Amber Nicole Benson(born January 8, 1977) is an American actress, writer, movie director, and movie producer. She is best known for her role as "Tara Maclay", on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Early life
Benson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She had a mixed Christian and Jewish upbringing.

Career

Feature and animation movies
While still working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Benson wrote, directed, produced, edited, and acted in a movie called Chance (2002). The movie also featured her Buffy co-star James Marsters. After her time on Buffy, Benson began working on a series of animated movies for the BBC with co-creator Christopher Golden and animation company Cosgrove Hall. Ghosts of Albion: Legacy (2003) and its sequels are available on the BBC Cult website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ghosts/legacy/). In 2006, Benson released her second movie Lovers, Liars and Lunatics through her own production company, Benson Entertainment. The movie was partly paid for by the sale of special action figures of her character Tara from the Buffy episode Triangle.

Writing career: novels and comics
Benson also writes novels and comic books. She usually writes these with Christopher Golden. In 2003, Benson worked with Golden, Terry Moore, and Eric Powell of Dark Horse Comics to create the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow and Tara comic book titled WannaBlessedBe. During the same year, she worked with Christopher Golden and AJ (Ajit Jothikaumar) of Dark Horse Comics to create the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow and Tara comic books titled Wilderness #1 and Wilderness #2. In 2005, Benson worked with artist Jamie McKelvie on a short story for the Image Comics collection Four Letter Worlds. In 2006, Benson worked with artist Ben Templesmith on Demon Father John’s Pinwheel Blues published by IDW. Benson and Golden have also worked together on two supernatural thrillers: Ghosts of Albion: Accursed and Ghosts of Albion: Witchery. These books follow the stories of Tamara and William Swift, characters from the BBC computer animated web movie Ghosts of Albion: Legacy. In September 2007, Benson signed a three-book deal with Penguin Books. The first book is believed to be titled Death's Daughter.

Career: miscellaneous
In 2003, she worked with director James Kerwin to produce her play, Albert Hall, in Hollywood.

Benson sang in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, With Feeling". She sang on the songs "I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together", "Under Your Spell" (her solo), "Walk Through the Fire", "Standing/Under Your Spell (Reprise)" and "Where Do We Go From Here?" She also sang "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" (aka "Creature of the Night") at VH-1's celebrity karaoke tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Personal life 
On the November 11, 2000 episode of the radio show Loveline, Amber (at age 23) said that she did not have a driver's license, that her mother drove her to the studio. As of 2007, Benson resides in Los Angeles, California. She is a vegetarian.

Filmography 
 King of the Hill (1993 movie; not the TV series) - as Ella McShane
 The Crush  (1993) - as Cheyenne
 S.F.W.  (1994) - as Barbara 'Babs' Wyler
 Imaginary Crimes (1994)  - as Margaret
 Bye Bye Love (1995)  - as Meg Damico
 Can't Hardly Wait (1998)  - as Stephanie, the Stoned Banana-holding Girl (scenes deleted from the final cut)
 Take It Easy (1999)  - as Justy
 Deadtime (1999) - as Patty
 The Prime Gig (2000) - as Batgirl
 Hollywood, Pennsylvania (2001) - as Mandy Calhoun
 Don's Plum (2001) - as Amy
 Taboo (2002) - as Piper
 Chance (2002) - as Chance
 Latter Days (2003) - as Traci Levine
 Intermedio (2005) - as Barbie
 Race You to the Bottom (2005) - as Maggie
 Lovers, Liars & Lunatics (2006) - as Justine
 Angst (2006) - as Julia
 Simple Things (2006) - as Sally
 Tripping Forward (2006) - as Gwen
 Strictly Sexual (2006) - as Donna
 Girltrash! (2007) - Svetlana 'Lana' Dragovich
 Kiss the Bride (2007) - as Elly
 One-Eyed Monster (2007) - as Laura
 Shifter (2008) - as Kimi

Television 
(Includes made-for-TV movies and TV series)
 Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993) TV movie - Nicole Reed
 Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994) TV movie - Nicole Reed
 Jack Reed: One of Our Own (1995) TV movie - Nicole Reed
 Promised Land (1998) TV series  - Amy Farnsworth (episode titled "Out of Bounds")
 Cracker (1999) TV series  - Amy (episode titled "The Club")
 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in 1999-2002 seasons) TV series - Tara Maclay
 The Enforcers (2001) TV miniseries - Abby
 Cold Case (2004) TV series  - Julia Hoffman (episode titled "Volunteers")
 The Inside (2005) TV series - Allison Davis (episode titled "The Perfect Couple")
 Supernatural (2006) TV series  - Lenore (episode titled "Bloodlust")
 Holiday Wishes (2006) TV movie - Danni Hartford
 Gryphon (2007) TV movie - Princess Amelia of Lockland

Books in print

Ghosts of Albion
 Accursed (with Christopher Golden) (Del Rey, 2005)
 Witchery (with Christopher Golden) (Del Rey, 2006)
 The Ghosts of Albion Roleplaying Game (with Timothy S. Brannan and Christopher Golden) (Eden Studios, 2007)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow & Tara (2003)
 WannaBlessedBe (with Christopher Golden)
 Wilderness, Part 1 (with Christopher Golden)
 Wilderness, Part 2 (with Christopher Golden)

Other
 Shadowplay #1-4 (with Ben Templesmith) (2006)
 The Seven Whistlers (with Christopher Golden) (2006)

Footnotes

Other websites 

 
 Amber Benson - amberbenson.net 
 Interview at Flames Rising (October 2005)
 Interview at LesbiaNation.com  (May 2007)
 Interview at SlayerLit 

1977 births
Living people
Actors from Birmingham, Alabama
American Jews
American movie actors
American movie directors
American screenwriters
American television actors
Whedonverse
Writers from Alabama