ChatMod: Hi everybody, thanks for joining us. I'm Ben Trumble for SCIFI. Tonight we're delighted to welcome actress -- and former World Class skater -- Julie Benz.
ChatMod: Julie is perhaps best known to television audiences as the conflicted vampire Darla first on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, then later on Angel.
ChatMod: Julie was also a recurring character on the series Roswell and has appeared in films like As Good as It Gets, Inventing the Abbotts, and Black Sheep.
ChatMod: Julie's latest project is the epic Steven Spielberg Presents mini-series TAKEN, airing on SCIFI beginning in early December.
ChatMod: Julie, tell us about Taken?

JulieBenz: Taken is a 22 hour epic miniseries
JulieBenz: It follows three families through four generations
JulieBenz: And it deals with alien abductions and how they affect humanity
JulieBenz: I play Kate Keyes
JulieBenz: Kate is a woman in the 1940s whose boyfriend returns from the war
JulieBenz: During the war he had an encounter with aliens and he's conflicted over what happened to him
JulieBenz: They get married and have a major struggle because of what happened in the war
JulieBenz: Russell trys to reveal to Kate what happened. But Kate can't take in the experience
JulieBenz: She represents America in the 40's and 50's and the skeptical view of the UFO phenomenon
JulieBenz: The story goes on to affect their child
JulieBenz: So it's very difficult for Kate to see what her child goes through as well

ChatMod: MariWillow to ChatMod: How does this role differ from the ones you've played in the past? Is it similar in any ways?

JulieBenz: I would say she's not similar.
JulieBenz: Kate is just a woman
JulieBenz: I've never played just a woman,
JulieBenz: A wife and a mother trying to deal with her marriage
JulieBenz: She is who she is
JulieBenz: I've been a vampire or an FBI agent, but never such a realistic character before
JulieBenz: She's an ordinary person dealing with an extraordinary event that goes on throughout her life
JulieBenz: And because it's a multigenerational story it follows the family through sixty years

ChatMod: vampiregirl to ChatMod: So you still ice skate, non-competitively I mean?

JulieBenz: No I don't
JulieBenz: Occassionally I go around Christmas time for fun
JulieBenz: It's something I did every day for 13 years
JulieBenz: But it's not something I do a lot of now

ChatMod: Minke to ChatMod: Of all the roles you've played, which did you find the most challenging?

JulieBenz: That's alway hard
JulieBenz: I would say Darla definitely on Angel
JulieBenz: But Kate as well
JulieBenz: Darla because she was so big, and grand, and large
JulieBenz: But Kate because she is who she is
JulieBenz: It's very to be so ordinary
JulieBenz: When Darla hugged another character you always wondered what her real intentions were
JulieBenz: With Kate a hug is a hug

ChatMod: Sorceress to ChatMod: Who are your favorite writers?

JulieBenz: Well a few of my favorite novelist are Ayn Rand and Hemingway
JulieBenz: I read a lot so its about the story, the book, and the characters
JulieBenz: It's hard to come up with a short list
JulieBenz: Televsion and film writers Tim Minear is my favorite and Joss Whedon of course

ChatMod: vampiregirl to ChatMod: Have you been drawn into the music world like so many of the other actors from the Buffyverse? Your Ella Fitzgerald was just so impressive.

JulieBenz: Thank you very much, but a singer I am not
JulieBenz: That was my most terrifying moment off screen
JulieBenz: I have no desire to venture into the music world

ChatMod: How long were you in Vancouver and what other actors did you work with for your segments of Taken?

JulieBenz: I was in Vancouver on and off for two months
JulieBenz: I worked Steve Burton
JulieBenz: He was my husband

ChatMod: Do you have an opinion on the reality of alien contact and abductions?

JulieBenz: I believe there is life out there somewhere
JulieBenz: I believe we can't detect it
JulieBenz: As humans we don't see it, feel it, experience it
JulieBenz: I believe that some people do believe they've had contact with other forms of life
JulieBenz: But I do wonder why no other animals seem to be abducted?
JulieBenz: Why don't they take whales? Another species with higher intelligence and communications.
JulieBenz: Or maybe they do and we just don't know...

ChatMod: sCuLlY90 to ChatMod: which actor or actress would you most like to work with sometime in your career? who is your role model?

