Benz fires up for Rambo

STRANGELY, Julie Benz agrees that the violence of her new film, the muscled-up return of John Rambo, makes for somewhat arduous viewing.

A year after Sylvester Stallone punched some stale stuffing in his Rocky rematch, the steroid-built star returns with an updated and ultra-violent re-working of his other famed alter ego, in a film thoroughly deserving of its R18+ rating.

"It's hard to watch,'' admits Benz, the feature's female lead. "But it's also a genre movie. It's an action movie and the people that are going to go see it are going to see it for that purpose. They're going to go see this and want to see the action. Let's face it, that's the appeal. But there is also the social message behind it, which makes it hopefully a situation where it'll raise more awareness in regard to the situation in Burma.''

While it seems unlikely that Stallone - or indeed his mercenary killer John Rambo - will one day be seen as the historical saviour of the small, struggling, Asian country, Benz continues to intellectualise her time spent filming the feature.

"My favourite part? Working with Mr Stallone,'' she says adamantly. "I mean, it was watching him work as a film-maker.

"I can't really recall any other actor/director except for maybe Mel Gibson with Braveheart who's directed themselves in an action movie.

"Action movies are really tough to direct and to direct yourself in it and to be running the show. It was just unbelievable.

"He (Stallone) doesn't coddle you. He's brutally honest.

"He's very demanding as well. I mean, he expects you to deliver 150 per cent every single moment, but he also delivers that himself.

"So you understand why he is who he is and why everyone in the world knows his name and why he's a film icon.

"I mean, he just has this intensity and this energy. He's also not above calling you out when you suck. I love that. I love knowing that a director is going to be brutally honest. If I feel that a director is going to lie to me I don't trust him.

"I told him that in the very beginning. I said: 'You can do whatever it takes, but just don't lie to me. As soon as you lie to me I lose my faith in you'.

"We had moments where we'd be in the middle of a scene and he would just look at me and he'd be like: 'You call that acting?' He'd be right.

"I would know that I wasn't in the moment at that moment and I was pulling something out of the bag to try and just slide it through. He doesn't let you get away with that stuff.

"He's very demanding and he definitely raised the bar in my level of work and my commitment to the work.''

Life's darker shadows seemingly shade Benz's work.

Her bloody role in Rambo follows her continued attachment to Michael C. Hall's (Six Feet Under) murderous new series Dexter.

In fact, it was her work in the aforementioned Foxtel series that prompted Stallone to approach her.
"It turns out that Sly is actually a big fan of Dexter and they called and said: 'He's interested in you for Rambo. Would you be interested in taking a meeting with him?'

"I said: 'Of course'. Do you say no? No. So, yeah, I came in and met with him and that was it. I really was very excited to be a part of the project.

"I loved the script. I thought the social message behind the movie with it taking place in Burma and bringing awareness to what's taking place in there was extremely important. To be the only girl, for me, in an action movie was like: 'All right, I'll rise to the challenge'.''