Julie Benz is known for playing a variety of  roles, her latest being Rita on Showtime’s Dexter.

Now, Benz is starring alongside Sylvester Stallone as the female lead in Rambo, now in theatres, as Sarah Miller.

Benz says it’s great as an actor to play a character different than the one you’re most known for. On Dexter, her character Rita is meek; in the Rambo film, her character is a missionary who is taken prisoner by sadistic soldiers.

“(Sarah) has tremendous courage. She has a very strong faith and a love of humanity,” Benz tells Metro. “She fearlessly goes into a war zone because she believes all life is important. She is knowingly putting her life on the line to help the suffering of others; that’s a strength that’s very rare. I admire her.”

Benz performs all her own stunts in the film as well, which was both physically and emotionally demanding. “I really felt like I went through war after the movie was over. We filmed in the northern part of Thailand, in the jungle, and it was rough — the heat, the mosquitoes, the snakes,” she says. “And, of course, buildings exploding around me, running through fire, doing stunts — every day required 100 per cent of my focus. I was exhausted by the time we finished filming.”

Filmgoers can expect 90 minutes of action and adrenalin from Rambo. Benz says it will grab you from start to finish.

“Stallone at his best,” says Benz. “Beyond that, the movie deals with the human atrocities that the people of Burma are suffering at the hands of the military government. So it’s also a lesson about a war that’s been going on for over 50 years that very few people know about.”

Benz is also slated to star in the upcoming comic book film, The Punisher: War Zone coming out in the fall, where once again she plays the damsel in distress as Angela Donatelli.

“(This) was a very cool experience. Lexi Alexander, our director, has a very cool vision for the movie, visually and emotionally,” she says. “The action scenes are great. Ray Stevenson brings a sense of history and pathos to the character of Frank Castle, and Dominic West is devilishly charming as Jigsaw.”

As for the rumours of Benz taking on the part of Sue Ellen in the film Dallas, slated to hit theatres sometime in 2009, it’s just gossip. But Benz says she would jump at the chance to be involved.

• Rambo is now playing in theatres.