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Tara Maclay: Amber Benson
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Tara Maclay is a fictional character in the television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Amber Benson. According to her tombstone, seen in the episode Help (season 7), Tara was born on October 16, 1980, and died on May 7, 2002.
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When the sixth season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer played out its final story arc last month, the death of sweet, shy witch, Tara Maclay, left viewers shocked and grieving. For almost three seasons Tara, played by Amber Benson, was half of the most believable long-term lesbian couple on television. When she was senselessly killed by a stray bullet, throwing witchy lover, Willow (Alyson Hannigan), into a descending spiral of dark magic, grief and madness, many of us in the show’s gay fanbase were left feeling angry and betrayed by a show that once held the most promise of anything on network TV.
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Amber Benson may be best known as Tara Maclay on Joss Whedon's hit TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but her talent does not stop there. She's written comics for Dark Horse, and co-created Ghosts of Albion alongside Christopher Golden for the BBC. She went on to star in the independent film Chance, which she not only wrote but directed and produced. Comixfan caught up with Amber Benson as she added another comic book series to her resume, ShadowPlay for IDW.
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Although blessed with considerable power, the shy Tara was one of the gentlest, most empathetic characters in Sunnydale. Whereas Willow brought chaos into Season Six, Tara had by then become something of an inspirational figure, especially to women who were Wiccan or lesbian. Although Benson doesn’t replicate Tara’s lifestyle, she does echo the empathy that made Tara special.
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While speaking at the Wizard World Chicago Convention in August 2004, Joss Whedon claimed that he had planned to bring Tara back from the dead at the end of Season Seven. According to Whedon, the episode would have centered around Buffy being granted one "life-altering" wish. Buffy would have spent the whole episode trying to decide what she wanted to do with the wish (including, possibly, restoring Angel's humanity). The episode would have ended with Buffy telling Willow that she'd just gotten a great new pair of shoes, and when Willow asked her if she used up her wish on new shoes, Buffy would have said, "No, silly!" and stepped aside to reveal Tara. This plan was abandoned when Amber Benson was unavailable for filming.
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Whedon did eventually attempt to bring Amber Benson back for one episode, playing an evil version of Tara sent to emotionally torture Willow and try to persuade her to kill herself. Benson declined the role. Many fans have speculated (and Benson's own comments have indicated) that she turned down the role so as not to add insult to injury to the fans of Tara who were already grieving over the loss of the character and the Willow/Tara relationship. Whedon's version is different. It doesn't really matter.
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Amber Benson