you guys aren’t your normal cheerleader role…” They feel like it’s okay to be who they are. And then I get letters from young lesbians that say “I came out to my family because of you guys. I watch you on TV. I see that you found a wonderful, loving relationship. I can find something, too – I can find another person.

How have you handled the changes Tara’s gone through since we met her?
I think when she fell in love with Willow, she was able to be more comfortable in her own skin and had more self confidence. When she first came on, she was very protective of herself. Since then, she stood taller and straighter, her clothes have become more fitting and revealing, not in a sexual way, but in an “I’m comfortable with my body” sort of way.
    There have been big transitional moments for Tara – definitely in the musical, when she found out that she was being taken advantage of by her girlfriend. And in ‘Family,’ which was her background episode, when everyone stood up and said, “You can’t take her, she’s part of our group.” I think that was a pivotal moment for her.
    I wouldn’t want to be Tara. She really has a hard life. I mean, it’s not so bad as people out there who are suffering. She’s not suffering, but she limits herself because she’s so insecure. And it’s her upbringing. Here we are talking about an imaginary character like this, but it’s true. Tara’s gotten better. She didn’t have anybody growing up. Nobody gave her any confidence. I’m really glad that I have a family that backs me and my sister, who’s an artist, up 158 percent. My parents are really supportive of what we both do.
    I never would have pictured Tara’s family background, but it totally works. It gives her a new dimension that she didn’t have before that episode. That whole episode was a gift.

How was it playing Tara’s brain-tampered scenes in Season Five?
It wasn’t so hard as you would think. It was really neat, because I think that none of the characters have got to be in that space. I got to go crazy – it was really fun! I liked her not having a brain. I got to run around in my pyjamas and my glasses, I’m sure there are some funny outtakes.
    Poor Jamie Lynn, who is one of my stand-ins, they wouldn’t let her sit down! They’re all sorry for me – they’re like, “Just let her sleep.” I was so exhausted. I was working weekends on my movie, so I was just like [Amber droops, demonstrating a sudden sleeping spell]. James Marsters was nudging me, “We’re shooting, get up, get up!”

You’ve said the musical was something you were looking forward to. Do you have a musical background?
I did a lot of musical theatre growing up. I love singing. But it’s always been something that I’ve really done for myself more than for my career. The music industry is a much harder business than acting.

Did Joss know you could sing beforehand?
Joss is really into Shakespeare and as long as I’ve been on the show we’ve been having Shakespeare readings where everyone – producers, actors, everybody – would just show up at Joss’ house and we’d read Othello or Romeo and Juliet. I got to play Romeo opposite Michelle Trachtenberg’s Juliet, which was so much fun! Everyone was asking, “Should we let James do it? No, we’ll let Amber do it – she’s sexually benign.” And then afterwards, we would just all sing. We’d have Marti Noxon sing, and I’d sing, and Tony’d sing – Tony Head’s an amazing singer – we even got Michelle and Mere Smith, who’s one of the writers on Angel, singing.
    So he had an idea of who could sing. In the end, I don’t know why the people who didn’t sing in the episode chose not to sing, because I think everybody sounded good. Even Alyson, who really didn’t want to sing. The two or three lines she did sing sounded great.

Was this the first time a song was written specifically for you as a performer?
Yes. In fact, I think ‘Under Your Spell’ is the first song he wrote. At the end of last year he went around and tested everybody’s range, and then you know what he did to me? He said, “I made it a few notes higher than your range to give you something to work towards.” I said “Agggh!”
    I like to sing low, and he made it really high, I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but once we went in and recorded it, I knew it was going to sound good. I was just shocked when I heard it. We got a CD of all the songs. Jesse Tobias who helped to do some of the music and his wife Angie and Joss and his wife did a cute little CD of all the songs from the musical. We got that when we were shooting the third of fourth episode of the season. So I have a CD with all the songs on. I’m going to hold onto it.

Can you tell us how they did the sequence in which Tara and Willow dance out of the park and straight into their bedroom?
I like to call that bit cheesy-easy [laughs]. We were spinning in the park, and then we went into the soundstage and they mocked up a foresty-looking thing right next to the bedroom. So we twirled past the trees right into the bedroom set and they kind of amalgamated the two. The musical is my favourite episode. That, ‘Restless’ and ‘Hush’ are my three favourites.

