Episode 364: Interview With Julie Benz (Dexter, Saw 5, Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

hi this is Julie Ben from Dexter saw five Buffy and Angel and you're listening to don't go out there welcome back everybody to the don't go out there podcast we appreciate everyone listening we at the don't go out there podcast are very excited for our guest today we are ecstatic to have an actor with over 100 credits to her name spanning nearly four decades probably known best for her role as Rita bid it and spoiler Rita Morgan as well in the series Dexter also known for breaking hearts and Angel and Desperate Housewives and Brit and saw five one of my personal favorites just to name a few another legend of the business Miss Julie Benz Julie thank you so much for joining us how are you doing today I'm good I I've I didn't realize I had over a hundred credits you've been busy you've been working I've been working I've been busy I didn't I've never added them all up Julie just to get this interview kicked off we always like to ask all of our guest what is it that got you into acting well so I was a competitive figure skater when I was a child and I had a bad injury when I was 13 years old and my mom didn't want to meet it sitting around moping around the house so she it was her idea that I audition for this local community theater play and I got the role and then she had another great idea where she took me down to a modeling agency and and thought I could do like commercials and stuff and so then through that modeling agency I met my manager who was ended up being my manager for 30 30 years until he retired and yeah so I think for me it was the love of Performing like I you know I grew up performing as an ice skater and so then I just transferred that to acting awesome I love that you know we spoke of your 100 plus credits you have such a mixture of TV and film on your resume do you have a preference of what you like to do more TV or film um I just like playing interesting characters so it doesn't the medium itself doesn't matter to me although I do love the television life like I I do love working in TV because you get to play a character for a longer period of time and you get to kind of peel away the the layers of the character as you're working on it and see the character grow and evolve whereas the film you know if you're lucky like like when I did Rambo that was maybe three and a half months shooting but some of my other movies like I did this little indie film called the circle which a lot of people have discovered that was a 10day shoot um jawbreaker I think was five weeks so it's just I love the I I do enjoy playing a character for a long extended period of time and I enjoy the family that's created on set as well awesome so your first major role was as Marcy Fox and jawbreaker that had to be exciting to land a huge role at that point in your career and get to work with such a stellar cast I mean everyone from Rose mcau uh Rebecca gayart Tatiana Ali Pam Greer and even Marilyn Manson was in that movie and if I'm not mistaken you recently had a jawbreaker reunion right can you tell us a little bit about that experience yeah we had a we were honored at the Academy Museum here in Los Angeles for the 25th anniversary of jawbreaker and they actually are putting some props from the movie into the museum which is very exciting for us um at the time when I got cast in that film I mean I I was in awe of Rose mwan I mean she's just like this incredible creature um beautiful and just just incredible and Rebecca gayart probably one of the most beautiful women on the planet so you know I felt kind of like the I felt like the short fat potato n to everybody but uh we had so much fun filming that movie you know we were all in our 20s playing high school and I think out of the whole cast I was the only one that had I had the most normal high school experience out of everybody so um it was like it was a lot of fun and like shooting the prom scenes were my favorite I love the prom that's awesome so I know you're probably sick to death of answering Dexter questions but we just have to pick your brain a little bit about a few things that's okay that's fine tell us how the role of Rita came to be and how did you land that character so um I originally auditioned for the role of Rita and Deb because they didn't know what direction they were going in so I read for the casting assistant for both roles and she's like oh I think you're good for both so then I read for the casting director for both and again it was like oh you're right for both and so then I went and read for Jim Manos our producer at the time and as soon as I walked in the door he was like oh my God you're arita and I was like no but I I can be Deb too because I really wanted to swear on television I really thought like I really thought I was Deb he's like no you're aita and I'm like well I prepared Deb too let me do that as well um and the interesting thing as an actor was when I was working on the material for Deb like I had to change the way I walk the way I talk how I like all my Natural Instincts I had to like change whereas with Rita I just had to be I didn't have to change anything and it was an important lesson for me to learn as an actor because it I was not a Deb like it was it was visible to everybody else I was not a Deb except to me I thought because I