Julie Marie Benz (born May 1, 1972) is an American actress best known for her roles in Dexter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel.
She played Brit Stevenson in Saw V.
Early Life[]
Julie Benz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Murrysville and graduated from Franklin Regional High School. Her mother, Joanne Marie, was a figure skater, and her father, George Benz, Jr., is a surgeon in Pittsburgh. The family settled in nearby Murrysville when Benz was two years old, and she started ice skating at the age of three. She competed in the 1988 US Championships in junior ice dancing with her skating partner David Schilling and finished in 13th place. When Benz was 14, she suffered a stress fracture in her right leg and had to take time off.
Career[]
At age 15, Benz was told by an acting coach that she would never succeed as an actress. In an interview, Benz said: "I remember the teacher telling me I should not even try acting. I still have the report card where she was like, 'You will never be an actor. Your voice is horrible.' That was the best thing that ever happened to me because I was like, 'I'll show you.'"
By 1989, Benz became involved in local theater and was cast in the play Street Law. Her first movie role was a small speaking part in the "The Black Cat" segment of the Dario Argento/George A. Romero horror movie Two Evil Eyes in 1990. A year later, she was cast in the TV show Hi Honey, I'm Home!, which was canceled after two seasons.
After finishing high school in 1990, Benz studied acting at New York University. Following her graduation in 1993, she moved to Los Angeles. Two weeks after her move, she obtained a bit part in a 1994 episode of Married... with Children, playing a girl who wanted to lose her virginity to Bud Bundy. Her subsequent roles included an unaired Aaron Spelling television pilot titled Crosstown Traffic. She starred in another unaired TV pilot called Empire in 1995.
Her other TV shows included Hang Time, High Tide, Step by Step, and Boy Meets World. She had one uncredited role in Black Sheep, and her appearance in Diagnosis: Murder as a top figure skater allowed her to demonstrate her skating talent. Later TV appearances included Sliders, The Single Guy, and Hearts Adrift.
In 1996, Benz auditioned for Buffy Summers for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer but lost the role to Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, she was offered the small role of the vampire Darla in the pilot episode. Her performance was so well-received that her part was expanded to a few more episodes. This role helped launch her career, and Benz guest-starred in more TV shows, such as Fame L.A. and The Big Easy. She reprised her role as Darla in 2000 for the Buffy spin-off series Angel, appearing in every season for at least one episode.
In 2006, Benz had a supporting role in the Swedish independent movie Kill Your Darlings, a lead role in the Lifetime movie Circle of Friends, and joined the cast of the TV show Dexter as Rita Bennett. In 2008, Benz played a lead role in the fifth entry of the Saw franchise as Brit Stevenson, a real estate developer and victim of the Jigsaw Killer. She also had a supporting role in Punisher: War Zone as Angela and co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in the fourth Rambo film.
Benz played the title role in the short film Kidnapping Caitlynn, written by her close friend Jenny Mollen. The film premiered at the Vail Film Festival in 2009 and was released online on April 6, 2009.
In early 2010, ABC announced that Benz had landed a lead role as Stephanie Powell in the network's drama pilot No Ordinary Family. Production of the series commenced the following May, and it premiered on September 28, 2010, as part of the 2010–11 season. On May 13, 2011, No Ordinary Family was canceled after one season with only 20 episodes filmed. Benz was cast in the new CBS TV show A Gifted Man the same year. Initially a co-star, she was later downgraded to a recurring role. CBS canceled the show in May 2012 after one season of 16 episodes.
In 2015, Benz landed a recurring role in the CBS series Hawaii Five-O, playing the latest team member and Chin Ho's girlfriend, Abby Dunn. She also starred in the TV movie Charming Christmas.
Personal Life[]
On May 30, 1998, Benz married actor and voice actor John Kassir but filed for divorce in December 2007. In 2011, she became engaged to Rich Orosco, a partner at the now-defunct B360 Studios, and they married on May 5, 2012.
