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Wikipedia
Julie M. Benz (born May 1, 1972) is an American actress, best known for her role as Rita Morgan on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. She currently stars in the series, No Ordinary Family. Among her previous well-known roles was Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
Early life
Benz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father is a surgeon in Pittsburgh. The family settled in nearby Murrysville when Benz was two, and she started ice skating when she was three. She competed in the 1988 U.S. Championships in junior ice dancing with her partner David Schilling, finishing in 13th place.[1] Her older brother and sister, Jeffrey and Jennifer, were the 1987 U.S. Junior Champions in ice dancing and competed internationally. When Benz was 14, she suffered a stress fracture and had to take time off. She grew up in Murrysville, graduating from Franklin Regional High School.[2]
Career
At age 15, Benz was told by an acting coach that she would never succeed as an actress. According to Benz, "I remember the teacher telling me I should not even try acting. I still have the report card where she was like, 'You will never be an actor. Your voice is horrible.' That was the best thing that ever happened to me because I was like, 'I'll show you'."[3]
By 1989, with her figure skating career over, Benz became involved in local theater, where she was cast in the play Street Law. Her first movie role was a small speaking part in "The Black Cat" segment of the Dario Argento/George A. Romero horror movie Two Evil Eyes (1990). A year later, she was cast in the TV show Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991), which was canceled after two seasons.
After graduating from high school, Benz entered New York University to study acting. After graduation from NYU,[4] she moved to Los Angeles. Two weeks after her move, she obtained a bit part in a 1994 episode of Married... with Children , playing a girl who wanted to lose her virginity to Bud Bundy.[3]
Her subsequent roles include an unaired Aaron Spelling television pilot Cross Town Traffic. She starred in another unaired TV pilot calledEmpire in 1995. Her other TV shows included Hang Time, High Tide, Step by Step and Boy Meets World, plus a small role in the TV movieThe Barefoot Executive. She had an uncredited role in Black Sheep and appearances in Diagnosis: Murder, Sliders and The Single Guy. She played Christy in the TV movie Hearts Adrift and a lead role as Julie Falcon in Darkdrive.
In 1996, Benz auditioned for the role of Buffy Summers in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), but lost out to Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, she was offered the small role of the vampire Darla in the pilot episode. Her performance was so well-received that her part was expanded to a few more episodes. The role helped launch her career.
She appeared in more TV shows such as The Big Easy and Fame L.A. along with a small role as a receptionist in the movie As Good as It Gets (1997). She starred in the short spoof film Eating Las Vegas and the unaired TV pilot Veronica's Video, had a small uncredited role in the TV movie A Walton Easter and a small role in Inventing the Abbotts.
In 1998, she had a recurring role as Joplin Russell in the TV show Ask Harriet (though the show was canceled and only two of her appearances aired), then guest-starred on Conrad Bloom and The King of Queens. She made two movies, the dark comedy Jawbreaker andDirt Merchant, before landing a lead role in another TV show called Payne. She played undercover FBI Special Unit agent Kathleen Topolsky on Roswell during its first season, starred in the TV movie Satan's School for Girls, the unaired TV pilot Good Guys/Bad Guys and had a lead role in the horror movie parody Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth.
She reprised her role as Darla in 2000 for the Buffy spin-off series Angel appearing in every season for at least one episode. She was featured in the principal cast of the romantic comedy The Brothers. She was a guest host for the TV show Rendez-View. She was cast as Ellie Sparks inGlory Days and appeared in the unaired pilot; however, she left the show. She guest starred onShe Spies and was in the featured cast for the mini-series Taken. She did various voices for the video game Hot Shots Golf Fore!, appeared in the short film The Midget Stays in the Picture and took over the role of Ursula for George of the Jungle 2.