was working so hard to try to be a Deb that I was a Deb but I wasn't I was definitely a Rita um and then I um I had to test twice for it because the first time the first time I tested for it um the network thought they thought I was too glamorous to play Rita so the note was like can you come back in and test and wear no makeup and don't do your hair and just you know just don't do anything so I was like sure and so I took it one step further and the night before I drank a bottle of red wine so my eyes would be really puffy and swollen and I put um my hair was really blonde at the time so I put um mascara in my roots so it would look really dark and kind of scrungy and then I wore like unmatching like sweats like it was I put together like the ugliest outfit I could possibly put together and I went to sign in at you know to test and I signed in and I was sitting there and I see everybody come out and they're like looking around the room they look right over me and then they look at the signin sheet and then and I hear them go well she signed in but where is she and I was like are you looking for me and then the director um who the director um turned and looked at me and he's like oh my God are you wearing a prosthetic you look so different and I was like no this is just me you said no makeup I have absolutely no makeup on and because I drank the bottle of red wine the night before I was a little hung over so and then I went in and um and tested with my again and basically they gave me the part on the spot at that point so that's awesome that's commitment was there ever a Time whether it was reading the scripts or during filming that you realized okay wow we are doing something special here and it may stand the test of time well I thought from the very beginning which is why I jumped through so many Hoops to audition for it um I love the script from the first moment I read it I was like this is the typ of show I like to watch so this is the type of show I want to be on and I remember telling Michael during shooting the pilot like I was like this this show is gonna be huge this is gonna be huge this G be a huge hit he's like how do you know like are you short you think and I'm like a th% yes because this is the type of programming I like to watch and I love watching TV like I I love consuming content and watching television shows and I'm like this is it like this is it so I feel like I knew way before everybody else did well it's certainly one of my favorites um tell us about the development of Rita like we saw her go from this timid damaged person and really grow to become one of the strongest characters on the show yeah so you know in the beginning in the beginning I played Rita um because she had been a a a victim of domestic violence and a lifelong victim of abuse I did a lot of research into that and I made the choice to every time she talks it's almost like she's apologizing it's almost she's ready to say I'm sorry immediately right after and then I also kind of use the the imagery of a a very damaged bird like a tiny little bird that's like missing a wing um and so that's kind of how I developed her and then I worked with the Wardrobe Department I was like I I I don't want any of her clothes like her clothes need to look like they come from thrift stores and that she nothing matches like it's just it's it's nothing nothing attractive really and then we went for the whole no I mean I wore not a stitch of makeup in season one it was no makeup no hair so it was great for me because after coming off of you know Buffy and Angel where I wore a ton of make up even if I was dying um I was now on a show where I could show up like a guy and show like my call time was like the same time as if I was a male actor which was for rehearsal not like an hour before to go through the works and however I looked that day was how I went on camera so it was just like you know and I remember everybody going oh you're so brave you're so brave to be so Raw on camera and I'm like I don't I mean what's Brave I mean I don't think I look that this is how I look when I wake up in the morning like what are you guys saying nothing Brave about it that's a little bit rude yeah I was like this is this is what I look like um so I will say this though because prior to Dexter I used to be able to like not get recognized if I ran around town with no makeup on so that was always like my disguise and then as soon as Dexter hit now everybody knew what I looked like without makeup on can't hide anymore it's awesome all right last question I promise we'll shut up about Dexter okay what was it like learning that you were being killed off the show and not to you know put any of the writers down or anything but if you had the opportunity to do something different with that would you have oh I mean 100% yes I I I was devastated I always say nobody was more shocked and devastated than I was I I I only found out um the day before they um gave us the script for that episode ouch and I was um I was absolutely devastated I I didn't see it coming um you know my first reaction in the room when they told me was oh my God I just lost my job and then my second reaction was who's going to raise the baby who's goingon to raise Harrison like right so because there's a weird Synergy that happens between character and actor when you play a character for a long time so the