Julie Benz

Name: Julie Benz

Character: Rita Bennett on “Dexter” (season finale tonight at 10 on Showtime).

Hometown: Pittsburgh.

Age: 34.

Where you’ve seen her before: Benz played the vampire Darla on both “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel.” She was also Kate in the miniseries “Taken” and Kathleen Topolsky on “Roswell.”

Fun fact: Benz was an ice skater from age 3 to 16, when an injury forced her to retire.

On how she became Rita: “(The network executives) basically thought I looked too pulled together to play the role. They asked if I would come in the next day with no makeup and sloppy clothes. I put mascara in my hair to give me some roots. I had not a stitch of makeup and I didn’t shower, and I went to the network test and I signed in and I was waiting in the hallway, and the producer said, ‘Well, she’s signed in, but we don’t see her out there.’ They were shocked at my transformation.”

On playing Darla: “It was a great place for me to grow as an actor. When I started I was young and inexperienced, and they really created an atmosphere where we could go in and explore and play and fall on our face if we did and make choices. I really feel if you watch from the beginning of ‘Buffy’ to the end of ‘Angel,’ you see the growth in all of us.”

On how “Dexter” has changed her career: “Having been on the WB for a long time, unfortunately in Hollywood you don’t always get the respect.

Even though ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ were such great shows and so well-written and the acting was so amazing on those shows, you didn’t necessarily get the respect from the industry because they considered it more a teen genre show. People are definitely looking at my work differently and seeing me more - a little grittier and a little edgier and a little more interesting and not just a pretty face. You fight for so long in Hollywood to be taken seriously, to be seen as more than just the outside package.”

Where you’ll see her in five years: Starring in “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon’s next TV series.