JulieBenz: I would love to work with Kate Blanchett
JulieBenz: She loses herself in a role
JulieBenz: Tranforms herself. You never see her in a role. You see her character
JulieBenz: I would love to aspire to do that as an actress and working with her would be a genuine honor

ChatMod: Did you find yourself lost in Darla? I imagine she could be a scary place to find yourself on any given day.

JulieBenz: Yes. She's definitely lived in my dark places
JulieBenz: The places where I don't like to go to
JulieBenz: She took a toll on my emotionally
JulieBenz: It's hard to go to work every day and deal with that kind of anger
JulieBenz: Then come home to a normal life
JulieBenz: I am a much more cheerful, lighthearted, happy person than Darla was

ChatMod: What was it like working on Speilberg project?

JulieBenz: It was pretty much a dream come true
JulieBenz: Speilberg cast me after he saw an episode of Angel
JulieBenz: He had his people call me to ask if I would be interested
JulieBenz: It's a huge honor to be recognised for your work
JulieBenz: When I'm performing I feel like I'm performing for the crew. For the audience
JulieBenz: I forget taht the show is watched all over the world and by people in the industry too
JulieBenz: People like Speilberg
JulieBenz: And it's also scary because I knew he was watching teh dailies
JulieBenz: A lot of pressure

ChatMod: donga40 to ChatMod: Julie, my son and I were interviewed by the documentary company in New York in July as two ET contactees for this film. I was wondering if it is holding true to life, or is hollywood and Steven Spielburg throwing thier spin on it for ratings sake?

JulieBenz: I know that TAKEN is based on a lot of accounts by people who believe they have been visited
JulieBenz: And Speilberg believes
JulieBenz: In a sense this is a grander theme, a third installment beginning with Close Encounters, ET, etc
JulieBenz: I know they did a lot of research. Travelling from city to city talking with abductees and trying to understand what people believe they have experienced

ChatMod: STATION IDENTIFICATION:
ChatMod: Just a reminder. Were chatting with actress Julie Benz of Buffy, and Angel, and now of TAKEN, SCIFI's original mini-series from Steven Speilberg.
ChatMod: This is a moderated chat -- please send your questions for our guest to ChatMod, as private messages. (To send a private message, either
ChatMod: Crippledlion to ChatMod: Joss's show are very unique compared to most other 1hr dramas on TV. How was working with Joss and crew different compared to working on other shows?

JulieBenz: The difference, as an actor when you get a script you know all the work is pretty much done for you
JulieBenz: All you have to do is show up and do your thing
JulieBenz: The work is done for you
JulieBenz: Say your lines
JulieBenz: The characters are so well fleshed out
JulieBenz: I never felt like "Darla wouldn't say that"
JulieBenz: Or Darla would do that that
JulieBenz: They knew her better than I knew her
JulieBenz: And very few other shows offer the characters such a rich life
JulieBenz: The characters have so many layers built into them
JulieBenz: They aren't just on the surface
JulieBenz: Plus the span of time
JulieBenz: How many characters on television are 400 years old these days?
JulieBenz: Not many

ChatMod: Is that ever hard to accept, that a character that lives in your head really belongs to someone else? Knowing they have the power to make you go to an even darker place?

JulieBenz: No
JulieBenz: They're the ones who create it
JulieBenz: As an actor you are the vessell through whivch the wrirter's character performs
JulieBenz: Ideally it's a collaboration
JulieBenz: But ultimately the character doesn't belong to the actor, but to the writer

ChatMod: DaScape to ChatMod: Do you still enjoy attending the Buffy and Angel conventions, although you aren't in either show any more?

JulieBenz: I certainly do
JulieBenz: I love going to the conventions and meeting the fans
JulieBenz: If it wasn't for the fans she wouldn't have been kept alive for so long
JulieBenz: I really enjoy meeting the fans who gave her that life

ChatMod: : If given a re-match, could Darla kick Buffy's arse?

JulieBenz: No.
JulieBenz: I don't think so
JulieBenz: Maybe
JulieBenz: I don't know
JulieBenz: Okay -- sure

ChatMod: Pompon to ChatMod: Do you feel, no matter what you go on to do, that you will have a special place in your heart for darla ? or do you think as time goes by, you will regard her the same as any other part you've played?

JulieBenz: All characters I play are special to me
JulieBenz: But Darla especially because I invested so much in her for so long
JulieBenz: And playing DArla was very pivitol in career so she will always have a very special place in m heart

ChatMod: vampiregirl to ChatMod: Which did you enjoy more the Darla/Angelus flashbacks or the modern day scenes, you had undoubtedly some of the best costumes...