Filmography[]
Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Due occhi diabolici | Betty |
| 1996 | Black Sheep | Dancing Blonde Woman |
| 1997 | Inventing the Abbotts | Co-ed |
| Darkdrive | Julie Falcon | |
| As Good as It Gets | Receptionist | |
| Eating Las Vegas | Sheila | |
| 1999 | Jawbreaker | Marcie |
| Dirt Merchant | Angie | |
| 2000 | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth | Barbara |
| 2001 | The Brothers | Jesse Caldwell |
| 2003 | George of the Jungle 2 | Ursula |
| The Midget Stays in the Picture | A-List Actress | |
| 2005 | Bad Girls from Valley High | Danielle |
| 8MM 2 | Lynn | |
| 2006 | Kill Your Darlings | Katherine |
| 2008 | Rambo | Sarah |
| Saw V | Brit Stevenson | |
| Punisher: War Zone | Angela | |
| 2009 | Kidnapping Caitlynn | Caitlynn |
| The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Special Agent Eunice Bloom | |
| 2010 | Bedrooms | Anna |
| 2011 | Answers to Nothing | Frankie |
| 2014 | Supremacy | Kristen |
| 2015 | Life on the Line | Carline |
| 2016 | Havenhurst | Jackie / Jamie |
| 2019 | Foster Boy | Pamela Dupree |
| 2020 | Nocturne | Cassie |
| Perfidy | Rachel |
Television Series[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | All My Children | Linda Connor |
| 1991-1992 | Hi Honey, I'm Home | Babs Nielsen |
| 1994 | Married with Children | Sascha |
| 1995 | Hang Time | Linda Cantrell |
| High Tide | Joanna Craig | |
| Step by Step | Tawny | |
| Empire | Christie Lambert | |
| 1996 | Boy Meets World | Bianca |
| Diagnosis Murder | Julie Miller | |
| Sliders | Jenny Michener | |
| The Single Guy | Cranberries Girl | |
| 1997 | The Big Easy | Roxanne |
| Fame L.A. | Vanessa | |
| 1998 | Conrad Bloom | Julie |
| Ask Harriet | Joplin Russell | |
| 1999 | The King of Queens | Julie Patterson |
| Payne | Breeze O'Rourke | |
| 1999-2000 | Roswell | Kathleen Topolsky |
| 2001 | Glory Days | Ellie Sparks |
| 1997-2002 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Darla |
| 2002 | She Spies | Elaine |
| Taken | Kate Keys | |
| 2003 | Peacemakers | Miranda Blanchard |
| Coupling | Amanda | |
| 2000-2004 | Angel | Darla |
| 2004 | NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service | Denise Johnson |
| Oliver Beene | Cigarette Girl | |
| 2006 | Supernatural | Layla Rourke |
| CSI: Miami | Hayley Gordon | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Heidi Wolff | |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Dawn Sterling |
| 2010 | Desperate Housewives | Robin Gallagher |
| 2006-2010 | Dexter | Rita Bennett / Rita Morgan |
| 2010-2011 | No Ordinary Family | Stephanie Powell |
| 2011 | Royal Pains | Elyse |
| 2011-2012 | A Gifted Man | Christina Holt |
| 2013-2015 | Defiance | Amanda Rosewater |
| 2015-2017 | Hawaii Five-0 | Inspector Abby Dunn |
| 2017 | Training Day | Holly Butler |
| 2019 | Dark/Web | I Am Rideshare |
| Light as a Feather | Skye | |
| V.C. Andrew's Heaven | Kitty | |
| On Becoming a God in Central Florida | Carole Wilkes | |
| 2021 | Love, Victor | Shelby |
| 2022 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | Sadie Becker |
Television Films[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Barefoot Executive | Sexy Woman |
| Crosstown Traffic | ||
| 1996 | Hearts Adrift | Christy |
| 1997 | A Walton Easter | Jeannie |
| Veronica's Video | Heidi | |
| 2000 | Satan's School for Girls | Alison Kingsley |
| Good Guys/Bad Guys | ||
| 2004 | The Long Shot | Annie Garrett |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Laura |
| Locusts: The 8th Plague | Vicky | |
| 2006 | Circle of Friends | Maggie |
| 2009 | Held Hostage | Michelle Estey |
| Uncorked | Johnny Prentiss | |
| 2011 | Ricochet | Elise Laird |
| 2012 | Middle Ages | |
| 2013 | Taken: The Search for Sophie Parker | Stevie Parker |
| 2014 | Sole Custody | Zoey Loson |
| 2015 | Charming Christmas | Meredith Rossman |
| 2017 | Christmas Homecoming | Amanda |
| 2021 | Gold Digger Killer | Celeste Beard |
Video Games[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Min'na no gorufu 4 | Various Voices |
| Halo 2 | Miranda Keyes | |
| 2014 | Halo 2: Anniversary | Miranda Keyes |
Gallery[]
External Links[]
Julie Benz on Wikipedia
Julie Benz at the Internet Movie Database
Julie Benz on Twitter
Julie Benz on Instagram