Julie Benz on No Ordinary Family and Her Gruesome Dexter Death

I read that you were an accomplished ice skater growing up. How does that athleticism and competitiveness affect your stunt work on the show?

I'm a workout junkie and I love to be challenged physically. The running and the level of grace that goes into Stephanie's running form, I understand. I had to learn how to run using the form that would be used at super speed and I think that because of my grace and my skating I am able to emulate that.

How did you learn what it would look like to run that fast?

Well, special effects guys and the producers figured that out. We tried a couple different variations -- of me running with very long strides but that didn't seem to translate as well. It was a lot of experimenting on the treadmill with a harness and seeing what looks best. They did a lot of specific studies about what it would be like to run that fast and the force fields that would be created around you at such a high speed. And how you would have to avoid creating so much friction that your clothes would burn off. My trainer helped me a lot. We watched a lot of the Matrix movies to get ideas.

How has your background as an athlete informed you as an actor mentally?

It has a ton. I have so much discipline just from getting up at 4 in the morning every day just to go ice skate. I think I also understand that it takes a lot of work to do what you love. You have to put in a lot of hours and you won't always succeed. My mom always said that "every time you fall, it's a new opportunity to learn something new." So that definitely has applied to my career. I've taken a lot of falls along the way.

What do you think about the new show Skating with the Stars?

You know, I haven't really paid attention to it. I know that it's coming out because it is actually preempting No Ordinary Family for a little bit of time. But I know that they tried to do the same show on Fox awhile ago and they actually offered it to me back then. I turned it down and then a week later I got Dexter so that worked out.

Why did you turn down Skating at the time?

First of all, I thought it would be cheating. I was a national competitor and spent years training on the ice. That would have not been fair to be put me on the ice, with 16 years of training, and have me compete against someone who had never spent time on the ice. At the same time, reality television wasn't completely something that you could do then and recover from as an actor. It's different now though.

Well, I'm glad for Rita's sake that you turned that down. Finally, Movieline plays a game called "My Favorite Scene." Is there one film scene that sticks out to you as being your all-time favorite?

The end of Seven when Brad Pitt's character is standing in the middle of this big open plain and you know, in the audience, that Gwyneth Paltrow's head is in that box. It is a bone-chilling scene. It is just a horrific moment and Brad Pitt did such an amazing job of portraying all of the emotions you would feel if you were to find out that your loved one's head was in a box in front of you. It's just a well-crafted, well-acted scene and it is just so shocking. And to me, that is always what Dexter had -- these shocking scenes that you could not believe were actually unfolding in front of you. And I think that that scene is similarly traumatic as Rita's final scene was.

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