Buffy star Amber Benson reflects on impact of Willow and Tara romance: “Iconic in so many ways”
Amber Benson has continued to celebrate the impact of Willow and Tara’s relationship on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The iconic fantasy drama, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as the titular hero, memorably blazed a trail for LGBTQIA+ representation with the two aforementioned witches, making history as mainstream television’s first long-term lesbian romance.
To celebrate the release of the series on Tubi, Benson attended the streamer’s Buffy’s Biggest Slays event in West Hollywood, where she reflected on the groundbreaking relationship and how it’s impact on LGBTQIA+ viewers. “As an actor, you do a ton of work where you’re like, ‘Okay, I did this thing and it’s fine and I paid my bills.’ But with Buffy, I felt like I was part of something important and that what we were doing was not just a television show,” Benson told Out. “It was at hand to people who were living in places where there wasn’t a community.
I know Aly[son Hannigan] felt the same way, that this relationship was iconic in so many ways. It was also about empathy and love. “Willow and Tara raised Dawn [Michelle Trachtenberg], you know, and before all the bananas stuff happened, their relationship was so special and important.” Benson made her debut as Tara in season four, and played a pivotal role in the “Scooby Gang” until her controversial death in the season six episode, ‘Seeing Red’.
Although her romance with Willow was, undeniably, Buffy‘s healthiest and most beloved by fans, “a lot of pushback from standards and practices” resulted in a lack of on-screen intimacy for the couple.