JulieBenz: I would say there was always something magical about shooting the days we were in the period costumes on the back lot at Universal late at night
JulieBenz: But there was also something really great about modern day scenes shot on the top of a roof in LA with the amazing scenery when you looked around
JulieBenz: It's always great to be "on location" rather than in the studio
JulieBenz: And those period costumes gave me some physical pain
JulieBenz: The corsets. Ouch
JulieBenz: That was a drawback

ChatMod: DaScape to ChatMod: Did you have to avoid getting a sun-tan to play a vampire?

JulieBenz: Yes

ChatMod: Any similar costuming pains for the Taken?

JulieBenz: No, because Taken all takes place in the 40's and 50's
JulieBenz: I did have a piece of the set fall and hit me in the face
JulieBenz: My first day filming
JulieBenz: It was a big drama
JulieBenz: We continued shooting
JulieBenz: We just shot the other side of my face

ChatMod: What or who influenced you to be an actor?

JulieBenz: I would say the major influence in my life was my mother really
JulieBenz: I grew up performing as a skater
JulieBenz: By sixteen as a result of an injury I couldn't skate anymore My mother knew how much I loved the music, the performing, the audience
JulieBenz: So she encouraged me to become an actor and my manager Vincent Cirrincione told me if I really wanted to be an actor he'd show me how to do it. He's been my manager forever and the major influence on my career
JulieBenz: Actually I always thought after skating I'd be a doctor
JulieBenz: I just never throught a little girl from Pittsburgh could grow up to be an actress
JulieBenz: I thought you were born into the business
JulieBenz: But you can be from anywhere and do it

ChatMod: vampiregirl to ChatMod: You come from a family of like five generations of doctors right?

JulieBenz: Yes
JulieBenz: I wanted to be the first female doctor in the family
JulieBenz: Now I'll just have to play one on TV

ChatMod: sCuLlY90 to ChatMod: what would you say to other teens that wish to be actors and actresses -- what kind of motivation would you give them?

JulieBenz: Go to school
JulieBenz: Study
JulieBenz: Learn
JulieBenz: Learn everything
JulieBenz: If you really love it you'll do it
JulieBenz: whether its acting, or science, or math or english
JulieBenz: Go to school. To college
JulieBenz: Don't let anybody tell you you can't
JulieBenz: So many people told me I was a terrible actress and I was never gonna make it
JulieBenz: You can't listen to them
JulieBenz: You have to fall on your face if you're gonna learn
JulieBenz: You have to take that risk if you're going to grow

ChatMod: Do you feel that at 30 you are just hitting your stride as an actress so to speak?

JulieBenz: I would say yes
JulieBenz: The past three years especially I feel that I've come into my own as an actor
JulieBenz: I'm making good choices
JulieBenz: Intelligent choices about work and a craft I've studied forever
JulieBenz: I still have a long way to go
JulieBenz: But I would say with age comes a sense of self really

ChatMod: AdmAckbar to ChatMod: Since MAC will becoming out with a Darla action figure. How do you feel about having your likeness made into an action figure?

JulieBenz: I hope they gave me smaller thighs
JulieBenz: I told them to give me longer legs
JulieBenz: It's a bizarre but cool thing
JulieBenz: It's a cool moment when you become an action figure
JulieBenz: But the process is so weird
JulieBenz: My face is scanned and in a computer somewhere
JulieBenz: Every nuance
JulieBenz: It freaks me out
JulieBenz: But it will be cool to show familt some day
JulieBenz: I almost didn't agree to it JulieBenz: But David said "COme on. You've gotta do it. It's really cool" So he talked me into it

ChatMod: Sorceress to ChatMod: Do you believe Taken is oriented towards an specific audience or that anyone can be drawn to it?

JulieBenz: I think anyone can be drawn into it
JulieBenz: It's a story about humanity, love, family
JulieBenz: It's a wonderful mix of scifi, human emotions, and what it means to be part of family -- with all the baggage that comes with it
JulieBenz: And I hope you all watch it
JulieBenz: It starts December 2nd
JulieBenz: I'm in the first four hours
JulieBenz: The great thing about the format is that so many actors are in it, but nobody is in the whole thing

ChatMod: Our hour is about up. Thanks Julie

JulieBenz: Thank you all for all the great questions
JulieBenz: And lets give a round of applause to Ben, the ChatMod for keeping up with my dialogue
JulieBenz: Good night everybody