[IMG:L]Rambo is hardly a chick flick. With sweaty musclemen running around the jungle killing each other, it’s probably the anti-chick flick. Still, there is a juicy part for an actress. Julie Benz plays Sarah, a missionary who hires Rambo to take her team into Burma.
The glamorous actress rolls around in the dirt of the jungle as the violence escalates, but now she’s cleaned up good. Sporting dark hair instead of her natural blonde, Benz has created a whole new look from her Buffy and Dexter characters. Perhaps the action film has changed her, as she took on another one, The Punisher: War Zone in her most recent hiatus. Benz talked exclusively to Hollywood.com about dodging bullets with the boys despite being a “girly girl.”
Hollywood.com: What does it mean to a girl to be in a Rambo movie?
Julie Benz: It’s unbelievably exciting, especially to be the girl in a Rambo movie that doesn’t die. I think in Rambo II there was a girl and she got killed halfway through, poor thing. To actually star opposite Sylvester Stallone in a Rambo movie, if you’d asked me 10 years ago if I’d be here today, I’d say no way. It’s just unbelievably exciting.
Hollywood.com: Did you grow up with Rambo?
JB: Obviously, I’m a girl. I knew about the Rambo franchise. I had never really seen any of the Rambo movies. I’m a huge Rocky fan. I’ve seen every single Rocky movie at least seven, eight times. So huge Rocky fan. I have since watched the Rambo movies and I loved the first two. I think those two are really brilliant.
HW: That’s okay, even Stallone doesn’t like Rambo III! Why do you think Rambo connects with this woman, of all people?
JB: I think she’s a reminder of what he was in his past, in his youth. I think in a way it’s like a mirror being forced up into his space of the hopes, the idealism, the belief in humanity that he believed in before he went off to Vietnam and was faced with the atrocities of war and what it’s about and what kind of changed him. I think he’s been living a pretty isolated life and at this point is a shell of a man. Here comes this very pure, very idealistic woman into his world. They come from two opposite ends of the spectrum in their beliefs about how the world should be, and yet they are able to influence each other.
[IMG:R]HW: You’d kicked some butt on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Did that prepare you for Rambo?
JB: [Scoffs] It’s extremely different. Way more intense. When I was on Buffy and Angel, because it’s television, you don’t have the luxury of time. We had amazing stunt doubles. To be completely honest, a lot of the action stuff on Buffy and Angel was shot second unit on different days when we were shooting other things because just in television, you don’t have the luxury to shoot these big action scenes. You only get eight days to shoot an episode and they’ve got to get it in. In Rambo, the whole movie is action. Sly said to me in the very beginning, “It makes for a richer film if you’re willing to try as much of the stuff as possible. If they see your face falling down, it makes for a richer film.” I had an amazing stunt double, Heidi Moneymaker, who was always there for me if I got too scared or couldn’t do it or got too tired. You say, “Yeah, I can take the tumble” but you don’t realize 10 takes later, and she’s standing by right there to do it. Our stunt team as well made me feel very safe to take the risks I needed to take.
HW: What is the action in Punisher 2 like?
JB: It’s really good. I’m a part of some of it, but I’m not part of a lot of it. It’ll be a surprise for me to see but we had an amazing team working with us up there. It was a lot of the guys from 300 and Ray Stevenson trained very, very hard and so did Dominic West. I think the two of them are really going to make it exciting.
HW: Was the character in the comic book dark-haired or is this a new creation?
JB: It was a mixture of both. Her name’s Angela Donatelli. She’s an Italian from Brooklyn, New York. I think they thought the darker hair would give me a little bit more of that edge, as well as I think it’s a visual concept as well.
HW: Did you have a comic book reference for her at all?
JB: She’s actually, I think, mentioned in the comic book. I don’t think you actually ever see her. I know her husband is mentioned as well, and there might be a small story with the husband but she was actually never seen. She’s kind of a creation.
HW: The Punisher is also a very male kind of action story. What does a female director bring to that?
JB: Compassion. Also, Lexi Alexander first of all, a world champion kickboxer. She’s not a fragile flower here. I think we all knew at any moment she could kick our ass. It’s interesting because she’s more of a dramatic director. She’s done a lot of very dramatic movies and I think to take on an action movie like The Punisher, she’s extremely creative so creating the world that exists, her mind is just spinning with ideas, but you also have this whole other side with bringing the characters a level of humanity so they’re not just comic book characters. I think that’s the female touch.
[IMG:L]HW: Are you one of those glamorous stars who claims she’s really just a tomboy?
JB: I guess so. I’m definitely a girly girl, but give me a challenge and I’m extremely competitive. I don’t think just because you’re a guy you can do it better or you can run faster than me. I’ve been known to take people down and that’s just my competitive nature.
HW: How are you a girly girl?
JB: I love clothes and makeup, being pampered. I don’t go out camping. I don’t rough it. I’m not one of those extreme sport types. A vacation to me is not climbing Machu Picchu. I’m sorry. I’d rather go to Rome and go shopping, or Paris.
