Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Why Amber Benson Didn't Want Tara Resurrected
Amber Benson opens up about why she didn’t want Tara to be resurrected on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Benson played Tara Maclay on Buffy, joining the show in season 4 and gradually striking up a romantic relationship with Alyson Hannigan’s Willow Rosenberg. The couple, breaking ground for representation in the early 2000s, quickly grew to become fan-favorites. Tara’s death in the Buffy season 6 episode “Seeing Red” was met with anger and dismay. It also prompted discussions of how gay characters are too often killed off to serve narrative purposes, in a trope sometimes referred to as “burying your gays.”
The reaction to Tara’s death was so negative that Buffy creator Joss Whedon tried in more than one instance to bring her back. First, in the season 7 episode “Conversations With Dead People,” the villainous First Evil was meant to appear in the form of Tara and taunt Willow. In another attempt towards the end of season 7, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) would get the chance to have a single wish granted. After remaining uncertain throughout the episode, Buffy would have decided to bring back Tara as a gift to Willow. This latter story has sometimes been regarded merely as Whedon’s attempt to placate the fanbase, but a new book confirms it, while also shedding light on why Benson decided not to return.
Related: 9-1-1’s Eddie And Buck Paid Tribute To Buffy’s Tara And Willow
Interviewed by author Evan Ross Katz for Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, Benson spoke candidly about why she didn’t want Tara to be brought back from the dead. Benson lists more than one reason, citing the usual scheduling conflicts, but she also says that she didn’t feel comfortable with an unnamed person on the
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