Hi Julie! How does it feel that fans are still so passionate about certain roles that you played 20 plus years ago?

I mean, it’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. And also it doesn’t feel like 20 plus years ago, but it is. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of quite a few projects that have turned into these legacy projects where they are still talked about and recognized and admired. And for me, I just feel very blessed that I’ve been a part of Buffy, Angel, Dexter and Jawbreaker, all those projects that people keep wanting to talk about.

Shirt and trouser Edeline Lee / Corset Nadine Marabi / Shoes Florentina Leitner / Rings Maya Brenner / Bracelet Maison Lumiere

I think we’re approaching the 30 year anniversary of Buffy first airing, which is crazy. So we just have to delve into Darla. She’s the first person we ever see on screen. What was it like as an actor to see the role become so popular with the crew and the fans alike?

She was supposed to be a small passing character at first, she was originally called vampire girl number one. 30 years ago, we didn’t really have social media. And when I shot the first couple of episodes of Buffy, the show wasn’t even on the air yet. And so then when the show aired, Josh told me that they realized that they had killed Darla too soon. They killed Darla too soon because they didn’t realize how well the fans were going to react to her. And so then they were able to figure out a way to bring me back on Angel, which was great, and to bring me back for flashbacks, but also bring me back to life. It was such a great experience for me. I always say that working on Buffy and Angel was like going to the best graduate school for acting. I was challenged in so many different ways on so many different levels. I was buried alive. I had to ride a horse through fire. I had to sing. There were all these challenges every episode that I was faced with and not knowing if I could do them. And it was really an amazing learning experience for me as well.

I always wonder how they do the effects of, for example, you riding a horse through a fire. What is that actually like when you’re filming the scene? Because obviously on TV it looks crazy. But is it super underwhelming when you film the scene itself?

You do get a little scared. I’ve ridden horses. I wouldn’t say I was a horseback rider per se, but I was familiar with horses and riding. So they just kind of put fire retardant gel all over you and then you ride through. It’s a controlled fire. They enhance it in post so it looks bigger, but it’s still like there’s adrenaline. I think they did have a stunt double there for me if I didn’t want to do it, but I was like, no, let’s try it, this sounds like fun.

Dress Hector Maclean / Bracelet and earrings Maison Lumiere

Do you still get approached by fans of the shows that call you your character’s name?

All the time, all the time. I’ve learned to answer to Darla and Rita and everything. It’s always everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.

I’m always surprised especially when people recognize me from Buffy, I mean, that was 30 years ago. I was 24 when we shot the pilot. I’m 54 now and I have aged so I feel like I don’t have that baby face that I had. I look like a woman. So it always shocks me that people recognize me. But I think my voice gives me away a lot when I talk. As far as Rita on Dexter, I get Rita a lot. I get people just shocked that I’m even alive.

As an actress, I suppose you get quite used to when people just don’t call you your actual name but just shout Rita, for example, haha.

You know what? I look at it as like a badge of honor. That I created these characters that resonate with people and that linger and stay with them and that they love and admire and all of that. It’s really a badge of honor, so I don’t mind.

Blazer Nadine Merabi / Lace bustier Astha Garg / Skirt E&W Couture / Earrings Maison Lumiere

Let’s say if Darla had to come back in a Buffy reboot, what do you think she’d be like now, so many years on? What would your approach be playing her now?

Wow, I would love to revisit her at some point again, now that I am older. I think she would still be gunning for Angel, you know? I think she would still be trying to get him to turn back into the man that she loved, bringing back Angelus and I don’t think she’s just gonna drop that.

Are you someone who watches your own projects or are there certain things that you haven’t seen from your own work? I know a lot of actors refuse to watch their projects. What is your take on that?

It’s twofold. I like to watch just because I like to see the choices that are made in the editing room as far as storytelling, especially when you’re on a TV show. You can really start to understand the point of view of the show and how the show is being created and really what shots they’re going to choose and I like seeing that. I like filmmaking in general so I’m interested in watching that and also I’m always interested in watching my fellow actors and their work. It is tough watching yourself just because it’s yourself and so I’ll watch in the beginning just to get a better understanding of the storytelling and the point of view of the show and all of that, but I don’t go back and rewatch. I have no desire to go back and rewatch anything I’ve ever done.

Shirt dress Ray Chu / Sculptural corset A-Jane / Shoes Florentina Leitner 

Jack, our chief editor and photographer, told me that you’ve never seen Saw 5, which you were the lead in.

Never. I watched the very first Saw movie when I was hired for Saw 5. Listen, I think it’s one of the greatest horror franchises ever created. But it’s not like Jason or Freddie chasing you – it operates on a very, very deep psychological level. That was way too intense for me and it was a challenge for me. One of the reasons why I said yes to doing the movie was because I was hoping it would ruin the magic for me so then I could watch all the movies, but I wanted to see if I could be in something that terrified me. That puppet terrifies me.

I’ve never seen a single Saw film because of that exact reason, it terrifies me. I do love a supernatural series like Conjuring, because I don’t believe that stuff like that will never happen to me anyway. I don’t believe in haunted houses, but Saw is just so different. It gets into your psyche and your brain.

