Buffy: Why Amber Benson's Tara Resurrection Refusal Was A Good Call

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Amber Benson, who plays Tara Maclay, recently came out explaining why she rejected creator Joss Whedon’s idea to have her character resurrected, a decision that makes more sense now than ever before. The show had been a beacon for many of the LGBTQ+ community as it portrayed one of the first steady lesbian relationships on television at the time. Benson’s explanation comes after several abuse and misconduct allegations against Whedon surfaced regarding how he had created a toxic work environment on his sets.

In Buffy season 6 episode 19, “Seeing Red,” Tara is killed by a stray bullet in front of her girlfriend Willow (Alyson Hannigan). Many viewers criticized the move, expressing that it caused pain for many in the LGBTQ+ community as yet another show succumbed to the dire “bury your gays” trope. Whedon regretted the decision after the backlash and reached out to Benson, hoping she would agree to come back to Buffy if they resurrected her character, Tara. Yet even though resurrection was something that could be done in the Buffy-verse, Benson didn’t want Tara resurrected, citing concerns about how Whedon might handle her character’s comeback.

Related: Willow’s Powers Should Have Stopped Buffy’s Ending Controversy

Evan Ross Katz interviewed Benson for his new book, Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, and the actor told him that a number of factors contributed to her not wanting to reprise her role as Tara. First off, she was heading to England at the time to work on The Ghosts of Albion series as a writer and director, advancing her budding career in both these new roles. Not only that, but other actors on the show have since noted that upon their own return,