hen Eliza Dushku took the role of Echo for the new FOX series Dollhouse, Joss Whedon - whom she worked with on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel - told her that he planned on taking her out of her comfort zone. And Dushku, 28, is definitely up for the challenge. "From the very get-go, Joss told me that he intended on taking me out of my comfort zone as much as possible on this show, so I welcome it. I welcome it. I'm up for any challenge and any uncomfortable scenario he wants to throw... because that's what this is about," said the distinctively, husky-voiced Dushku. Throughout the recent interview she was very easy-going and answered each question in vivid detail.
GROWING UP WITH DOLLS, NOT
Eliza Dushku
|
Ironically, the thing that took Dushku out of her comfort zone wasn't driving a motorcycle without a helmet, but being dolled up with a 1940s hairdo. "You have to understand, I grew up a total tomboy with three big brothers. I was sort of this little girl running around with this mop of tangled hair, climbing trees and playing tag football with my brothers. There's just something about a polished, bobby-pinned, hair-sprayed up 'do. I don't know; [it's] the composure and the sophistication," she explained. "It's thrilling and it's fun for me to play and now that I've done it once I kind of am excited to try it on again, but it definitely threw me at first." Growing up in Watertown, MS, Dushku was the youngest of four - and the only girl. At the age of 11, she played alongside Juliette Lewis in 1992's That Night, which is based on the Alice McDermott novel of the same name. In 1993, she played Pearl alongside the legendary Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, a role she stated opened doors for her. Her next film was 1994's True Lies - directed by James Cameron as the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. She appeared in 1995's Bye Bye, Love - alongside future Buffy co-star Amber Benson - as the daughter of Paul Reiser.
She was the lead on her own short-lived FOX series Tru Calling, which debuted in late 2003. However, she is best known as Faith, the rogue Slayer. Initially an ally to Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Faith turns on Buffy and her friends. Faith is beaten into a coma and later reforms her evil ways as seen throughout her tenure on Angel, where she redeems herself by saving Angel (David Boreanaz), who didn't gave up on her when everyone else did. Dushku, as Faith, appeared in the final episodes of Buffy (and her latest adventures are currently chronicled in the canonical Buffy Season 8 comic book series overseen by Whedon and published by Dark Horse Comics). In Dollhouse, Dushku plays Echo, an operative who becomes self-aware, despite the mind-wipes of previous missions. She's retaining aspects of the various personalities that are downloaded into her brain, the basis for the series. "Anything and everything at any given time [can go wrong]," said Dushku. "We're dealing in real situations and that's why we have our handlers there, to hopefully protect us from the bad. But yes, each show... that sort of thing is going to go down because it's obviously not a perfect system and it's not a perfect world."
MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER, MAYBE
In an upcoming episode, Dushku plays a blind woman who infiltrates a cult with cameras implanted in her eyes. It hits the fan, but she wouldn't explain how. Echo is developing a peculiar relationship with a fellow Doll named Sierra (Dichen Lachman, Aquamarine). Sierra is not as self-aware as Echo, but is inexplicably drawn to her. As to the extent of their relationship, Dushku was hesitant to speak. "I don't know how much I'm allowed to give up," said Dushku. "The Dolls are starting to have these memories and develop these little flickers of self-awareness and recognize one another and remember things from engagements. Of course, that's considered a glitch in the Dollhouse system and that's where all hell breaks loose. That's kind of where the show expands and where it gets interesting to me." Another interesting thing is that Echo crosses paths with Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) of the FBI. Despite explicit orders from his superiors, Ballard is still investigating the Dollhouse, which many consider an urban legend. "I can tell you that there's upcoming contact with Agent Paul Ballard, and there is going to be some charged stuff in those episodes," she hinted.