While filming the movie, I was there for two weeks filming and my character Brit was in the traps. And spoiler alert, people, I was there, I was having nightmares every night when I would go back to my hotel room, and the crew would laugh because they were like, ‘that happened to all of us in the beginning.’ You get used to it. They do such a great job. The traps feel so real. And in my very first scene on my very first day, we were filming in the trap where we had these dog collars around our neck, on the pulleys, and then we’re trying to get to a key in a box. And I remember saying to the director, like, I started getting panicky right before we rolled. And I was like, “Wait, wait, wait. I have a question.” He’s like, “What?” And I was like, “What happens if I don’t get there first?” Because I had to get there first to get the key.

And he’s like, “We’ll cut.” He’s like, “And we’ll do another take.” He’s like, “It’s, you know, this is not real.” And I was like, “Oh my God,” because it felt so real.

I was lucky. I had my little dog Bamboo with me. He has since passed on. But he was just a puppy at the time. The crew would put him in the traps and take fun pictures of him to make me laugh. And he was really like my therapy dog because I would wake up from a nightmare and he’d be licking my nose, as if he was being like, “It’s okay.”

Top A-Jane / Necklace and rings Lag World / Earrings Maison Lumiere

Wow! Was that the toughest project for you, would you say? 

Yeah, it definitely was. It was emotionally tough, very intense. I threw up during rehearsal for the last scene because it just grossed me out sticking my hand into the saw and having it sliced all the way up the elbow. And again, it’s because it looked so real. It was the most scared I’ve ever been.

I don’t blame you! I’d like to chat more about Dexter because many Dexter fans feel like Rita was a great influence on Dexter. And what was it like finding out about that particular bathtub scene?

I always say nobody was more shocked than me. You know, I love playing Rita, I loved being on the show. They only told me a couple days before [about the death scene], and it was devastating. For the first time, I felt like I was faced with not only leaving this amazing family that I loved working with and this job that I loved, but I also had to mourn Rita and I felt like maybe I had done her a disservice because maybe I should have fought harder and tried to inspire the writers to write more for her and to dig deep and really come up with something extraordinary. I just felt like maybe I didn’t advocate enough for her. It was a true loss. I had to go back to therapy for it. It’s really sad to lose a character. Rita felt like a person to me. I had her memories. I created her in many ways. I was a part of her creation. And when you play a character for a long period of time, have her memories, have her thoughts, you have her, you know, and so it was like all of a sudden that was, you know, she died, like she was gone.

It was just, it was very heartbreaking for me. And there is a difference between Rita and Darla, because Darla did die, but Darla died like 17 times. It was a supernatural show. Darla would die. It was sad and then I’d be back the following week. With Rita, because the show is set in reality, I knew it was final and it was traumatic for me. It was very difficult for me.

Dress Hector Maclean / Bracelet and earrings Maison Lumiere

I can imagine, those characters teach you so much about yourself too when you play them for so long. 

Yeah, they become part of you. And I also had a fear that nobody would care. I had this fear that it would just be like this flip of a moment. You know, nobody would really have much of a reaction to it.

And I was very surprised, and I’m still surprised to this day, when people come up and tell me what it meant for them. They love to tell me who they were watching it with, how they were screaming at the TV, and how they couldn’t watch the show for a long time. How it really deeply affected them. I was hoping that would be the response, but I also didn’t know if that would be the response. And so it’s nice to know that Rita really had an effect on people.

Did you watch any of the newer Dexter series, post Rita?

Oh no. After being on a show, it’s really hard to go on the journey afterwards because I’ve looked behind the door. I’ve seen the wizard. And an example I’ll give is I was the biggest Desperate Housewives fan in the entire world. I watched that show religiously. I saw every single episode and then I was on the show and I had such a great time on the show. It was so amazing for me to work with these women. I admired them, it was just amazing to share screen time with every single one of those women. And then after I was off the show, I couldn’t watch it anymore. Because I knew when you walked into Bree’s house, crash service [the on-set crew catering] was actually there. And all of a sudden the mystery was gone for me. I think a lot of actors are like that. It’s hard for us to continue watching something after we’re no longer on it because we know we’ve peeked behind the curtain. We know how it goes, we know how it’s run, we know the puppet strings and stuff. When I sit down to watch TV, I want to escape. I want escapism. So that’s why it’s hard to watch a show that you’ve already been on.

Blazer A-Jane / Gloves Anciela / Earrings Maison Lumiere

Are there any series that you haven’t been in that you now watch religiously? Like, have you found a new Desperate Housewives for you?

I love the show Rivals that’s on Disney/Hulu. I think it’s a fantastic show. It’s so great. David Tennant is incredible. What else do I watch? The Diplomat, I’m obsessed with. I love watching television. I love the Landman. There’s so much. There’s so much. It’s how I unwind at the end of a long day. I like to check in on my favourite characters, see what they’re doing.

I need to watch all of those shows! Does having such significant roles in such iconic series change your perspective as an actor and shape the kind of projects you want to take on?