Benz appeared in Peacemakers, Coupling, NCIS and Oliver Beene. She landed the lead role of Annie Garrett in the Hallmark TV movie The Long Shot. Benz also provided the voice of Miranda Keyes for the video game Halo 2, though she did not return to the role in the sequel Halo 3 as Bungie wanted to try a new direction with the Miranda Keyes voice by giving the character an accent, replaced by Justis Bolding. She played the lead role of Danielle in Bad Girls From Valley High (a film shot in 2000 under the title A Fate Totally Worse Than Death) which was released on DVD in 2005. She had a small role in the critically acclaimed TV movie Lackawanna Blues. In the Sci-Fi Channel original film Locusts: The 8th Plague, she played the lead female role Vicky. She also appeared in the straight-to-DVD movie 8mm 2 as Lynn. The film was originally called The Velvet Side of Hell and was not supposed to be a sequel to 8MM.
Benz appeared in episodes of Supernatural, CSI: Miami, Law & Order and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She had a supporting role in a Swedish independent movie called Kill Your Darlings, a lead role in the Lifetime movie Circle of Friends and joined the cast of TV show Dexter as Rita Bennett.[5] Benz played a lead role in the fifth film of the popular horror franchise, Saw V, as Brit, a real-estate developer who is one ofJigsaw's five victims. She had a supporting role in Punisher: War Zone as Angela.
Benz co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in 2008's Rambo, the fourth film of that series.
She plays the title role in the short film Kidnapping Caitlynn, written by her close friend Jenny Mollen, premiered at the Vail Film Festival 2009 and was released online April 6, 2009.[6] She starred in the Lifetime movie Held Hostage as Michelle Estey.[7] in July.[8] She also starred in the Hallmark Channel movie Uncorked[9] as Johnny Prentiss[10] which premiered in the UK in July 2009. She is the lead female character Special Agent Eunice Bloom in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day which had a limited release on October 30, 2009, and was released on DVD March 9, 2010. She has been cast in another indie film called Bedrooms as Anna.[11] She has recently been cast as Frankie in the upcoming movie Answers to Nothing which is scheduled for a 2010 release.
Benz appeared on The Soup with Joel McHale. Benz next took a recurring role on Desperate Housewives as Robin Gallagher, a stripper with a heart of gold and a Masters degree in education who gets offered the chance to transition into a more legitimate career.[12] The character of Robin is further developed when the audience discovers she is a lesbian and begins an affair with housewife Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany).
In early 2010, ABC announced that Benz had landed a lead role as Stephanie Powell, in the network's drama pilot No Ordinary Family.[13] The following May, ABC green-lit the series, which premiered on September 28, 2010, as part of the 2010–11 season.[15]
Personal life
Benz was married to actor and voice actor John Kassir.[17] They were married on May 30, 1998. She filed for divorce in December 2007.[18]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Two Evil Eyes | Betty | Segment: "The Black Cat" |
| 1996 | Black Sheep | uncredited | |
| 1996 | Darkdrive | Julie Falcon | |
| 1997 | Eating Las Vegas | Sheila | Short film |
| 1997 | Inventing the Abbotts | Co-ed | |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | Receptionist | |
| 1999 | Jawbreaker | Marcie Fox | |
| 2000 | Satan's School for Girls | Alison Kingsley | |
| 2000 | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth | Barbara | |
| 2000 | Bad Girls From Valley High (aka A Fate Totally Worse Than Death) | Danielle | |
| 2001 | The Brothers | Jesse Caldwell | |
