Amber Benson and Christopher Golden Talk New Versions of Cordelia and Tara in ‘Slayers: A Buffyverse Story’ [Interview]

We’re heading back to Sunnydale in a whole new way with Slayers: A Buffyverse Story.

The Audible Original Podcast reuniting cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer will be available this Thursday, October 12th, and it’s going to give fans a chance to listen to new sides of their favorite characters from the Buffyverse.

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story sees Spike 10 years after the end of the original series, fighting the forces of evil with his buddy Clem by his side. But shortly after a new slayer shows up wanting him to be her mentor, he’s also paid a visit by Cordelia Chase. This version of Cordelia, however, comes from an alternate reality. In her world, she’s the one and only vampire slayer. 

I recently spoke with Amber Benson and Christopher Golden, who co-wrote the new Audible original, about bringing these characters to life once again, and in a brand new format. 

“I’ll start just by saying it came to be 20-something years ago, really, because Amber and I have known each other that long, and we’ve worked on all kinds of things over the years together,” Golden began.

“I was talking to our wonderful friend, Lydia Shamah, at Audible about various things, and she mentioned Buffy, and that was it,” Golden continued. “We knew that Amber and I had to do it and that if we were going to be able to get the band back together, then it would be absolutely worth doing. And it’s been such a pleasure.”

The returning cast members for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story include Amber Benson, Charisma Carpenter, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield Ford, Anthony Head, Juliet Landau, and Danny Strong. 

Benson spoke about how having these characters perform in this particular way makes the story that much more “intimate.”

“I think we don’t realize how much audio really puts the audience into the story. Kc Wayland, who co-directed this with Chris and myself, did a whole Dolby Atmos mix. So if you are listening to this in spatial audio, it really does sound like you’re in the room. You just close your eyes, and you are there. It is freaky,” Benson said.

“You feel like you’re going to open your eyes, and they’re standing there with you. Spike is our narrator and takes us through in a film noir sort of way. And him whispering to you in your headphones is crazy,” she continued. “So I think it was right to tell this story in this medium.”

“I think there are lots of fans who’ve been waiting for the opportunity to have James [Marsters] whisper in their ears,” Golden laughed. “I mean, that is the great thing about it, is that in audio, and particularly if you’re listening in Atmos, it does feel like you were in the room with us.”

“We’re grateful to Audible. Getting to be an Audible original podcast is kind of brilliant. I mean, it feels right. It feels like the right medium for this, because we have actors who don’t look 20. They’re adults now, not teenagers, or 20-something,” Benson said. “So to be able to have Spike and James, and him being Spike and all these years later, it’s kind of amazing.”

The choice to have Cordelia be the vampire slayer in this new series is one of the main reasons Amber Benson was eager to be a part of it.

“I worked with Charisma on a little independent film a number of years ago, and we had a scene together, it just transcended. It was like we were the characters in the moment. And I was like, ‘God, she’s a good actor.’ And I was like, ‘How do I find a way to have Cordelia the Vampire Slayer?’ That really is the thing that makes me excited,” Benson said.

“Cordelia was this character who I always thought had the greatest sidekick energy of all time. And yet Charisma as a person is nobody’s sidekick,” Golden added. “It was wonderful to be able to say, ‘Okay, let’s dispense with that and see what it’s like when we have Cordelia as the hero.’ And Charisma brings all that to the table.”

“I keep saying to people, all of these actors, you get in the room with them and you realize that… I always knew that they were all incredibly talented, but you don’t really understand how talented until you get into the room with them,” he continued. 

“The synergy of all of us recording together — we were basically in the Futurama room where they recorded all the new Futurama. We were all on mics. And so you got the synergy of being with these people who you love and having these moments,” Benson said. “When Juliet Landau looks you in the eye and tells you she’s going to do naughty things to your body, you get a little hot! Woo. She’s incredible.”

“And then Emma with her Carole Lombard comedian energy. And then, I think for Chris and I also, the evolution of a vampire mythology for right now, where it’s a very diverse group of people. We have Laya who’s incredible, who plays Indira. And then we have Juno Dawson. We have Julia Cho. This is not just old-school stuff. This is a new day, a new platform.”

Cordelia isn’t the only character we’ll see a different side of. Slayers: A Buffyverse Story also shows what Tara Maclay is like in this alternate reality. Though her character will be a little different, there’s an important part of Tara that remains.

“I think for me, in Slayers, our podcast, there is a goodness to this Tara character that runs through the whole of it. And I think that’s important to highlight, that she has an arc that is meatier than I think she’s ever had. And to retain that goodness underneath was really, really important to me,” Benson said. 

“In this alternate reality, no one’s ever heard of Buffy Summers. And in fact, the whole history between Tara and Willow never happened in this alternate reality. And so we get to start to explore what that world looks like for Tara,” Golden added. 

“And we were very mindful,” Benson said. “The fan base that we have, we’re very mindful of that and we don’t want to hurt anybody. It’s very important to be respectful of that. So we tried really hard to be mindful of that. That fan base is very important to me.”

That was important for Golden, too, knowing how much it meant to Benson.

“Amber, I know how much it means to you, how much you respect the people who have been so enthusiastic and supportive of you over the years as Tara,” Golden said. “So it was important to be able to say we love and respect the experience, and we want them to trust us that we’re headed somewhere that everyone will be very happy about.”

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Slayers: A Buffyverse Story will be released October 12th on Audible. It is currently available for pre-order here.

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Everything We Know So Far About ‘Slayers: A Buffyverse Story’