character's memories become my memories and it's like this weird like Fusion thing that happens and so I was it it was like yeah I I I I just lost my job and then it's like but what about the baby like what about Harrison what's gonna happen to Harrison who's going to take care of Harrison and I even said like you know I mean I I said like listen the no one's going to for forgive you for this the audience isn't going to forgive you you're killing a new mom like you got seven guys standing around doing nothing on the show kill one of them don't kill Rita like this is a big mistake um probably shouldn't have said that but but no I would have you know I personally I felt that there was more story to tell with Rita and Dexter um you know obviously they did not think there was um in many ways I feel I let Rita down because I would say in season season one and season two I had a very strong storyline um and then season three and even season 4 it it was it it wasn't the best storyline you know and and and I'm not nothing against the writers on that it's just that's the nature of Television of episodic television you can't expect to have the fire storyline every season because there's other actors they have to give story lines to right so I took a step back and just let it unfold thinking like oh they'll get back to writing for like writing better stuff for Rita right and obviously that didn't happen and I wish I had maybe advocated a little bit more and challenge them more to to think creatively and um and write something more challenging I guess not I don't want to say better but something more challenging that would have inspired them to see more storytelling for them but I didn't do that and I learned I learned my lesson after that that it's important to to advocate for your character and say like you know this is kind this is getting kind of silly like I really felt Rita was I mean listen I had to sing Karma Chameleon and like I felt some of that stuff was like silly like it was just not fun I mean it wasn't like it wasn't like the it wasn't season one or season two Rita it was all of a sudden like a almost like a different character and so I wish I had um I wish I had challenged them to think a little outside the box with her because then maybe maybe she would have eventually that her fate would have eventually happened but there have been more more time that we could have all lived with her sure yeah that makes total sense and I don't know if this will date us but they just announced Dexter Resurrection to begin filming this January and I don't know about everyone else but I'm ready to see ghost Rita pop up in in New Blood you know we got ghost Deb so hey I'm ready to see ghost Rita pop up I know well I'm me I'm going to well so the only way I could see that happen and I highly doubt they would even do it is if I was Ghost Rita to Harrison because the reality is is I never knew I never knew Dexter's Dark Passenger that's true right so um whereas Deb did I didn't know his dark I was his I was his beard I didn't know so I don't know if it would make sense but you know it would be nice if I was a you know because you got to think that okay listen here's the deal read a suffered more abuse and more violence over a long over her lifetime than Dexter or even harres all they did was like they they both just witnessed their mothers being killed that was it Rita actually had suffered she was in had an abusive home life growing up and then a very abusive ex-husband so you would but she was she always had hope and she always like believed in love and had hope for people and believed the good in people that I would think that um maybe just maybe it would be nice to see Rita pop up as you know The Good The Good the good Angel for Harrison but I doubt that's gonna happen fingers crossed Julie I really appreciate your admiration for that character it was an honor to hear you talk about that but we are going to transition a little bit you are also part of another series as beloved and transcended the horror genre Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the spin-off angel do you have any fun stories you can share about your experience on those shows oh it was such a great show to be a part of um especially once I was on Angel I mean I on Buffy you know I only did like I did a handful of episodes before the show even aired and uh Darla started as vampire girl number one like she she I was supposed to die in the pilot and then like they came to me and they're like wait a second we're gonna we're going to bring you back for the next episode and I was like cool fun more I'll get another paycheck that's awesome and then uh they evolved Dar they evolved vampire girl number one into Darla and then created the love triangle with Angel and then obviously I I puffed I died um so but when they brought me back onto Angel um you know we got to explore more of Darla's life and her her past and her present and it was you know for me I always relate it to like going to graduate school for acting because it was a very um I was challenged on so many different levels I was challenged as an actor I was challenged physically like I had to ride a horse Through Fire I had to be buried alive um I was uh set on fire and had to be like you know doused with water I had to sing so there were all these wonderful challenges on top of the acting that I had to