Can you talk about where you think Tara may be going this season?
I personally think she and Willow are probably going to get back together. We haven’t shot that yet, but I think that’s where it’s headed.

So about this rumour that somebody dies…
[laughs] I can’t say. I will give you a hint, though. It’s not Xander.

How do you feel about Tara being more assertive this season?
I love her being stronger. And I think the fans really respond to her coming into her own, because that’s what it is – it’s her finally saying, “Hey, I’m an adult in this situation too, and I have a voice, and I’m gonna say something here.” I mean, it’s interesting, because she is an appendage of Willow’s in a way – she is defined by Willow. Tara never really had a lot of stuff of her own.

Where is Tara living now that she’s moved out of Buffy’s house?
Well, knowing the dorms as I do, from my sister being in college – you can’t get a place in the dorms just coming back. She’s couch-surfing, I guess. She’s staying with Spike… he’s giving her a nice little sarcophagus to hang out in!

Born Again by Rob Francis
The last time Buffy Magazine caught up with Julie Benz, Darla had only just been brought back from the dead! Since then, she’s been dying, died, been brought back as a vampire, gotten pregnant with an impossible baby and finally staked herself to ensure her love for the child was the last thing she did in her long 400-year life. So, really, there was a lot to catch up on…

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 life as a mortal by Wolfram & Hart for Angel‘s second season and then re-sired 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 petrol, leaving them to burn. Darla and Dru survived, but were left 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 has informed much of Angel‘s third season so far, culminating in the shocking events of ‘Lullaby’.
    Perhaps – for now, at least – we have seen the last of the girl who would happily have lived forever. But Julie Benz never tires of talking about the character that has made her an immortal legend.

How much character background were you given to work with for the part of Darla? Was there a series ‘bible’ or similar to fill you in on her back-story?
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 sculptured so that it cuts into the middle of my eyes 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 give 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’s 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 David Boreanaz, James Marsters and Juliet Landau on the scenes set in the past?
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.

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 watch 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 humour 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 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 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 soulmates. They’re both so damaged as people, and in a way they almost belong together. But I don’t think that’s possible now.

When you came back at the end of Angel season one, did you know that you were going to be playing Darla as a human for a while?
When they brought Darla back they didn’t know at first whether she was going to be a vampire or a human, so I played her as a vampire, but then it turned out she was a human, so I was a little confused. It was really wonderful to be able to explore true human emotions with her that didn’t have to be suppressed because she was a vampire and not supposed to show certain things. So it was great as an actor to be able to explore that other side the character.
    I think it’s great to be human on a show like Buffy or Angel, because nine times out of 10 you’re not gonna die. Once you’re a vampire, there comes a point where you’re gonna have to die or something’s gonna have to happen. You live on the edge of your seat knowing if you’re not gonna die you’ll get a chip implanted in your head or you’ll get a soul or something to take away that vampire part of you. It’s a very precarious position when you play a vampire, because at any moment you could be walking and trip over a piece of wood, and the next thing you know, you’re staked by accident and ‘poof’, there you go.

I’m sure it came as a big shock to many people when Darla was revealed to be pregnant at the start of season three. It wasn’t even mentioned in the ‘Heartthrob’ script.
The writers did that on purpose actually, because they knew people would get hold of scripts. They didn’t want it leaked, so they didn’t put it in the writing. But I knew during the summer, when they called to ask me to come back, that I was going to be pregnant.
    I think it’s great. I was very interested to see how the fans would react, so after the first episode, I went online and read the postings. A lot of people were very upset about it, but I don’t think they realised the storyline was actually going to be amazing and how surprising the storyline was actually going to be. I think it’s actually a very beautiful storyline, partly because you don’t realise the pay-off that’s about to happen.

Of course, the eventual pay-off was Darla’s self sacrifice in order to save the human child. How did you feel about Darla’s exit from the show?
I felt it was a beautiful end to an amazing character. Darla finally redeems herself in the end. I was a wreck shooting that episode. I’ve grown to love the cast and crew like my own family… We’ve been through so much together. But you never know what these writers have in store. I don’t know what their plans are for anything now. If they want me for something, they’ll call me. They know my number. You just never know…