Summary
- Julie Benz discusses contractual issues that led to Darla's demise in Angel.
- Benz's scheduling conflicts with Angel overlapped with filming commitments for another show.
- 9/11 affected Benz's availability for Angel, helping lead to Darla's death in the series.
spinoff Angel. A key recurring presence, Darla was ultimately killed off in the spinoff's third season. But that wasn't necessarily the plan either.
In an interview on the Slayerfest98 podcast, Benz went into detail about why Darla was killed off in Angel. The actor explained that she had contractual issues on the spinoff because she was only a recurring actor but that limited her ability to pursue other TV pilots where she might be cast in a lead role. These scheduling conflicts resurfaced again around Angel season 3. Coupled with how Benz had been booked on a miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg, and a desire from the writers to remove Darla, a decision was made to move ahead with killing the character. Benz's comments are below:
I was signed on to do a mini-series that Steven Spielberg was producing, called Taken, and I had signed on to do that, and a week before they started filming for Angel, we got the call saying, “well, we want her to come back now.” And, you know, we need her, we want to shoot. I was not available because I signed on to do another show. And they were like, “what do you mean? she’s not available? But I wasn’t under contract, right?
[Angel] season three got really complicated because it was also during 9/11 and I was filming in Vancouver for Taken and the idea, the original idea was–I’d fly up to Vancouver on Sundays, film Monday, Tuesdays, and if they needed me, Wednesday mornings, and fly down here to LA and then shoot Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, have Saturday off, and then go back there, right? That was so they could keep their schedule. But then 9/11 happened. There were no flights across the border, and so, basically, Vancouver was in first position. So they had to keep me there. Wow, really kind of f–ked over, sorry, really kind of f–ked over Angel. I think at that point they were like, well, we got to kill her off. Like, which was fine.
Darla Stands Out As An Example Of What Angel Did Differently Than Buffy
The Spinoff Sat With Its Complexities
Angel is a relatively rare spinoff that quickly managed to stand out. While the first season was connected to Buffy with frequent Angel crossovers, subsequent installments quickly carved out a space for Angel to stand on its own. One of the ways that Angel distinguished itself was that it was deeply interested in examining the nature of evil and the demonic creatures that were so often disposable in Buffy.
While the main series occasionally included the idea that not all demons are purely evil, Angel took it as something of a core focus in its first few seasons. It brought back Benz, also known for playing Rita on Dexter. Up to that point, Benz had only played Darla for a brief spell in season 1 and in flashbacks. Angel revealed more about the character's life and personality to the point where her turn from helpless human to a vicious vamp and then, finally, moving between the two, proves deeply effective.
All 13 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Characters Who Appeared In Angel (& When)
Across their runs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel featured some of the best characters on TV, and more than a few of them appeared in both shows.
It would have been interesting to see whether different scheduling and career circumstances might have meant that Darla would have been around for longer. In turn, that could have meant different storylines for everyone on Angel from Connor to Cordelia. But for how they were able to use her, Darla's arc underlines how much the spinoff enjoyed exploring villainous characters.
Source: Slayerfest98
A spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel is a drama series with supernatural elements that stars David Boreanaz, reprising his role as the titular vampire. An immortal cursed with his human soul returning to his body, which makes him susceptible to human emotions such as remorse. Angel lives in Los Angeles as a private detective, seeking redemption for his murderous past as a vicious warlord. Angel will face threats such as humans and demons that rival his own cruel potential as he ventures to help those in need.
- Directors
- Joss Whedon
- Writers
- Joss Whedon
- Seasons
- 5
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu, Dis
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