|
"It was validating to have a friend and a partner like Joss in this." Eliza on creating Dollhouse
|
Dushku is grateful for Dollhouse because it gives her the chance to show off more of her acting range. Whedon, who had also been fascinated with the themes of identity, had what he calls a "famous lunch" with Dushku, where they discussed the concept of the show. "Well, Joss and I came up with the show together. We were talking about what kind of show would suit me right now in my career and in my life. Basically, Joss and I have had a 10-plus-year friendship at this point and he knows me very well. He knows how hard it is for me to sit still for five minutes, not to mention for an entire episode, so the premise of the show was sort of based on my own life and on keeping things moving. And on keeping me active and having the chance to play and jump around in-between these characters every week; and sometimes multiple times every show. That was planned from the get-go." She continued, "I have a lot of energy and I have an appetite for people and telling different stories and being in a different place, traveling and experiencing different emotions. One thing that Joss gave me in this project is the ability to show some other colors of mine that other creators and other writers, directors, executive producers haven't given me in the past, but he has seen them in me and wanted to give me the stage to act them out."
As filming got underway, Whedon decided to make another pilot episode. This was Whedon's doing, not FOX executives, and Dushku has staunchly defended Whedon's decision to redo the pilot. "We changed the pilot for more logistical reasons. I think that any time you're dealing with a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and FOX had an idea of a pace that they wanted in the first show or in the first couple of shows, it maybe differed from how Joss originally wanted to set it up. I think that absolutely Joss and I both feel that where we came out is exactly what we had talked about when we sat down at the first meal," she said. "I love the first three, four, five episodes, but the cool thing is the show gets better even from there. Joss is really a novelist and you have to give him chapters to tell the story. I participated on a lot of levels as producer also with ideas of my own. The show goes so deep and it's so exciting and thought-provoking and relevant."
READY FOR THE CHALLENGE, ABSOLUTELY
So far, FOX has granted Dollhouse 13 episodes. In addition to Williams, Penikett and Lachman, other cast members include Angel alumna Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders, who looks over the physical well-being of the Dolls; Echo's handler, an ex-cop named Boyd (Harry Lennix), and scientist Topher Brink (Fran Kranz). Furthermore, Dushku also serves as an executive producer, which she's excited about. "It was validating to have a friend and a partner like Joss in this, and to have him acknowledge that this was something that he believed, an undertaking that I could make or take with him. He obviously has 10 million things to do in a day, most importantly being up in the writers' room and breaking stories. Knowing that this is our baby and this is something that we decided to do together with passion and with enthusiasm and that I would be the constant and on the set every day. [I've] picked up and learned a lot about how the machine operates. It was more exciting than anything and it also made me that much more invested in the fine details of the show." She continued, "There are just so many elements but I asked for every single bit of it and I can truly say I've loved it; the responsibilities, the effort, enthusiasm, the whole crew, the whole cast, everyone involved in the show has wanted it as badly as Joss and I have. Those are the people that we wanted to surround ourselves with and it has certainly been challenging, but it's been the best kind of challenging because I've learned so much. But I've also gotten the opportunity to be more hands-on than projects I've ever worked on."
Whedon has nothing but high praise for Dushku, his long-time friend. "She's overcome her homely shyness over these years. Eliza is, apart from being - in my opinion - as great a star as I have ever known, she has a genuinely powerful electric and luminous quality that I've rarely seen," complimented Whedon. "She's also a really solid person. She's a good friend. She's a feminist. She's an activist. She's interested in the people around her. She has a lot of different things going on and I've watched her over the years, as a friend, try to take control of her career, and try to get the roles that weren't available to her, and protect the ethos and the message of what it was that she was doing. I respect that enormously. Being part of that progression is, for me, one of the greatest benefits of this show."
Written by CoA Writer, Kurt Anthony Krug
CityofAngel.com would like to generously thank Eliza Dushku for sharing her time with CoA.
For more information, visit the Dollhouse Official website:
Dollhouse
If you have any comments for CityofAngel.com regarding this 'Spotlight' feature, we would love to
hear from you. Just email us at:
comments@CityofAngel.com
|
