Julie Benz initially 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: