Amber Benson

MARILYN: You have just come back from San Diego Comic-Con and Wizard Chicago. You always take time to meet your fans in conventions. You are a source of energy for most of them. Are your fans a source of energy for you?

AMBER: I find that meeting people that love the show and the character (BTVS/Tara) make me feel more in touch with my own work. They get to see the finished product and the fact that they enjoy it so much makes me feel like what I’m doing is not in vain. Besides, I have the coolest fans in the whole world. I mean, honestly, I feel like there’s a whole community of "friends" out there.

MARILYN: Your official French site AMBER BENSON FRANCE is a year old now. Would you tell some words to your French fans?

AMBER: Bonjour la France! Vous êtes GENIAUX! Merci pour tout. (Amber wrote in French: Hello France! You rock! Thanks for everything.)

MARILYN: You have written, directed, produced and played in your first movie CHANCE, which has received the Audience Award for Best Feature at 2002 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. What inspired you to become an actress and a director? Where does this passion come from?

AMBER: I’ve always loved film. Acting is fantastic, but to be able to create a whole world on celluloid is amazing. It’s like taking your dreams straight from your head and projecting them onto a screen. You are like a tiny God creating your own universe. Hopefully that universe translates and other people get to enjoy your stories.

MARILYN: CHANCE is an intimist movie, mixing genres (comedy, drama), dichotomies and dualities. Talking to the camera, you made the spectator Chance’s best friend, and the witness of her life. How did the idea of involving the audience in your movie occur to you?

AMBER: I’ve always felt like film and theater should involve the audience. You shouldn’t JUST be a spectator in a dark theatre, you should walk away changed - having experienced something that moved you in some way.

Talking to the audience - breaking the fourth wall - is just an extreme way of making that point. The audience can’t help but become involved when you speak to them directly.

MARILYN: In September, COLD CASE will be aired in France. Julia Hauffman, your character, (episode #16 "VOLUNTEERS") contributes to the women’s liberation movement. What memories do you keep of this episode?

AMBER: I was very excited to be involved with this particular show because it addressed an issue that affects me and millions of other young women directly. As horrible as abortion is - I still think women should have the option to have the procedure done. Even today, thousands of women die from back alley abortions. This is going to continue until we as a world make the process safe, until we offer women support and don’t turn them into pariahs for their choice. I do think that if MEN were the ones that bore the children a more effective means of birth control would have been implemented years ago. And there would be no question about abortion being legal.

MARILYN: You dubbed Tara in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER video game CHAOS BLEEDS. How did you feel to play without anybody to give you the cue?

AMBER: It was a lot of fun to get to just say stuff without having anyone else there to play off. I just got to be a total ham.

MARILYN: Mission 10: Sunnydale Mall. The First has chosen Vampire Tara as a champion. You had to re-create the character for this mission, hotter and demoniac, saying things like “Give me a sugar baby”. How did you feel to play another Tara?

AMBER: I felt like it was okay to have Tara be bad in the game because it was just that - a game.

MARILYN: You have directed and co-written with Christopher Golden a fully animated webcast GHOSTS OF ALBION which was airing (and still available) on BBC website. What inspired you to start writing novels and scripts?

AMBER: Actually Chris was the brainchild behind GHOSTS, but once we sorta fleshed everything out, they became as near and dear to my heart as his.

We’ve been very lucky with GHOSTS. The BBC has been very supportive of the series and now Del Rey books is just as excited to be involved with the universe.

MARILYN: You are writing novels based on GHOSTS OF ALBION with Christopher Golden. Would you like to shoot a filmed version of GHOSTS OF ALBION adapted from your books?

AMBER: Chris and I would love to make a film of TV series based on the books and universe. We love the characters and would love to continue creating their universe.

MARILYN: Last year, you have written a play ALBERT HALL, which has been played at THE COMPLEX “Dorie Theater” in Hollywood. Do you plan to write a play again or to go back on the stage?

AMBER: I love theater, but right now I am really focusing on writing for film. In the future, I would love to get back to doing more theater - writing and acting.

MARILYN: TABOO or the story about best enemies who meet and play dangerous games. Your character, Piper, is a sexy girl who drinks too much. She flirts with the boys of the group. Do you prefer to play good or Machiavellian characters? Why?

AMBER: As long as I identify with the characters and find them to be interesting people - I’ll be there with bells on. I’ll play anyone as long as I’m intrigued by them.

MARILYN: The 2003 award-winning film LATTER DAYS has been shown in Northern America and in Europe. Could you tell us more about your character, Traci?

AMBER: Traci was just sort of fun and had an acerbic sense of humor. I really just wanted to be involved with the film - period - because I feel like there need to be more gay themed films that have a positive message.

Being gay is not just about the pain and suffering of being different - it is also beautiful and wonderful to be part of an amazing supportive community. There should be as many love stories as tragedies.

MARILYN: You have played in EL INTERMEDIO, Andrew Lauer’s new movie in May (the film will release in October). It was the first time you played in a horror film. How did you live this first experience?

AMBER: Well, I actually consider Taboo to be a horror film, too. It was a lot of fun to work on the movie and I made a lot of really cool friends on it.

MARILYN: Neal Fredericks, the DP of the movie, said that Barbie, your character, is the “voice of reason”. What do you think about it?

AMBER: She was just really scared - which makes anyone more reasonable about getting out of a scary situation. Like a cave filled with monsters.

MARILYN: Have you anything you would like to add?

AMBER: I’d like to say how terrible it was to lose Neil. He was so young and talented - it was a real loss for the world and the film industry. He was a real sweetie.

MARILYN: Thank you very much Amber for taking time to answer these questions for ABF.