If you watch Murder on Thin Ice, an early appearance in Diagnosis Murder, you know that ice skating is one of the multi-talents of Julie Benz. Before becoming Angel's soul mate or Dexter's girlfriend, Julie started Ice skating training at the tender age of three and came in 13th in the U.S. Championships in junior ice dancing in 1988. At sixteen, a bad injury took her away from the ice and she turned her energy to local theater. Her physical training will help a lot throughout her career. "Right when I had the injury, my mom didn't want me sitting around the house and got me involved in theater right away and modeling and doing commercials." Julie Benz was born on may 1st 1972 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Murrysville. Her father is a surgeon and her mother a figure skater. Her first movie stint was a small role opposite Harvey keitel in Due occhi diabolici, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, directed by Dario Argento. She also appeared in the series Hi Honey, I'm Home in 1991. After graduating from Franklin Regional High School, Julie studied drama at New York University, and then moved to Los Angeles. She landed a few guest spots in Married with children and Step by Step. During her appearance in Diagnosis murder she got the opportunity to put on again her ice skates. In 1996 she auditioned for the role of Buffy. She made a great impression on Joss Whedon, but they agreed she wasn't the one for the part. She was offered the role of a 400 years old "vampire girl". Darla became a fan favorite, and no one could have imagined from here that her character will be recurring during the next seven years, killed on Buffy the vampire slayer and later resurrected in the show Angel. During her "fang" years, she played an FBI agent in the sci-fi show Roswell, played in many movies such as Jawbreaker with Rose McGowan, and a small memorable part opposite Jack Nicholson in As good as it gets. Julie's funny scene was included in the trailer which was shown around the globe. While watching Angel with his family, Steven Spielberg cast Julie in his mini-series Taken. In 2003, Julie embraced again her comedic side in George of the jungle 2, shot on location in Australia during two and a half months. In 2004, Julie shot The Long Shot: Believe in Courage, the real life story of a woman who rode blind horses. She appeared in popular shows like CSI, NCIS, Supernatural, did a voice over for the hit video game Halo 2 and played the lead role on many TV movies. She married actor John Kassir in 1998 and they got divorced in december 2007. In 2006 Julie lands the part of Rita, the girlfriend of a serial killer, in the new acclaimed Showtime series Dexter. Sylvester Stallone, who is a big fan of Dexter, hires her to be his female co-star in Rambo. As a former professional athlete she was perfect for the tough job, and Julie spend three unbelievable months in the middle of the jungle in Thailand. "He’s very demanding. He definitely raised the bar on my level of work and my commitment to my work. I think he’s just amazing." From blonde to brunette , just jumped into terror in Saw V, shot another action movie Punisher 2 and went redhead for Boondock Saints II; that's some of the many faces of Julie Benz. She just wrapped a heart-rending TV movie, Held Hostage based on a real life story. Movie will premiere on lifetime on July, 2009. Julie is currently shooting the fourth season of Dexter and lives in Hollywood. (Written by Jademaliburoad, June 2009) |
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