Amber Benson

Amber Benson
Amber Benson at the Buffy "wrap party" in 2003
Born	Amber Nicole Benson (1977-01-08) January 8, 1977 (age 47) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Known for	Playing "Tara Maclay" in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Amber Nicole Benson(born January 8, 1977) is an American actress, writer, movie director, and movie producer. She is best known for her role as "Tara Maclay", on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Early life

Benson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She had a mixed Christian and Jewish upbringing.^[1][2]

Career

Feature and animation movies

While still working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Benson wrote, directed, produced, edited, and acted in a movie called Chance (2002). The movie also featured her Buffy co-star James Marsters. After her time on Buffy, Benson began working on a series of animated movies for the BBC with co-creator Christopher Golden and animation company Cosgrove Hall. Ghosts of Albion: Legacy (2003) and its sequels are available on the BBC Cult website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ghosts/legacy/). In 2006, Benson released her second movie Lovers, Liars and Lunatics through her own production company, Benson Entertainment. The movie was partly paid for by the sale of special action figures of her character Tara from the Buffy episode Triangle.

Writing career: novels and comics

Benson also writes novels and comic books. She usually writes these with Christopher Golden. In 2003, Benson worked with Golden, Terry Moore, and Eric Powell of Dark Horse Comics to create the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow and Tara comic book titled WannaBlessedBe. During the same year, she worked with Christopher Golden and AJ (Ajit Jothikaumar) of Dark Horse Comics to create the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow and Tara comic books titled Wilderness #1 and Wilderness #2. In 2005, Benson worked with artist Jamie McKelvie on a short story for the Image Comics collection Four Letter Worlds. In 2006, Benson worked with artist Ben Templesmith on Demon Father John’s Pinwheel Blues published by IDW. Benson and Golden have also worked together on two supernatural thrillers: Ghosts of Albion: Accursed and Ghosts of Albion: Witchery. These books follow the stories of Tamara and William Swift, characters from the BBC computer animated web movie Ghosts of Albion: Legacy. In September 2007, Benson signed a three-book deal with Penguin Books. The first book is believed to be titled Death's Daughter.

Career: miscellaneous

In 2003, she worked with director James Kerwin to produce her play, Albert Hall, in Hollywood.

Benson sang in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, With Feeling". She sang on the songs "I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together", "Under Your Spell" (her solo), "Walk Through the Fire", "Standing/Under Your Spell (Reprise)" and "Where Do We Go From Here?" She also sang "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" (aka "Creature of the Night") at VH-1's celebrity karaoke tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Personal life

On the November 11, 2000 episode of the radio show Loveline, Amber (at age 23) said that she did not have a driver's license, that her mother drove her to the studio. As of 2007, Benson resides in Los Angeles, California. She is a vegetarian.^[3]

Filmography

• King of the Hill (1993 movie; not the TV series) - as Ella McShane
• The Crush (1993) - as Cheyenne
• S.F.W. (1994) - as Barbara 'Babs' Wyler
• Imaginary Crimes (1994) - as Margaret
• Bye Bye Love (1995) - as Meg Damico
• Can't Hardly Wait (1998) - as Stephanie, the Stoned Banana-holding Girl (scenes deleted from the final cut)
• Take It Easy (1999) - as Justy
• Deadtime (1999) - as Patty
• The Prime Gig (2000) - as Batgirl
• Hollywood, Pennsylvania (2001) - as Mandy Calhoun
• Don's Plum (2001) - as Amy
• Taboo (2002) - as Piper
• Chance (2002) - as Chance
• Latter Days (2003) - as Traci Levine
• Intermedio (2005) - as Barbie
• Race You to the Bottom (2005) - as Maggie
• Lovers, Liars & Lunatics (2006) - as Justine
• Angst (2006) - as Julia
• Simple Things (2006) - as Sally
• Tripping Forward (2006) - as Gwen
• Strictly Sexual (2006) - as Donna
• Girltrash! (2007) - Svetlana 'Lana' Dragovich
• Kiss the Bride (2007) - as Elly
• One-Eyed Monster (2007) - as Laura
• Shifter (2008) - as Kimi

Television

(Includes made-for-TV movies and TV series)

• Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993) TV movie - Nicole Reed
• Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994) TV movie - Nicole Reed
• Jack Reed: One of Our Own (1995) TV movie - Nicole Reed
• Promised Land (1998) TV series - Amy Farnsworth (episode titled "Out of Bounds")
• Cracker (1999) TV series - Amy (episode titled "The Club")
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in 1999-2002 seasons) TV series - Tara Maclay
• The Enforcers (2001) TV miniseries - Abby
• Cold Case (2004) TV series - Julia Hoffman (episode titled "Volunteers")
• The Inside (2005) TV series - Allison Davis (episode titled "The Perfect Couple")
• Supernatural (2006) TV series - Lenore (episode titled "Bloodlust")
• Holiday Wishes (2006) TV movie - Danni Hartford
• Gryphon (2007) TV movie - Princess Amelia of Lockland

Books in print

Ghosts of Albion

• Accursed (with Christopher Golden) (Del Rey, 2005)
• Witchery (with Christopher Golden) (Del Rey, 2006)
• The Ghosts of Albion Roleplaying Game (with Timothy S. Brannan and Christopher Golden) (Eden Studios, 2007)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow & Tara (2003)

• WannaBlessedBe (with Christopher Golden)
• Wilderness, Part 1 (with Christopher Golden)
• Wilderness, Part 2 (with Christopher Golden)

Other

• Shadowplay #1-4 (with Ben Templesmith) (2006)
• The Seven Whistlers (with Christopher Golden) (2006)

Footnotes

1. "Amber chatted at Yahoo! on Thursday, March 8, 2001. Here's the transcript, provided by Coax, sans chat typos". The Essence of Amber. March 8, 2001. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
2. Bloom, Nate (June 6, 2003). "Celebrity Jews". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
3. "How to Go Vegan". features.peta.org.

Other websites

• Amber Benson on IMDb
• Amber Benson - amberbenson.net Archived October 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
• Interview at Flames Rising (October 2005)
• Interview at LesbiaNation.com Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (May 2007)
• Interview at SlayerLit Archived July 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine