Darla is a recurring fictional character created by Joss Whedon and played by Julie Benz in the first, second, and fifth seasons of the American supernatural television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character later appeared in the Buffy spin-off series Angel, making at least one appearance in every season. She made her last television appearance in 2004, appearing as a special guest star in the fifth and final season of Angel.
Darla is introduced in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in 1997. It is revealed early on that she is a vampire, initially in league with the Master, Buffy Summers' primary antagonist in the first season. Darla's backstory is disclosed in the episode "Angel", where it is revealed that she is Angel's sire (the one who turned him into a vampire) and former longtime lover. The character appears in numerous flashback episodes, until she receives a significantly expanded role in Angel. In Angel, she is resurrected by the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart in an attempt to weaken Angel. She later becomes intertwined in many of the story arcs in the second and third season. Darla becomes pregnant, a unique occurrence for a vampire. She sacrifices herself in order to give birth to her and Angel's human son Connor, ending her run on the series. However, Darla continues to appear in flashback episodes during the next two seasons.
The character was well-reviewed by television critics, with Eric Goldman of IGN saying "Not even dying (twice!) could keep Darla from being an important part of the story behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the spinoff series Angel."
Conception and casting
Julie Benz originally auditioned for the role of Buffy Summers, but that later went to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who had previously won the part of Cordelia Chase. Benz was offered the small role of the vampire Darla in the pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her performance was so well-received that her character appeared in a few more episodes. In an interview with TheTVAddict.com, Benz said of her casting: "I was supposed to die in the pilot, but about halfway through the pilot Joss Whedon was like, 'We're giving you a name and we're not going to kill you.' And he did that for a while until it finally came time to kill me, and kill me, and kill me and killed me." She later went on to say:
For me, I was a new actor to Los Angeles, didn’t know the TV business very well so I was just excited to work and play a vampire. I had no clue what I was going to do or how I was going to be scary. Until that is, they put the vampire makeup on me and I went into the trailer and smiled, which I thought was creepy. Joss always said he was intrigued that someone who looked like me and talked like me was like the scariest vampire ever. That's what he wanted, my sweet voice and demeanour until all of a sudden I'm just this vicious vampire."
Darla is first killed in the seventh episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In that episode, it is revealed that Darla was once romantically involved with Angel and that she turned him into a vampire. Angel stakes her through the heart. Benz was asked to return to the role three years later, but not on Buffy. Joss wanted her to appear on the spin-off Angel, which focused on Angel's adventures in Los Angeles. Benz said in an interview: I was shocked, really. When they sent me the script [for Angel] I kept asking, 'Where's Darla?' I remember calling my agent asking, 'Are you sure they want me for this episode because I can't seem to find me?' And then I get to the last page and there I am... naked in a box. Awesome. It was exciting.
When asked in an interview with Robert Canning of IGN about how she felt about being asked to come on to Angel after previously being killed off, Benz commented: I was shocked. I just thought once you poof'd, you poof'd! I thought that was it. So when they threw it out to me that I was coming back... They didn't tell me they were bringing her back to life. They just sent me the script for the season finale for season one of Angel, when they rose me from the dead. I was reading the script, and half way through, Darla still hadn't shown up. Benz went on to add, I was like, 'Alright...' I get three quarters of the way through and I think, 'Maybe they sent me the wrong script...?' And then I get to the last page, and I was like, 'Oh my god! I can't believe this! This is so cool!' At that time I'd been committed to another project too. We didn't even know if I was going to be available or not. But it all ended up working out.