It’s been a wild ride for Julie Benz lately. Her character, Rita Morgan, was tragically killed off in the season four finale of ‘Dexter,’ and now she’s playing a stripper taken in by Susan on ‘Desperate Housewives.’ Her run on that show has just been extended.

She also has a Hallmark Channel movie, ‘Uncorked,’ airing March 6. She plays a high-powered executive who’s not looking to fall in love, but fate has a different plan when a business conference takes her to wine country.

We caught up with Benz and got the scoop on all her upcoming projects, including several feature films.

So, let’s set the record straight! Is Rita dead or not?
Rita’s dead. She’s long gone. I mean, when you lose that much blood, I don’t think there’s any hope for survival. What do you think?

Yeah, I wouldn’t think so. I reviewed that last episode and, oh my gosh, I can’t believe all the people still leaving comments on that post. A lot of them are saying it’s a dream sequence. Are you getting that a lot from people? They’re like, “Oh, it doesn’t add up.”
I’m getting people begging me to tell them it was dream sequence. I’m like, “I hate to tell you this, but it’s true. It’s real. Rita died and I’m dead.” I would love it to be a dream sequence, but I’m released from my contract now. So, it wasn’t a dream sequence. Read more… »

This can very well be the case of making a mountain out of a molehill, but Desperate Housewives is sure milking this upcoming girl-to-girl kiss for what it’s worth. For her part, Dexter grad Julie Benz tells X17online that she enjoyed kissing Dana Delany, who plays Katherine on the show.

“Dana’s a great kisser,” she says. “Joining the cast of Desperate Housewives has been nothing short of amazing. The girls are all so fun to work with and have welcomed me with open arms. I’m so thrilled that there is such a buzz about my character’s relationship with Dana’s. It’s really beautiful and was so fun to shoot.”

Benz joined Desperate Housewives for what could be a multi-episode arc as a stripper who wants a new job, sort of. Susan (Teri Hatcher) took her under her wing, and even hooked her up with a teaching assistant job in her school. That didn’t last long, however, since a parent (and rich donor) apparently recognized her from the strip club.

Will the girl-to-girl kiss be a major plot twist on Desperate Housewives? Don’t count on it, as Benz previously described to TV Guide the circumstances behind the kiss, aka, stunt sweeps.

“This kiss comes out of a funny moment where we’re trying to ditch some guys. I asked, ‘Am I becoming a man?’ And Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry said, ‘Close.’”

I missed Julie on Chelsea Lately on E!, if anyone has captures or a video they’d like to donate please email me.

THIS JUST IN: JULE BENZ GETS CLOSE WITH DANA DELANY ON “DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES”
Julie Benz has an eclectic resume, but most AfterEllen.com readers know her as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel or, most recently, as Rita on Dexter. (Caution: Spoilers ahead if you are a Dexter fan who isn’t caught up on season 4.).

Her latest role, as of last week’s episode of Desperate Housewives is as a stripper named Robin who befriends Susan (Teri Hatcher) before quitting her job and moving in with her. We found out this week that Benz’s character is a lesbian who will fall for Katherine Mayfair (played by Dana Delany). As of now, Benz isn’t sure how much longer Robin will be around Wisteria Lane, but she’s hoping it’ll be for more than just one kiss.

AfterEllen.com: How did you get the gig on Desperate Housewives? Have you always liked the show?
Julie Benz: I’ve always been a huge fan of the show — I’ve seen every episode. Pretty much the way this went down was, literally the day after the Dexter season finale aired, I got a phone call asking if this was something I’d be interested in doing, and I was like “Sure! Of course!” And it was funny because my manager was like, “You’re going to be playing a stripper.” And I said, “OK!” And he said, “And you’ll be a lesbian.” “OK!” He was like “OK!” Read more… »

In the last episode of “Desperate Housewives,” ex-”Dexter” star Julie Benz started her tour of Wisteria Lane and already we hear her contract is being extended.

Benz originally signed on for a three-episode arc, but “Desperate Housewives” executive producer Bob Daily tells Zap2it exclusively that they’re keeping Benz around a while longer.

“We’ve been enjoying [Benz] so much,” Daily says. “We’ve extended her at least one more episode and possibly more beyond that.” Read more… »

I’ve added captures from Julie’s appearance on “Desperate Housewives” to the gallery. I would have had them up sooner but for some reason my download was going to extremely slow. Anyway, I really enjoyed Julie on “DH” and I can’t wait to see more. Previews and gallery links are below.

Also, check out a behind the scenes of Julie’s upcoming movie “Uncorked” below:

Hey. I was looking through the gallery and I realized I hadn’t added any stills/promos from season 2-4 of “Dexter” to the gallery and we are lacking in stills/captures from Julie’s movies. So I added stills/promos from “Dexter” and added some stills of a few of Julie’s movies. I’ve also added some pictures from Julie’s upcoming movie “Uncorked”, which premieres on March 6 (9p.m. ET/PT, 8C) on Hallmark. I have handful of movies in my Netflix queue of Julie, so expect those in the future! Previews and gallery links are below.

Also, don’t forget to watch Julie on “Desperate Housewives” tonight! Check back tomorrow for captures!