do so it was it was really um an amazing experience for me and taught me a lot about acting um even though I had gone to school for acting I think I learned more on the set of of Buffy and Angel than I did in acting school sorry NYU um but but yeah so it was a really amazing fun experience and I do remember one night on set I was filming the flashback scenes were always my favorite and I was filming a flashback scene and it I think it was for one of the crossover episodes between Angel and Buffy and it was between me David and um James Marsters played Spike and we were shooting on the Backlot of universal in the middle of the night and we were all dressed up in our flashback costumes and I remember doing the scene and I said my Lin and I walked off and I stood there by camera waiting to watch the rest the scene play out and David and James were just staring at me and I was like what and they're like you have more lines was like oh my God I totally forgot I just thought the scene was over but you know we were working really long hours and I was exhausted and everybody started laughing because it was so not like me to do that and like walk back on set and be like okay let's finish this scene I'm so sorry guys so I recently started rewatching the King of Queens it's classic show I love it I got to season two and I saw a familiar face that I didn't even realize was in the show until this rewatch it was you how did how was it working on that show that's that's such a I love that show so I originally tested to play Leah remon's sister on that show remember in season one she had a sister um so I originally I tested like twice for that and at the end of the day um the head of head of CDs was like there's no way the two of you came out of the same body like you like we did there's no it was not believable that Leah and I would be sisters um so then um and by the way the only only job I didn't get where they the writers and producers sent me flowers as a thank you because they put me through the ringer on the audition and they sent me flowers as thank you and they said we're going to write something for you don't worry so then they wrote that part specifically for me oh that's awesome so yeah and it was it was a lot of fun I mean it was um you know I started in sitcoms and um that's always been like my dream job is to be on a sitcom and I think that was one of the last sitcoms I did because after that people in Hollywood forgot I was funny so but uh but it was so much fun to work with Kevin and Leah and everybody and and you know that uniform was awful I I I feel for female FedEx agents or UPS agents because no one looks good in that thing but um but it was a lot of fun and they described my ass as a peach which I was very happy for because I didn't say I had I had the ass of a prune or the ass of a cantaloupe or you know Peach was perfect I was like oh that's nice that's awesome yeah I love that show and speaking of things that I love and listen you're a legend you've worked with some Legends been a part of some great projects including my favorite entry in the Rambo franchise 2008's Rambo what was that experience like how was it working alongside syester Stallone you know was that shot on location so that was absolutely incredible um Turned out Stallone was a big Dexter fan and so I went into what I thought was to audition for him and really it turned into him pitching me why I need to be in his movie and I was kind of sitting there I remember I had my resume I had my head shot resume and I was just like and and I was like do do you want this and he was like no I like and he spent the whole meeting like telling me why I needed to do this movie and I was already in my head going like I'm gonna do it like I'm doing it but I didn't absolutely um so um we shot in Thailand in the uh north north of shangai in the jungles of Thailand um we were there for about three months um it was I it was absolutely incredible so he he wrote it directed it and starred in and to have somebody do all three of those things in a movie of that size like an action film like that is pretty much unheard of I think Mel Gibson did it for Braveheart but I can't I really don't know any other I mean I'm sure there might be one or two others but it's really unheard of for an actor to direct write produce and star in an action film because it's a lot of work um he had seven cameras running at a time I'd never seen anything like that before we shot on film not digital it was all film and um and it was it was incredible I mean it was hard I smelled so bad like every day and you you know you'd get to work clean and part of makeup was to put dirt all over you and then you you know we were shooting in like degree full humidity in the jungles and um taking malaria pills and making sure we didn't get sick and um and it was tough and at one point um like filming all those action sequences um Stallone came to me and he said you know it makes for a richer film if it's your face hitting the dirt and I said okay I said I will try everything once right and then if I feel like I can't do it but they had they had my stunt double there to do it and there was only one stunt that um really freaked me out I mean they all freaked me out but one well there's a couple couple times where like I'd be waiting for the cameras to roll for a stunt and I'd be like so scared like I'd be crying