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Julie Benz on Playing the Love Interest of Serial Killer, 'Dexter' |
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
By Christina Radish
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Julie Benz at the premiere of "Dexter" held at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Calif. on September 19, 2006 |
Based on the acclaimed novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, the new Showtime drama series Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under) as the title character, is a thought-provoking crime drama that tests the extremes of morals and ethics, and upends the concept of right and wrong. A twisted story of a police department forensics expert, who spends his off-time pursuing killers who have eluded justice, Dexter Morgan’s actions may seem shockingly sadistic, yet impossible to dismiss as totally unjustified.
Like all infamous serial killers, Dexter’s dark complexities are kept out of sight from the people with whom he spends most of his time, especially loved ones. Unconditional love from his emotionally challenged, yet caring girlfriend, Rita (played by Julie Benz), a working-class single mother, grounds him in the realities of normal, day-to-day life and provides a respite from the anguish-filled dark corners of his mind.
“I think what I really love about Rita is, despite everything she’s been through, especially the horrible relationship with her crack addict husband and all the abuse that she suffered, she still has this optimistic side to her and she still has this idolized vision of the perfect man and the perfect boyfriend,” the 34-year-old Benz tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “She really believes she’s found all of that in Dexter. It’s an interesting dichotomy to have somebody who’s gone through so much, still have this optimism about love and this almost teenage naiveté about relationships. That was the draw of playing her.”
{quote_top}After numerous auditions, and having to come in for her network read in sweats and absolutely no make-up, to prove she wasn’t too L.A. to play the part of a single mother of two, Benz finally got the job. “I get a half-hour hair and make-up call, which is awesome. I don’t have to get up as early as some of the others do on the show. It’s a great opportunity to be able to play a character where looks aren’t important, and where I can really do what I’ve been trained to do, as an actress, and not have to rely on having perfect hair and perfect skin, and looking a certain way. It’s really refreshing and invigorating to be able to show everything, warts and all. If I’ve got a pimple, you see it. And, I feel very vulnerable, which adds to the vulnerability of Rita.”
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Julie Benz at the premiere of "Dexter" held at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Calif. on September 19, 2006 | Although she had met Hall a couple of times prior to being cast on Dexter, Benz says they never exchanged more than a few passing words. “I was a huge fan of his from Six Feet Under. I was such a fan that my cell phone ring was actually the Six Feet Under theme song, which I had to change once I got cast because I thought, ‘How embarrassing. Michael will think I’m a stalker, or something.’ I think he is one of the most brilliant young actors around. You see it in how he played David on Six Feet Under and, now, playing Dexter. It’s a completely different role and he’s transformed himself, physically. His voice is even different. And, he’s definitely raised the bar, as far as the work that’s done on set. When you have someone like Michael C. Hall as your lead, you’ve got to show up and deliver the goods. He’s there for you, in the scene. Dexter and Rita go on quite a journey together and, to know that your partner is there for you, through it all, and ready to go on the ride with you, is just so reassuring. It gives you confidence to play some of these very emotionally charged scenes because that can be scary.”
Working on a show with such a heavy subject matter, Benz says that she prefers to keep things as light and fun as possible, in between takes. “I need to have levity to be able to handle the darkness. I think I throw people off by that, sometimes, ‘cause I don’t know if everybody’s used to working that way. In the stuff that we’ve shot together, Michael is definitely in character, but he can also be light and fun with me as well. I need the lightness to pull me out of the dark. Otherwise, it’s just all dark and bad.”
{quote_middle}Having grown up in Pittsburgh as the youngest of three, Benz, best known for her role as the evil vampire Darla, which she originated on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and continued on the hit series Angel, became an actress after an injury sidelined her ice skating career. “My mom decided she didn’t want to have a 13-year-old laying around the house, doing nothing, so she dragged me off to an audition for a community theater show, and I got it. I started acting, at that point. I enjoyed it so much that I thought, ‘Wow, I can do this.’ I didn’t know I could make a living at it, at that point, but it was fun. Having been an ice skater, I’ve performed my whole life, so performing just seemed natural to me, like it was what I was born to do. So, I went to NYU and studied acting, and have been doing it ever since.”
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Julie Benz with her husband, John Kassir, at the premiere of "Dexter" held at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Calif. on September 19, 2006 | Her first professional acting job was on a television series called Hi Honey, I’m Home, but since then, Benz has been drawn to playing characters that tend to be somewhat darker. “When I first started as an actor, I really wanted to do romantic comedies, and that’s what I thought I would end up doing. But, it seems that the dark stuff is drawn to me. I feel very thankful and blessed. Those are the meatier roles to play. To be given the opportunity to play these characters that do have a bit of an edge to them, and that are darker than mainstream stuff, it’s really a gift, to sink my teeth into that kind of material.”
Dexter is definitely another one of those projects that examines the darker side of life. Bringing a light to Dexter’s life that he didn’t know was possible, Rita cares for and about him, without being aware of what he does when he’s away from her.
“When you’re with somebody, you really want to believe the best about them. You can be blinded by your need to only see the best in somebody. We can all relate to that. We really need to believe that our lovers are going to be there for us and that they’re not going to be with anybody else. It’s that need of wanting to really believe in the vows that you took, and the need to really want to believe that this person would never do anything like that, so you trust them.”
{quote_bottom}Over the course of the season, as more is revealed about Dexter’s past and the reasons why he does what he does, audiences will feel empathy for him, even though he is committing murders that can be every bit as heinous as the ones of those he is punishing. “I think that part of the draw of the show is that you do find yourself rooting for this guy who is so the anti-hero. But, he’s a product of what’s happened to him in his life. He does have a moral code that he lives by. It’s not like he’s just randomly killing people. He’s killing really horrible people. Not everything in life is so black and white. Not everything is so clearly drawn, as good versus evil. There’s a lot of gray in life, especially in today’s world that we live in, and I think this really explores the gray.”
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