What would you do if you got the chance to star alongside Sylvester Stallone in a Rambo movie? For actress Julie Benz, who took on the role of an idealistic missionary who lures the legendary John Rambo out of retirement in Rambo, first she had to get past the "Stallone" factor before settling into the part. Given Sly Stallone's legacy as one of America's greatest cinematic action heroes, it's easy to see why she was such a big fangirl of the musclebound man who introduced the world to both Rocky and Rambo.

With the latest Rambo movie about to make its debut on DVD on May 27, both in a 2-Disc Special Edition and a new 6-Disc Rambo Complete Collector's Set, The Deadbolt took a call from the lovely Julie Benz to find out what it took to get over her fangirl attraction to Sylvester Stallone, the most challenging part of the shoot, how her mother reacted to the violence in the film, how she became pig food, and what it's like to have a serial killer for a boyfriend on the Showtime hit Dexter.

THE DEADBOLT: What was it like working with Sylvester Stallone, both as an actor and a director?

JULIE BENZ: It was very intense. First, I had to get over my own fan-ness of him, I guess [laughs]. I had to get over the fact that this is Sylvester Stallone. You know, the Rocky movies were an important part of my life growing up. I remember the first meeting I took with him, all I could hear was the Rocky theme song playing in my head and I had no idea what he was saying to me the whole time. I had to get over that very quickly to work with him, but he is an amazing director. Having been an actor himself, and also a writer, he really understands what the story is and has a very clear picture of what he wants and he’s also a great communicator. There’s no bulls*it. You have to try and figure out. He’s very clear, very specific, and he’s very demanding as well. But he is delivering 150% more than you are. I mean his energy level, his commitment to what it is he’s doing, that’s why he is Sylvester Stallone. It raised the bar for everybody. You wanted to work just as hard as him, so it was really an amazing experience.

THE DEADBOLT: What was the most challenging part of the shoot?

BENZ: The heat. That and the death threats. I don’t know.

THE DEADBOLT: From Burma? I refuse to call it Myanmar.

BENZ: Good, because by calling it Myanmar you’re actually supporting the Burmese military government. But unfortunately the news and the press have to call it Myanmar I think because they’re reporting the news and they’re not allowed to pass judgment. If you notice any of the government officials, the U.S. government officials who speak out against the country, they also refer to it as Burma.

THE DEADBOLT: Since you hit the dirt so many times in the film, how tough were the physical stunts?

BENZ: I was an athlete growing up and I’m still very athletic. Stallone came up to me in the very beginning and he said, "It makes for a richer film if it’s your face hitting the dirt. You know, we have buildings exploding behind you and how do you feel about that?" And I was like, "Well, I’ll try anything once." If I got too scared then my stunt double, Heidi Moneymaker, was always standing by ready to go. We had an amazing stunt department, they made me feel very safe. The one thing I do know how to do, having been a figure skater, is I know how to fall down and not get hurt. So the falling down part didn’t scare me. There’s only one scene I actually got too frightened to do the stunt and that’s where I’m being held under the water by the Burmese. That’s only because water freaks me out. But I tried it and did three takes before I kind of had a panic attack. There was only one stunt that I got injured and that was when he jumped to protect me from gunfire and it was really late at night. I think he had a lot of dinner, he cracked my rib. It was my own fault, I was exhausted and I wasn’t bracing myself properly. Eight takes later, I was like, "Ohh."

Inside the Burmese Jungle with Rambo Missionary Julie Benz Page 2