She never intended to be an actress, says 20-year-old Barbi Benton; but one thing led to another from the first day that the former Sacramento beauty queen and UCLA coed showed up for work as an extra on the set of Editor-Publisher Hugh M. Hefner's TV series, Playboy After Dark. To her surprise, Barbi found herself going out with Hefner that night. He soon became her steady escort; she graced the magazine twice, starting with last July's cover; and it wasn't long before she came to the attention of director Will Tremper, who was looking for a star for his film--How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get into This Business? That, against all odds, is how it happened.
Barbi's first film, shot in seven major cities on two continents, details the odyssey of a girl who, after a series of misfortunes, finally meets the right man and opts for matrimony. "She's basically innocent," says Barbi, "and that's the way I am. That's why I identify with her, though I would never let myself be duped as she does. I got very involved with her story and had no problem crying when the script called for it." Does Barbi, like the girl she portrays, wish to marry? "Well, Hef doesn't want to right now, and neither do I. Marriage makes you feel secure and it's right for raising children--but for now, ours is a romantic, mutual-discovery relationship."
With three more movie roles on tap--in a Western, a Napoleonic romance and an upcoming Playboy Production--Barbi will be spending much of the foreseeable future before the cameras. Her only qualm about her new profession concerns the workday, which often runs from five A.M. until evening: An outdoor girl by nature, Barbi enjoys a wide variety of sports, from swimming and surfing to skiing--she even managed to get indoor-oriented Hefner out on the ski slopes last winter at Aspen and the Lake Geneva Playboy Club. Their romance, Barbi believes, all adds up to a beautifully improbable modern fairy tale--with Barbi perfectly cast as the ingenuous ingénue.
