Julie Benz

Julie Benz would love an on-camera reunion with her former "Angel."

Now recurring as Patrick Wilson’s sister on the CBS drama "A Gifted Man" — on which she’s featured Friday (Oct. 14) — the "Dexter" and "No Ordinary Family" alum is game for a guest shot on FOX’s "Bones" once the show returns Thursday, Nov. 3. That would put her back in the company of series star David Boreanaz, who was Angel to her Darla as still seen in weekday-morning TNT repeats.

"David and I always had a very special relationship," Benz tells Zap2it, "and to work with him again would just be very exciting. We joke around about it, and hopefully, it’ll come true. Charisma Carpenter [alias Cordelia on both ’Angel’ and ’Buffy the Vampire Slayer’] is still a close friend; with David, the two of us are always like, ’We need to work with you again!’"

Carpenter will reteam with James Marsters, a.k.a. Spike, when they guest on The CW’s "Supernatural" Friday, Oct. 21, The same network will host another "Buffy" reunion soon when Amber Benson appears on Sarah Michelle Gellar’s current show "Ringer" ... and had things gone differently, Buffy herself might have been Benz instead of Gellar.

"I was one of a thousand girls who went in and read," Benz recalls, "and that’s how I happened to meet (’Buffy’ creator-producer] Joss Whedon. I was not right for the role of Buffy, but as an actress, I’ve always made interesting choices in auditions. Joss said he really liked what I brought to the character, and he asked if I would be interested in playing ’Vampire Girl No. 1.’ Darla didn’t even have a name then.

"I was new to the business, so I said, ’Sure, of course.’ And then ’Vampire Girl No. 1’ evolved into what I think was one of the most amazing characters on television. I’ve always had a healthy perspective on the audition process, that it’s not always just about that job. I take it as my time to perform that character in that moment, and do the best I possibly can. And that’s all it is."

Starring with John Corbett in one of the first "TNT Mystery Movie Night" thrillers when "Ricochet" debuts Wednesday, Nov. 30, Benz often gets feedback from moms and dads on her time as Darla. She cites both "Buffy" and "Angel" as "the types of shows where parents could sit down with their teenagers and have an hour of bonding every week, where maybe they weren’t able to communicate the rest of the time.

"They were shows that appealed to both parents and teens, when teens are in that awkward phase where maybe they don’t want to talk to their parents. There was that common interest, that common ground. So many parents have come up to me and said, ’"Buffy" and "Angel" got me through those years when I wanted to kill my kid!’"