Biography of Julie BenzJulie Benz was born on May 1, 1972, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Murrysville. Her father was a vascular surgeon while her mother was a figure skater. Benz began ice skating at the age of 3, and had an amateur career as a competitive ice dancer before an injury during her teens forced her to consider another career.
In 1989, she gave acting a try, and landed a role in a local theatrical production of Street Law. The following year, she made her big-screen debut alongside Harvey Keitel in the "Black Cat" segment of the horror movie Due occhi diabolici (Two Evil Eyes), co-directed by masters of the genre Dario Argento and George Romero. She scored her first regular TV series role in 1991 playing Babs Nielson in the short-lived sitcom Hi Honey, I'm Home.
julie benz on buffy the vampire slayer
Benz enrolled in New York University to learn more about the craft of acting, and following graduation, she relocated to Los Angeles. Guest-starring parts on TV series such as Married with Children, Step by Step and Hang Time followed, as well as a role in the Aaron Spelling-produced series pilot Cross Town Traffic.
More guest appearances on shows like Boy Meets World, The Single Guy, Sliders, and Diagnosis Murder kept her busy in 1996 -- the same year she landed an audition for the part of the title character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although the part ended up going to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Benz did earn the recurring role of vampire babe Darla on the series in 1997. She reappeared in several more episodes of the popular fantasy drama until November 2000.
julie benz in as good as it gets
Feature film parts supplemented her Buffy work, including a minor, though memorable, role as the receptionist in the 1997 hit comedy As Good As It Gets, starring that year's Oscar winners Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. That same year, Benz also appeared on the big screen in Inventing the Abbotts with Billy Crudup, and in Eating Las Vegas with Dean Cain.
In 1998, she added to her resume the role of Joplin Russell in the short-lived cross-dressing sitcom Ask Harriet. The following year found her on the big screen in the dark comedy Jawbreaker, costarring Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart, as well as the comedy Dirt Merchant with Danny Masterson and Jenna Jameson. Benz also starred as Breeze O'Rourke in the short-lived 1999 sitcom Payne, and joined the cast of Roswell with the recurring role of Kathleen Topolsky during the 1999-2000 season.
julie benz on angel
Benz got more mileage out of her Darla character, who had been killed off on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when the sexy vampire was brought back to life during the first season of Angel in 2000. She appeared regularly during the shows second season, and was then seen recurrently until the series demise in 2004. Benz also kept busy during this period with parts in the TV movie Satan's School for Girls with Shannen Doherty, and the horror spoof Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth with Aimee Graham and Coolio in 2000. Other film work during this period includes: The Brothers (2001), The Midget Stays in the Picture (2003) and George of the Jungle 2 (2003).
julie benz on dexter
As her portrayal of Darla came to an end in 2004, Benz landed roles in several TV movies, including The Long Shot: Believe in Courage, Locusts: The 8th Plague, Lackawanna Blues, and Circle of Friends. She starred in the 2005 straight-to-video sequel 8MM 2 (2005), as well as in the feature films A Fate Totally Worse than Death (2005) and Kill Your Darlings (2006). That same year, she earned guest spots on episodes of CSI, CSI: Miami and Supernatural, and returned to regular series work on the drama Dexter for which she won a Satellite Award.
WANT MORE CELEBS - CLICK HERE!
|
