American actress and writer Amber Benson was born on January 8, 1977 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her inclination towards acting began as a young child, when she took singing, dancing and acting lessons. This led to her appearing in productions at the local community theater. Her family moved to Los Angeles in 1992 so she could pursue an acting career. She made her acting debut in 1993, appearing as the epileptic Ella McShane in King of the Hill; this was followed by a supporting role, alongside Alicia Silverstone, in the thriller flick Crush.
Benson appeared in a few more films, but became more wide-known when she joined the cast of the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1999. She was introduced in the fourth season as Tara Maclay, the painfully shy student who becomes close with Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan). Notably, that closeness would lead to a relationship between the two, when Willow chose her over current then boyfriend Oz (Seth Green). The two became one of the few lesbian couples on television at the time, and the first ever prime time lesbian couple involving a main character. She became a regular cast member from the sixth season.
Benson has also been involved in producing and creating content herself. Apart from writing some of the canonical Buffy comic books, she frequently collaborates with fantasy writer Christopher Golden. The two worked on Ghosts of Albion, which began as an online animation on the BBC website, and later spurred two book adaptations and two novels. The series revolves around two siblings, Tamara and William Swift, who are tasked to become the protectors of Albion and save the world from demons. The two later worked on the short novel The Seven Whistlers, and she later released her first solo novel, Death’s Daughter.
Benson has also written, directed and produced a film, Chance, which starred her Buffy co-star James Marsters.