because I'd be like I'm so terrified because you can't practice these stunts like they're like you're gonna run down this hill and you're going to run through this building and it's going to explode and if your hair catches on fire fire we've got two stunk guys down there with hoses and just run towards them and they'll put the fire out and all I could think about was like my hair is gonna catch on fire wow want my hair to catch on fire so I would be like standing behind the tree like and the makeup artist would be like are you okay and I'm like don't tell anybody don't tell anybody I'm gonna do it I have never run so fast in my entire life was like a bad out of hell just running and I just kept running and nothing happened thank God but there was one stunt where um where uh I was we were shooting in the rice patties and it's when the Burmese soldiers capture me yeah and it was my idea I had this great idea I got yelled at for this by the way this great idea I said I said what if they grab me and then they shove me under the W in the rice Patty water and they pull me up and they shove me back under and they pull me up shove me back under and then they drag me out like I was like I was into like being tough because being the only girl in the movie I wanted to like out stunt the guys like my competitive nature so we went to shoot it and I was fine on the first take but what we did was we just kept cameras rolling and they we did a bunch of takes just back to back and I would say around like the third take I snapped like I literally started freaking out I thought I was going to die I went into full on like I mean I was hitting these guy these poor actors I was hitting them and screaming like and having a complete breakdown and I think that's the take they ended up using but what happened was afterwards they yelled cut because they realized I was I something a switch had flipped in my head thinking it was real and um I was a mess like I couldn't stop crying I was hyperventilating I was like and Stallone came over to me and he was like he was upset and rightly so because he's like here's the deal don't ever suggest something that you can't do take after take and I was like I hear you I hear you you're right I am so sorry um but they ended up they had they ended up using that take so but he had a point which was and here's the thing I'm afraid of water I don't really swim like you know what I mean like I was just trying to be a tough girl and um yeah but I learned my lesson on that one don't suggest something that you can't do take after take after take so that's an incredible story but he was so great to work with I mean he was so great to work with and just uh just he's he's an incredible director um and I spent every moment I could on set at video Village watching how he was directing and just in awe of I think Grandma tavish and I like we never went back to our trailers we just stayed on set and like soaked everything up because we were just like this is like this is a once- in a-lifetime experience like this is this is crazy that's incredible it is wow uh I'm super excited for this I've not gotten to personally talk to anybody on our show who's been in a Saw movie it's my favorite horror franchise we're all huge fans of the saw franchise and you of course starred in saw five you obviously survived all of your tests because you're great uh you know you had to watch a woman get her head cut off you watch a guy get blown up with bombs you stab Megan Good in the neck and then you cut your hand in half what was it like working on that project I was terrified the whole time so so the story behind s the saw franchise is when I was shooting years prior I was shooting a movie called George of the Jungle 2o um for Disney and um our producer Greg Hoffman um he was talking to me and he was telling me about his next project and he's like it's this horror film I don't know he's like it's lowbudget horror I don't know how it's I don't know what it's going to turn into right and I was like well Greg I want to be in it and he was like I don't know he's like it's really Dark Twisted horror I don't know Julie I don't even he I don't even know how it's going to how it's going to turn out well that was s that was the first saw so then I think it was during saw I think during saw two or saw three um he had a heart attack and he passed away and so when I got offered saw five I felt like it was Greg going like okay girl you wanted to be in this but at that point I had seen the first of all and it [ __ ] me up big time am I love to swear oh yeah yes okay it [ __ ] me up too yeah it [ __ ] I I I find the Saw movies um psychologically terrifying yeah and like just they just terrify you on a it's not like a typical horror film it's it's a it it damages you you know I mean so I never watched them after so I thought to myself too wow this is going to be a challenge being in a movie that I mean that really creeps me out that puppet it can't I can't with the puppet I can't okay um so when I was on set my first day our first scene up was the scene with the um the collars around our neck and the the thing that chps your head off and you know the set design is incredible it's so real like it you it just feels so real when you're in it and I remember it was a heavy choreograph scene you know they had these guys behind the thing pulling the pulley and we