And for me to now be in the voiceover world, where they love an interesting, quirky voice... It's been in a way freeing for me, and it's also been forcing me to find different levels to my voice.
And I had never played an evil character before up until that point so I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do as far as the acting choices were.
And I'm not very coordinated, either. Only on ice skates, not in real life.
At one point, one of the dressage trainers thought I was actually my stunt woman. Which was a compliment to me.
Buffy was fun too, but it was the first time I had ever worked with prosthetic make-up and I was really uncomfortable - especially with the contact lenses.
But I never worked with a northern horse before. They are very different from western horses.
Cause at the end of the day, honestly, at the end of the day when you're in your death bed and that's it, I think it's the relationships you've had and the people that you've touched and the people that have touched you that matter.
Darla was never a character that just fed information or was wasted. She's a character that every actor dreams of playing.
During the rehearsal process I got thrown off the horse.
Especially when you audition for animated characters - you can have more fun.
Everyone else trains just as hard as well and that there really is no such a thing as overnight success.
For me, it was such an honor to be in that group of talent, to be working with them, to have David Boreanaz as my partner.
For me, the experience of working on Angel was more fun only because we got to delve into Darla's story.
I actually started, this year, doing some voiceovers. I did some radio spots, and some games.
I actually, when I read the script I knew it was going to be a big hit. In my gut, my gut said that this show was going to be it.
I auditioned for the role of Buffy and that's how I met Joss. He really liked me but we all agreed that I wasn't right for Buffy.
I didn't get to keep any of them, but I really loved, on Angel, when we would do the flashbacks, and I'd have the big, wild, messy long hair that was thick and full and -that's how God meant for me to look.
I don't think as big and as creative as Joss.
I just don't like things to end.
I loved playing Darla.
I mean with Darla, I lived with her for 6 years and that makes her very special and the whole experience very special.
I only knew basic western trail riding. Nothing fancy.
I originally auditioned for the role of Buffy, like hundreds of girls in LA.
I really feel that I was given a gift when they brought Darla back to life and really explored her past and her relationship with Angel.
I really feel that I was given the opportunity to grow as an actress and really challenge myself and use her almost as an acting school in a way.
I really take pride in the relationship that I have with my husband.
I think being an athlete really helped me with the physical aspects of it, of how to look in the saddle, the proper way of sitting, the proper form and function.
I think for me it was a natural transition to move full time into acting rather than figure skating.
I think Sarah Michelle Gellar has done some brilliant work as Buffy.
I think the most important lesson I learned as an ice skater is that there's no such thing as overnight success.
I trained 8 hours a day 7 seven days a week and I had 2 weeks off in a year.
I was able to have a normal - somewhat of a normal - childhood.
I was very upset about my ice skating career, but at the same time, my mom knew I loved to perform.
I would love to re-visit Darla. I miss her. I really do.
I would've loved to have worked with Stanley Kubrick but I just didn't feel comfortable with that kinda thing.
I'm also very proud of my work on Taken.
If you're offered something, you're not really sure exactly what is that they saw in you that they think is the character so it's a little scary, I feel.
It's funny, I get really nervous when I audition for voiceovers.
My parents were very supportive and really tried to give us some semblance of a normal life, even though it wasn't normal.
Oh, well, in Los Angeles everybody is an actor, or a producer, or a writer, or a director, or an agent, or... So everybody understands the hours.
That's a hard question, because I started skating when I was three, so I don't really remember life before it, and I don't know what it is like not to work hard at something.
The meaning of life... I think the meaning of life is, I think it's love.
The scariest moment in filming, with the horse, was the scene where they had the horse laying down because that is not natural for a horse to do.
There were a couple of years where I was skating and acting at the same time.
There's quite a few roles, work, I'm really proud of. Darla is especially one of them.
They're smaller, and Quentin, the horse we ended up using, he's been on more movie sets than Marsha Mason and I put together.
To us marriage is first, everything else is second.
Um, and I'm also very proud of my work on George of the Jungle 2.
We wouldn't know about a storyline until the night we got the scripts, which was usually the night before the episode started filming.
When I first started I was always known as The Girl on the Sitcom with the Funny Voice.
When I received the last script, where Darla sacrifices her life, I kinda knew that was going to happen, kinda where it was going, but when I received the script I just thought it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever been given as far as gifts go.
When they took me to do the camera test for the vampire make up, after they put the prosthetic on, I went though the entire process, I went back to my trailer and I looked in the mirror and I smiled.
You don't realize how much a part of your character is part of yourself until you are no longer playing that character.
You really have to work hard and apply yourself and by applying yourself and working hard and being diligent, you can achieve success.
She auditioned for a role in the film Eyes Wide Shut but when the call back audition required her to be topless, she decided against it.
In 2001, Julie was featured in a Promo on The WB for her work on
She will be starring in the Lifetime TV movie "Circle of Friends" which wrapped up filming on May 10th 2006.
Julie Benz is the voice of character Miranda Keyes in the game Halo 2.
Julie appeared in the movie Jawbreaker as Marcie "Foxy" Fox.
Julie grew up in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
Julie attended and graduated from New York University.
Julie originally turned down the offer to have figures made of her character Darla, but was talked into it by
In 2005, Palisades came out with a Palz toy of Julie's
Julie has stated that her favorite authors are Ayn Rand and
Julie originally auditioned for the role of Buffy on
Julie is 5' 4" tall.
Julie's character, Darla, from
Julie Benz played Darla in 20 episodes of
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