I just really try to take on roles that deeply resonate with me and that I feel I can elevate and that there’s good people involved in the project as well. I think that’s why I’ve gotten the parts that I have gotten – because when it’s right, it’s just so right. And you know it’s right. And you know I can play this part even on my worst day as an actor. And I can still elevate the character and elevate the material. I used to think that I could do that with every audition that came through. And it’s the older I get, the more I realise I might have just had a big ego.

Is there anything you’re working on at the moment that you can share?

I did an indie film last year called Horrified with Ron Perlman and Busy Phillips. And it’s a horror comedy. It’s so fun. I play an aging actress who attends a horror convention and ends up being stalked by the character in her film, from the film franchise. And for me, I think a lot of my fans will love it just because it takes from the convention world and all of that.

And Mike Zara directed and produced it, and he’s incredible, and I can’t wait to see the final project. I’ve seen clips, bits and pieces and it looks so good and it’s so fun.

Blazer Nadine Merabi / Lace bustier Astha Garg / Skirt E&W Couture / Earrings Maison Lumiere

Speaking of conventions, you’re no stranger to the Comic Con circuit, which has grown massively in the UK in particular. What do you enjoy most about attending? It always looks incredible.

There’s many different reasons why I love attending. One is I get to have many reunions with my friends that I have grown up with. We’re spread out all over the country and we get to go to a convention and go out to dinner and hang out and go on a walking tour of Belfast. We get to do these fun, fun experiences and then go back to our lives and then to another convention. Especially the Buffy and Angel cast, we all truly love each other and we all love spending time together. For us, it’s just a great reunion. But on the flip side, the fan interactions, meeting fans, hearing stories about what the show meant to them, and also seeing the newer generations discovering the shows.

For me, that’s just, when we act on a set, we’re kind of in a bubble. There’s just us, the actors, the writers, directors, producers and the crew. And everybody’s saying, “Oh, that was great. That was great. That was great.” But then when you actually meet fans and they speak their truth about the experience that they had, it’s incredible. It’s just really incredible. And so many of my shows have meant so much to so many people. You know, it’s gotten them through cancer treatment. It’s gotten them through a rough high school life. It inspired them to come out. There’s just so many different experiences that the fans have. And it’s just incredible. I never thought that people would still be talking about Buffy and Angel and still be as into it as they are. And then with Dexter, this whole younger generation discovering it. I mean, we have the 20th anniversary of Dexter this October. That’s crazy. To think that that was 20 years ago. And now 15, 16, 17 year olds are discovering it today and are obsessed with it and loving it. I get asked to prom all the time on Instagram, but I laugh because I’m like, “Oh, they’re in love with 30 year old Rita.” I’m in my 50s now, so it’d be a little odd. It is still odd at 30 to go too, don’t get me wrong.

They literally just DM you, “Hey, do you want to go to prom with me?”

Yeah, they’re like, “I’m so in love with Rita and I need a prom date. Would you like to go to prom?”

Shirt and trouser Edeline Lee / Corset Nadine Marabi / Shoes Florentina Leitner / Rings Maya Brenner / Bracelet Maison Lumiere

Haha, I love that. I also think it means a lot to fans that the cast is still so close.

Clare Kramer and Charisma Carpenter were one of my bridesmaids. I see Amy Acker all the time in LA. We work out together. I think especially for that show, everyone was young, we all kind of grew up together. And now we’re on the other side of Hollywood. We love and support each other. We cheer on each other’s successes. You know, we’re there for each other when maybe things aren’t going as well.

And it’s great to have that tribe, have that village, especially of women that are in the same profession, that understand the ups and downs of it and the ins and outs of it. And to have that support is just beautiful. And I feel so lucky.

That is amazing. Speaking of working out, health and fitness is very important to you. How do you like to stay fit?

I’m very big into lifting heavy weights right now, especially as a 54 year old woman. I think it’s so important because the work you do now helps you. I always focus on remembering that everything I’m doing now is going to help me when I’m in my eighties. Cause when I’m in my eighties, I still want to be running around, working, all of that. So I love heavy, heavy weights. I also do this heated workout class in LA called Burn. It’s under red light therapy lights. And I feel like I’m killing two birds with one stone when I go because I’m getting the red light therapy and then I’m getting the heat. And that’s all really good for your hormonal health and your health in general. And then I’m getting a workout at the same time. And then I also do fight training, which is just for fun, like a stress reliever. I grew up as an athlete. And so I have to start my day with physical exercise.

Dress Hector Maclean / Bracelet and earrings Maison Lumiere

I did an red light sculpt class the other week and oh my god, I was struggling so much. 

It is challenging. I don’t recommend doing it every day. Like I only do it twice a week, sometimes three times a week if I’m training for something specific, but I try to keep it at twice a week because it’s important to cross train to keep your body reacting and not getting used to something. And then I also think for your mental state, it’s good to try new things and keep your workouts varied so you’re not getting bored. But it’s so good for you.

I will give infrared sculpt another go! Thank you so much for your time!

Follow Julie