were and it was heavily choreographed who was moving forward when who was you know what I mean to make it look like we were all connected we rehearsed rehearsed rehearsed we all felt great we were ready to shoot and right before they went to roll cameras I had freaked out and they said to David hle the director I said wait a second what's going to happen if I don't get to the key first and he looked at me he's like well cut it's not real oh my God it really it really got to you it did and I had um I was there for two weeks filming and I had nightmares the every the whole time um and the the crew was like H yeah that all happened to us during the first one welcome welcome to SAU this is what happens on your first one and um um when we got to that last scene with the spaghetti hand that's what I call it the spaghetti arm um I actually threw up on set during rehearsal because it was so it I knew my hand wasn't being cut off but it looked like it in that thing and I freaked out and I got sick and like threw up on like I was just like I it was awful but it was good for me to see if I could be in something that is so scary now I've never watched it that's the one movie of mine I have not I can't yeah I can't it sounds like a very immersive experience it is it really is and you know um in saw five that scene where that guy's head is in the box and it fills up with water I mean he did that for real that is not CGI he did that for real they had paramedics there just in case like they had and I was in hair and makeup at the time and I couldn't even go watch it because just just the idea of it like a lot of people went to watch him shoot it and I was like I'm having a panic attack sitting in the makeup chair knowing I'm here right like in the studio knowing this sc's being shot like it and I mean kudos to him for for doing it I I couldn't have done that that was that was intense that sounds like your worst nightmare you already mentioned you don't like water and then that's worst Cas yeah you you're never gonna see me in Titanic too you know the crazy thing is him being in his head in that box wasn't even the worst thing to happened to him in that movie we I know but but he was a good I mean he tried everything he did everything he was good that's awesome I love Peter stom were you ever contacted for Saul 3D you know they had in that movie they had like survivors of jigsaw games doing the uh like the meetings together did you ever get contacted about I'm just curious I I no I didn't and I was bummed because I was one of the few survivors so I was I was kind of bummed that I wasn't but I think maybe they thought they um emotionally damaged me so much but cuz I think I I think the guy you were in the final game with was in that like the meeting assemble I think he was there yeah yeah and I worked with um I worked with one of The Producers on another movie um so I thought for sure like but they never asked me to come back so they probably thought you were too traumatized like we don't want you to put her through this again it was it was a really traumatizing experience I had a my my dog bamboo who has since passed away but he was a puppy then and they would put him in the traps and take pictures of him to make me laugh and like he would like you know the blood from the when the girls got her head chopped off that that's like just like corn syrup or whatever with food coloring and so like little bamboo was like they took pictures of him like looking at the head and like to try to make me laugh and but yeah it was definitely a traumatic experience but I loved it I mean listen it's a it's an amazing franchise just because it terrifies me does not negate what it just that's how good it is like that's how good it is it's and and it's the longest running most successful horror franchise I think in history am I correct I believe it it's one of them for sure yeah off top of my head probably um so it's absolutely incredible it's just little me is a little scared cat and and this is the last question I want ass and I'm we'll get off of it I don't want you to be too traumatized but you know like I mentioned earlier I did me and Brian we met you at Spooky Empire in October and I remember talking to you a little bit about Billy the Puppet then I showed you my phone and you were still scared have you been able to overcome that yet it doesn't sound like it but does that doll still haunt you that doll haunts me and that doll shows up sometimes at conventions and people love to bring it by me because I immediately like I've got one but I no I don't I don't please don't no there's something so creepy about that P I mean listen uh so the director of sawu five was David Hackle and I think he was the set designer for all the previous saws I mean they I mean just such an incredible talent and team like they really sorry my dog's coming up here um they really know how to they know what they're doing like they are experts at like giving you nightmares yeah it's a traumatizing franchise for sure so sticking in horror and movies that we would review on our show one that I plan on picking is a horror comedy shriek if you know what I did last Friday the 13th that's such a wildly absurd movie that always makes me laugh how in the world did that role come about how does that movie make you laugh I feel like I need to give you your money back I know I think it's