| 2003 | The Midget Stays in the Picture | A-List Actress | short film |
| 2002 | George of the Jungle 2 | Ursula, Queen of the Jungle | |
| 2005 | 8mm 2 | Lynn | |
| 2005 | Locusts: The 8th Plague | Vicky | |
| 2006 | Kill Your Darlings | Katherine | |
| 2008 | Rambo | Sarah Miller | |
| 2008 | Saw V | Brit | |
| 2008 | Punisher: War Zone | Angela | |
| 2009 | The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Eunice Bloom | |
| 2010 | Bedrooms | Anna | |
| 2010 | Answers to Nothing | Frankie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991– 1992 | Hi Honey, I'm Home! | Babs Nielson | 14 episodes |
| 1994 | Married... with Children | Sascha | Episode: "Field of Screams" |
| 1995 | Cross Town Traffic | unaired TV series pilot | |
| 1995 | Empire | Christine Lambert | unaired TV series pilot |
| 1995 | Hang Time | Linda Cantrell | episode "Earl Makes the Grade" |
| 1995 | The Barefoot Executive | Sexy Woman | |
| 1995 | High Tide | Joanna Craig | Episode: "Sea No Evil" |
| 1995 | Step by Step | Tawny | Episode: "The Wall" |
| 1996 | Boy Meets World | Bianca | episode "City Slackers" |
| 1996 | Hearts Adrift | Christy | TV |
| 1996 | Diagnosis: Murder | Julie Miller | Episode" "Murder on Thin Ice" |
| 1996 | Sliders | Jenny Michener | Episode: "The Electric Twister Acid Test" |
| 1996 | The Single Guy | Cranberries Girl | Episode" "Love Train" |
| 1997 | Veronica's Video | Heidi | unaired TV series pilot |
| 1997 | A Walton Easter | Jeannie | uncredited |
| 1997 | The Big Easy | Roxanne | Episode" "BeGirled" |
| 1997 | Fame L.A. | Vanessa | Episode: "The Beat Goes On" |
| 1997– 2000 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Darla | recurring; 6 episodes |
| 1998 | Ask Harriet | Joplin Russell | recurring 1998; 7 episodes |
| 1998 | Conrad Bloom | Julie | Episode: "The Rebound Guy" |
| 1999 | Dirt Merchant | Angie | |
| 1999 | Payne | Breeze O'Rourke | 9 episodes |
| 1999 | The King of Queens | Julie Patterson | Episode: "Train Wreck" |
| 2000– 2004 | Angel | Darla | recurring; 20 episodes |
| 1999– 2000 | Roswell | Kathleen Topolsky | recurring; 7 episodes |
| 2000 | Good Guys/Bad Guys | unaired NBC TV series pilot | |
| 2002 | Glory Days | Ellie Sparks | Unaired Pilot |
| 2002 | Taken | Kate Keyes | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | She Spies | Elaine | Episode: "Spies vs. Spy" |
| 2002 | Peacemakers | Miranda Blanchard | Episode: "The Witness" |
| 2002 | Coupling | Amanda | Episode: "Decatur Guy" |
| 2004 | The Long Shot: Believe in Courage | Annie Garrett | |
| 2004 | NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service | Denise Johnson | Episode: "A Weak Link" |
| 2004 | Oliver Beene | Cigarette Girl | Episode: "Idol Chatter" |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Laura | |
| 2006 | Supernatural | Layla Rourke | Episode: "Faith" |
| 2006 | CSI: Miami | Hayley Gordon | Episode: "Deviant" |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Heidi Wolff | Episode: "Time of Your Death" |
| 2006 | Circle of Friends | Maggie | |
| 2006– 2010 | Dexter | Rita Bennett | 49 episodes 2006 Satellite Awards: Supporting Actress in a Series 2008 Eyegore Awards 2008 Scream Awards: Best Actress in a Horror Movie or TV Show 2009 Saturn Award: Supporting Actress on Television |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Dawn Sterling | Episode: "Church" |
| 2009 | Kidnapping Caitlynn | Caitlynn | |
| 2009 | Held Hostage | Michelle Estey | |
| 2009 | Uncorked | Johnny Prentiss | |
| 2010 | Desperate Housewives | Robin Gallagher | recurring 2010; 5 episodes |
| 2010 - Current | No Ordinary Family | Stephanie Powell |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Everybody's Golf 4 (aka Hot Shots Golf Fore!) | Various voices | |
| 2004 | Halo 2 | Miranda Keyes (voice) |
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