14 DAY TRIAL // Season 5 of “Dexter” premiered only days ago with an episode that also marked the last time Julie Benz appeared on it as Dexter’s wife, Rita.
In a recent interview cited by ScreenCrave, the actress says that, while she never expected her character to die such a gruesome death, neither did she expect this kind of support from fans.
As it’s well known by now, the finale of season 4 sees Rita, now a happy wife to Dexter and mother to his child, in a bathtub filled with water – and her own blood.
Trinity is most likely the one responsible for her death but, to some fans, having her killed simply did not make any sense. Even for those for whom it did, it was hard to say goodbye.
Benz says she was very pleasantly impressed by how fans reacted to news of her character’s death especially since no one seemed to like her all that much in the beginning.
“You know, there was a lot of Rita hatred when I was on the show, so it’s interesting to see this outpouring of love. My Twitter blew up [during the ‘Dexter’ premiere], with people giving Rita the honor that she deserved,” Benz says in the interview.
“She was an amazing character to play. It was very touching to me to have that response, because sometimes you don’t know that people care that much,” the actress explains.
However, it’s not like her fans won’t get the chance to see her again, she goes on to say. Benz is now on ABC’s “No Ordinary Family,” where she plays the exact opposite of Rita.
“When I found out I was going to be leaving ‘Dexter,’ I wanted to find a strong female character, a really active woman,” says the star.
“Basically the exact opposite of Rita. And I’m so fortunate to find ‘No Ordinary Family.’ It really was the strongest female character to be found during pilot season,” Julie explains.
As we also reported the other day, season 5 premiere marked a very strong opening for “Dexter” with fans, showing the serial killer / vigilante trying to pick up what’s left of his life after he loses all balance with Rita’s death.
Figures also show that episode 1 of season 5 was the biggest opener Showtime had in many years, getting over 1.2 million viewers glued to their television sets on first airing.