funny too I used to rent it I I I okay I'll give you $6 each so I mean I auditioned for it and um it was that was done at the same time what's the other horror comedy scary movie that did much yeah that was done at the same time as that so um they were literally shot at the same time in Los Angeles oh wow um so I I feel like I got into the wrong one but whatever we'll make the best of it it was a fun cast um Danny Strong was in it who is now a big prolific writer but Danny would come to my trailer every day and we'd drink like one of those emergency powder things and we would just be like what the [ __ ] is this doing because because the director so the director came from Mad TV and so he was used to shooting sketches he I swear to God he couldn't think more than three lines at a time and it's really hard to do comedy when you're just shooting like three lines at a time like it's hard to get a flow so Danny and I were just like what what are we doing here um and we tried to make the best of it I think my favorite moment on set was when Tom Arnold was like we were all waiting on set for Tom Arnold to get out of his trailer and Tiffany beon was there and she was like [ __ ] this [ __ ] she walked and you could hear her go Tom get your ass out of the trailer we're all waiting for you on nice I was like you go girl and then I think my other favorite part I mean I did get to do a Mentos commercial which was kind of fun um and the kabasa queen crown wearing the crown of sausages was was a lot of fun but um but it was I think we realized while we were filming it that there were there's a lot of problems with that movie but we had a lot of fun there is I mean it came out when I was in seventh or eighth grade so it was like that God that perfect humor for a teenage boy you know so that that's why it does me too so two more projects that I want to ask you about they're both from 1996 because both of these are near and dear to my heart you're in an episode of one of my favorite childhood shows Boy Meets World and you had an uncredited role in a Chris Farley movie classic movie Black Sheep any fun stories you can tell us about either of those so with black sheep I shot actually a week and a half on the movie I played I was I was supposed to be playing um um oh God what's his name the David space I was supposed to be playing David Spade's love interest oh and he also turned out to be Gary Buy's daughter in the movie and so I worked for like a week and a half on that film and um was devastated to find out when they put the edit together that they cut me out of it but penel SPS was nice enough to edit the scenes together and send them to me because I needed them for my real and you know I remember David even called me to explain it had nothing to do with my performance or anything but everything to do with the way they were telling the story and um I do remember I never met Gary Bucy even though I did scenes with him because he just didn't show up to work that day so I I worked with a double um yeah um that's mag movie Magic making um so so yeah and then um but I had a great time working I mean David was really lovely to me and very kind and so was Chris and they were just really nice people and they were a lot of fun to work with but you know the sad thing was I got edit it out um and then Boy Meets World um now that was I mean it's really hard to remember those years because I'm really old now I just remember having fun on the show and I remember I wore like a green did I wear like a green sweater I think and my hair was kind of I I but I don't remember what I did something it was the popular girl at school or something I don't know CU it runs I also did step by step and I yeah like they all kind of ran run together for me those years because I just was you know I was literally bouncing from guest star to guest star to guest star and um working on so many different shows at that time that I I it just all runs together but everybody really nice is what I remember so awesome well given what we know now about Gary Bucy that kind of doesn't surprise me like course not no and those were and I think that was like those were that was in like you know yeah the hey day yeah absolutely yeah okay so shifting gears a little bit we saw you have a upcoming project called the Midway Point uh where you play the lead Miss D if that's correct can you tell us about that so it's a sweet little film is written by a young it's written by written and directed by I mean I think he's like he was 19 or 20 19 or 20 years old he a kid who um uh he's on the Spectrum and he's uh he wrote this little script about the first time he fell in love um and uh and he he somehow got it produced it's a tiny tiny little small bud film but very sweet film and um I play his guidance counselor who I try to help him navigate his emotions and feelings and so and Thor bur is in it as well so shout out to Hocus Pocus yeah one of my favorites I love that movie I was so I got to I met her on I was so I didn't have any scenes with well I did have I did have I had two scenes with her and when I met her on set I was just like this is such a big fan it's so great to meet you I love that Miss Julie we really appreciate your time we're getting ready to wrap up I gotta ask you one question that we always ask our guest we started when we had Lisa Wilcox on another Spooky Empire attendee who