Fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer will recognize the name "Amber Benson" as the actress who played Willow’s love interest Tara. Besides being an accomplished actor, Benson is also a writer and working on several projects. Her most recent project, the five part animated series The Ghosts of Albion was created with writer Christopher Golden and will begin airing on the BBC website Thursday March 27. Ghosts of Albion is a 19th century tale of demons, vampires, and ghosts. It’s the story of two siblings whose legacy includes a terrible burden, but also fantastic power. The series features the voice talents of Jasmine Hyde and Rory Kinnear who play siblings Tamara and William, as well as Emma Samms (DYNASTY, THE COLBYS) and Anthony Daniels (STAR WARS). THE PULSE caught up with Benson to discuss this project and more. THE PULSE: Most creative people I know can’t remember a time when they didn’t feel the urge to do something - whether it’s writing, drawing, acting, singing, etc.,. Does this mirror your feelings? Have you always felt the urge to do something creative? What are some of the earliest things you can remember working on?

AMBER BENSON: I think I’ve always been a creative fiend. I’ve been writing poetry and making up plays with my friends since I was a kid. I think that creativity just kind of grabs you and there’s not much you can do when it calls your number. It’s very much like a drug: you’re only happy when you’re being creative.

THE PULSE: How did the acting bug bite you? When was the moment when you decided you wanted to try to be an actress?

BENSON: I started out as a dancer. I was about six or seven and I realized that I enjoyed being on stage and having people clap for me more than I enjoyed the dancing. It was sort of a natural segue into acting. I got to be on stage, but I never had to worry about having a ballerina’s bleeding toes.

THE PULSE: Prior to Buffy, what were some of your favorite roles? Which "bit" or "smaller" part was the most memorable?

BENSON: The work that I am most proud of I did on a small film called KING OF THE HILL. I played an epileptic girl in depression era St. Louis. It was my first job in a film and I loved it. I also had a lot of fun making my own movie called CHANCE and acting in it. It was a Herculean task: acting and directing myself at the same time. One smaller part that really sticks in my mind was in a film called SFW. I pretended to shoot Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon. Was definitely odd and I hated handling the gun, scared the bejeezus out of me.

THE PULSE: What was your favorite "Tara" moment? What makes this one outstanding in your opinion?

BENSON: In an episode called THE BODY, Willow and Tara shared a wonderful screen kiss. I was very proud that I got to represent a real deal lesbian relationship in its entirety on film. It was very meaningful to Alyson and me.

THE PULSE: While you were acting as Tara you also were furthering your writing career. Who are some of your influences in that area? When you’re looking to "read" something what characteristics attract you?

BENSON: I love the screwball comedy films from the thirties and forties: Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra etc. Those guys were amazing. The characters had the most amazing dialogue. I love listening to the quick wit and fast pacing. I also love the noir films from that same time period. They also have some of the best dialogue ever seen on camera.

THE PULSE: What did you like the best about writing comic books? How was that different than acting as the character?

BENSON: I love creating comics. It’s like making a little movie. But it’s very weird writing dialogue for the character that I played. I think Chris Golden was wonderful at making sure that my dialogue sounded like the characters, which is actually very difficult to do.

THE PULSE: You’re working now with Chris and the BBC on Ghosts of Albion. What is Ghosts of Albion? What inspired the series?

BENSON: I don’t want to give too much away, but Ghosts is about two young people who discover that the "inheritance" from their grandfather has little to do with money and more to do with protecting England from the forces of evil. Chris Golden has an amazing imagination. It sort of started with a, "What if...?" and went from there.

THE PULSE: What are the greatest challenges to creating this series?

BENSON: Making sure that we create real English characters since Chris and I are both from The States. We were very fortunate that our actors, Anthony Daniels, especially, gave us their input and corrected any Americanisms we didn’t intend to leave in the script.

THE PULSE: What are the biggest rewards?

BENSON: I think that Chris and I both felt very pleased when we heard the actors read the very first run through. It was so cool hearing the words out loud - and with an English accent!

THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?

BENSON: I just completed a film called LATTER DAYS - that I just acted in - and am working on getting the money together to make another film as director.