has anyone seen this article yet? if yes, sorry for taking too much space... if no, cool! pax
quote:AMBER BENSON ON VAMPIRES AND "BUFFY"
Amber Benson is the 24-year-old actress who plays Willow's girlfriend Tara on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". Amber was nice enough to chat with AllPop about Tara, Willow and the future of "Buffy".
AllPop: What episode are you shooting?
Amber: We're really on 17 but we're shooting 18 before 17 'cause Sarah's (Michelle Gellar) going away to shoot the "Scooby Doo" movie so our schedule is kind of funny.
AllPop: Where do you film?
Amber: We shoot on three sound stages in Santa Monica, we have the run of the place.
Amber Benson
Photo: TM & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
AllPop: Did you Watch "Buffy" before you got the part?Amber: I was friends with Alyson Hannigan (Willow) before she got the show. So, of course, when she got it you want to support your friends so I started watching it. But I thought it was a really well done, very well written, very well put together show.
AllPop: How did you get the part, did you audition for Joss?
Amber: I read for Tara and I met with Joss and the casting director and I ended up coming back again and I found out that day that I'd actually gotten the part. I got a call from Alyson. I hadn't told her that I was auditioning for it and I ran into her on my way out after the second audition and she's like 'I'm gonna go tell Joss to hire you'. She went upstairs to tell him and he's like 'I already did'. So she called me and my agent called me at the same time.
AllPop: Were you nervous?
Amber: I get nervous for any audition but it was nerve wracking. It makes me sweat, I'm the sweat queen.
AllPop: When you got the part of Tara, did you have a basic idea of where the character was going?
Amber: You know, I had no clue. We kind of started out as her being Willow's friend and it kind of became a little bit more than that as the episodes progressed.
AllPop: What would you like to see happen to Tara?
Amber: I would just want to take a vampire out. I just want to kill something.
AllPop: Were you comfortable with the direction Tara went in?
Amber: I don't have a problem with it. I think that Alyson and I are really lucky that we're able to portray this relationship. It's really the first long term lesbian relationship on network television. I've always been very pleased that I was given the opportunity to do it.
AllPop: What was the reaction from the show's fans?
Amber: It's funny, I haven't really gotten a lot of negative stuff on the lesbian front. Definitely there are people out there that are offended morally because their religious dogma is such that they don't believe that homosexuality is valid. It hasn't been too bad. I've gotten wonderful, supportive letters from the fans.
AllPop: The rest of the cast has been together for so long. Was it hard for your character to mesh with the rest of the characters and for you with the cast?
Amber: 'Cause I knew Alyson she made it really easy for me. She told everybody that they had to be nice to me or she'd get them. So I kind of walked into a really cushy situation. It's a great crew and great cast and they were totally open and sweet and willing to accept me from the very beginning.
AllPop: Do you hang out outside of work?
Amber: Definitely. Joss Whedon has started this whole Shakespeare thing where he has a lot of the cast and writers, producers and crew and people come by and we read Shakespeare on the weekends. So it's been really fun.
Amber with the rest of the 'Buffy' cast.
Photo: TM & Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
AllPop: What's your favourite been so far?Amber: We did "Othello" and that was really cool. Actually, "MacBeth" was probably my favourite cause I got to play Lady MacBeth.
AllPop: What's next for your character? Can you give away any secrets?
Amber: Because they're so tight-lipped they don't really tell us what's going to happen. I'm always as shocked as anybody else when I get the script going 'oh my gosh! this is what's happening?' So far, what's going on with Willow and Tara is that we're carrying on our relationship in a way that is caring and compassionate. You know, we're in a good relationship and hopefully it will just continue to get better.
AllPop: Do you know if you'll be a permanent member of the cast?
Amber: I hope to come back next season but you know, we'll see what happens. Like I said, they don't tell us anything!
AllPop: Does your family watch the show?
Amber: Definitely, they watch it more than me. I can't watch myself. I watch everybody else's stuff and I have to cover my face whenever I come on screen. I get embarrassed.
AllPop: Have you heard anything from Joss about the possibility of another "Buffy" movie with the cast from the TV show?
Amber: Well he actually approached me about being Xander for the movie, no just kidding. No I haven't heard anything about that actually. That would be really fun though. I would totally be down for that.
AllPop: What's your relationship with Joss? Is he intimidating?
Amber: Oh my gosh, he's the nicest guy. He is like the god of Buffy land. He's really such a super human being. He and his wife...they've included me so much in their lives. It's been such a wonderful experience all the way around.
AllPop: Have you heard any more news about Buffy moving from the WB to Fox?
Amber: I've heard mixed, I've heard 'Oh we're leaving, oh we're staying', and it's all been in the media so I don't know. They don't talk to me about it I guess I'll just get to go wherever they go.
AllPop: Do you have an opinion about whether you should stay or go?
Amber: I think that the WB has been really good about pushing our show and I think that whatever happens, the producers will make the right decision for the show.
AllPop
ow long do you think the show can go on?
Amber: We have such a talented writing and production department that I think they could go on for years. they're so imaginative and Joss is such an amazing writer himself, and creator, that I think they could go on for a long time after Tara bites the bullet. But I think that sometimes people get burnt out and I think that would be more of a factor. I think, you know, people want to have lives outside of "Buffy", cause we work 20-hour days sometimes.
AllPop: Do you ever long for shorter work hours?
Amber: Luckily I love what I do. Sometimes it's hard cause you want to go out and see a show or something and you can't cause you have to work.
AllPop: Do you consider "Buffy" to be your acting break-through or was there a role before it?
Amber: I think "Buffy" definitely pushed me into the mainstream where people not in the industry are aware of my presence now so definitely "Buffy" has a lot to do with people recognising me and stuff. I've been doing this for 10 years. But really "Buffy" is really the big spring board to having a career that is outside of just the industry.
AllPop: How did you get started in the business?
Amber: I'm from Alabama and I started out doing theatre. For kids out there who really want to do this, get into community theatre. See if this is something you really want to do. If this is your passion that's one thing but if you're in it for the fame and the fortune let me tell you it's a horrible, awful business sometimes cause it's all rejection. It has nothing to do with you personally it's just you don't have the right look or you're not the right age.
My advice is to get into theatre, see if it's something you really want to do. If it is, then you've got to go to New York or L.A.. Those are the only two places where it'll happen.
By STEPANIE McGRATH--AllPop
got it from AngelRachel who got it from allpop.com! thanks AR for the link! yay Amberholics! 
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"We have to face it, you can't handle Tara being my girlfriend..."
"I was trying to hide. I didn't want you to see...what I am."
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