I got to meet I see like you know I follow you on Instagram I see you do a lot of conventions you're all over the country it seems like what are some of your favorite convention moments you've ever had and another thing I want to ask is what city do you think has the best food that you've been to like convention wise oh wow um my favorite moments at conventions because I've you know I've been a part of The Buffy Angel world for a long time um I have had the opportunity to meet to meet fans that have met other attendees fallen in love gotten married and have kids and meet their kids and like you know what I mean and then uh recently I was at the Niagara Falls Comic Con and um this woman and her grown daughter came up to me and the woman showed me a picture of me holding the daughter when she was a baby at a convention and now she was you know she's like 17 and so I just think that's really kind of cool but I think the coolest part about when you're when you're in when you're on a show like a buffy Angel like a Dexter and there's a big Global community that surrounds it where people are just as passionate about the show as we were making it um you know it's it's just the coolest thing in the world and it it's just really um I don't know it's just a a really cool thing to be a part of and and a lot also at conventions what you guys don't what you know attendees don't realize is like I just came back from Orlando from Fanboy XEL and we did a buffy Angel reunion and you know after after our hours on the floor you know we all go to dinner and catch up and hang out and it's a reunion for us too as cast members so um and especially with Buffy and Angel because we were all like I mean we were in our 20s some of us even younger when we shot that that show and now you know I'm in my 50s um it's it's you just feel like you can be so authentic with these people and really be yourself because they knew you when you were young and you know and it's just a great just a great part you know it's a great to be a part of and like you know Clare Kramer and Charisma Carpenter were still really good friends I was just on the phone with Charisma actually before hopping on this podcast I was just FaceTiming with her um and Emma Coffield and like Amy AER it's just like you know and yes we all live in well most of us live in LA it's sometimes it's hard because they all have kids and we all have busy lives and it's hard to get together so conventions is an opportunity for us to get together and hang out and spend some quality time with each other as well so it's a twofer we get a twofer at conventions so we get to meet great fans and have these great fan experiences and and and then you know see these babies grow up into full humans and then we o get to um catch up with each other and spend some quality time with each other that's awesome so I gotta ask you said you were at Fanboy in Orlando you weren't at Fanboy Knoxville were you no but they want us to go to Knoxville so that's that's where I'm at so I was gonna be mad if I miss you so I'll have to I'll have to swing by if you make it there's there's talk about F about them doing the same Reunion Show at Fanboy Expo so in in Knoxville so I hope so and what food convention what what City Convention has the best food no just like what city do you think has the best food since you travel so much um you know I'm gonna say la I'm sorry Los Angeles where I live there you go it really does I mean we have everything here aside from it's still hard to find good Chinese food here like that that is something that we like really good Chinese food I think lacks or I haven't found it yet um um but we have access to all different you know the food here is so good and the restaurants will accommodate like every every allergy every you know whereas like you know I was filming in New Orleans once and um I remember ordering room service and I was like can I just get some steamed vegetables and they're like steamed what's that one of Ste no butter she's like no butter what do you mean no butter you can't have vegetables without without butter I was like yeah you can we put butter on everything down here yeah the woman on the phone was like you're crazy what do you mean you don't want butter I don't butter then I had to say I was I told her I was like listen I'm allergic to butter I'm not she's like allergic to butter I was like yeah it makes me fat and like it clogs my arteries it makes me fat she was like never heard of that I was like well I'm severely allergic to butter so please don't put butter on any of my food thank you that's awesome she was just shocked I've never had anybody order vegetables with no butter yeah that's sacrilege in the South no butter I know before we let you go is there anything else you have in the work that you like to plug you want to shout out social media anything like that oh you know um I'm very active on on Instagram um I used to be active on Tik Tok until I forgot my password and then gave it up but I got gained a lot of hours in my life for forgetting my password because Tik Tok is a yeah it's a yeah um so on Instagram I'm Julie Ben mft which stands for my favorite things not marriage family therapist however if you would not ask me relationship advice feel free awesome but uh yeah checked me out on Instagram and yeah that's it all right well we thank you again for joining us um