I've been busy finishing up my novel Sound, to the point where I didn't have time to write a blog this month. A flashback to a 2010 interview with Eliza Dushku will have to do instead!
It's a transcript (with the
last few minutes of casual chitchat left out). Fans of Buffy and Dollhouse
should enjoy the read.
We laughed a lot, and Eliza
remains one of my favorite celebrities: very friendly, thoughtful and
articulate. As a major fan I was having a problem forming whole sentences
(haha), but luckily, she offered indepth answers so my inability to speak
coherently for long periods never became an issue(!).
Here goes:
Operator: I have
Eliza on the line now please go ahead.
Me: Okay, thank you.
Eliza: Hello there.
Me: Hello, how are you going?
Eliza: Hi, I'm going good,
how about yourself?
Me: Oh, I'm good, thank you.
Are you enjoying Australia?
Eliza: I am, it's our
second day here, but we got to walk around a little bit yesterday, inbetween
fighting off jetlag. We went down to Darling Harbour and everything's in good
walking distance from where they have us.
Me: Excellent. Have you
been here before? You haven't?
Eliza: This is my second
time, I was here fifteen years ago, I did a film here, kind of a crazy little
film with Halle Berry and Jim Belushi. We spent a month in Sydney, we went out
on the road and we worked in Alice Springs and Broken Hill, but we were here
for about three months. I loved it then, and I was so excited to come back.
Me: Oh, excellent, have you
been to Perth before?
Eliza: I've never been
to Perth, no.
Me: The most isolated
city in the world, that'll be an experience for you.
Eliza: Oh wow, yeah,
I'm excited. This was sort of a perfect opportunity. Having had
Dollhouse just finish a second season here, it was just a nice opportunity to
come and thank the fans and, you know, it's been so many years that I feel
like, ever since Buffy, I've had such Australian support from followers and
fans. It was just really the perfect opportunity to come.
Me: Oh definitely. Someone
at the office said to me, I can't believe you're interviewing the five-by-five
girl, and I said it must be amazing to think five episodes of Buffy you were
originally meant to do, and eleven years and people are still yelling Faith,
Faith. Like, they just love you.
Eliza: I know, I know,
I had no idea. I was literally supposed to come out and just do a few shows. I just graduated high school and I was enrolled in university in Boston.
Actually, my mum's a Professor and I was enrolled at her school, and I was
going to come out and make some tuition money. Four episodes turned into
seven, turned into, you know, a lifetime of Buffy support, and fans, and Faith
fanatics, but I love them, you know?
I realized at a certain
point how incredible that role was when I had young women come up to me on the
street. They were writing me letters, and telling me stories
about how they had been abused, and when my character came on Buffy they
confronted their abusers. It just empowered all these young women, and I just I
couldn't believe it, it was unlike anything- You know, I'd already been in the
business for about seven years at that point, but I'd never had a role that affected people that intensely, and it really felt good, it really felt
meaningful. So it was reason enough to withdraw from school, and put off my
education, to empower young women in another way, for a short time.
Me: Oh definitely, and I
just wondered, actually, when she turned to the dark side, I consider Faith
turning to the dark side, like, Darth Vader's number one, and then Faith's turn
to the dark side in pop culture would probably be number two.
Eliza: Wow, I'm after
Darth Vader?
Me: Yep.
Eliza: Huge. I have
three older brothers, they would- that's amazing. Ah yeah, she did, she turned
to the dark side, but you know, what I loved about her was that even when she
was completely in the dark side and completely out of her mind, and, um,
killing people and torturing people, there was something... You know, she was
written in a way, and we played her in a way, that people still felt for her,
people still pulled for her, and so it wasn't it wasn't just black and white,
good and evil, it was this really complex grey area, you know? People loved
her, in spite of everything she did, and it was really sort of fascinating to
me.
Me: Did they actually let
you know that your character was going that way, or was it sort of sprung on
you in one episode?
Eliza: With Joss it
depends. I mean, I feel like, over the years, both in Dollhouse and in Buffy,
and also in Angel, you know the writers will come to you, I feel like they sort
of reveal things as they should be revealed to the actor; like they don't tell
you two months in advance, but about a week in advance they'll come to you and tell you that I'm going to be torturing Wesley with cooking spray
and a lighter, and slashing his face up, and trying to kill Buffy’s boyfriend,
and yeah, they'll tell you in just sort of a nonchalant way, and then you just
trust them, because every time I've ever worked with that group, they found a
way to make it make sense, and you know, definitely, it's provoking and it's-
they push the envelope, and they provoke the audience that they love so much,
but I think that's why the audience loves them back, because they never know
what to expect, and they don't ever do something without there being, you know,
something that's revealed from it, other than what's expected.
Me: Well I thought it was
wonderful that you produced Dollhouse as well, I thought that was really
impressive, and I just wondered, did you find your relationship with the
writers and such, as a producer, is it different, and since you're an actress as
well, was it a different experience for you?
Eliza: It was, and it
was definitely a different turn for me, being the main role and being a
producer and being, you know, sort of the centre of it, and I think when Joss- I first called Joss and sat him down and he was not planning on doing a
television show, but over a four hour lunch (this infamous lunch), I talked to
him, I told him I wanted to do something and I really wanted it to be with him,
and he sort of started brainstorming and we came up with the show over lunch.
It just really, to us, meant that we were going to be a true team going into this, and that it wasn't going to be just Joss delivering this whole world to me on a
silver platter. I mean, he wanted me-
(Eliza cut off by music)
Eliza: Hello?
Me: Hello?
Eliza: Oh sorry, somehow
the phone just cut out, it went blank and then it came back.
Me: Yeah, I got music, so I
was like, oh, she's gone...
Eliza: Oh, okay. But
anyways, so it was really something, you know, that he wanted to have be
collaborative, and we wanted to pull together the right group of people; we
only wanted, you know, we've both been in this business for a long time, and
we've worked with some lovely people, and we've worked with some not-so-lovely
people, and so we really said we would only pull together a group of people
that would bring their A-game, and that wanted to be there, and that would make
the best show that we could possibly make.
And that we would do it
together, and that there was no, you know, there was no question that we were a
team on this, so as far as working with the writers and developing stories, I
mean, I never pretended that that was a role that was, that I felt
that I could- you know, I'm not a writer, and I'm not a story breaker, but we
would, you know, they would bring ideas to me and we would talk about different
possibilities and different ways that the characters should go, but I think
once we got into filming, it became pretty clear pretty fast that it was, that
there was, ah, there were a lot of plates spinning in the air. There was a lot
going on, and again I just; I really trusted Joss and the team, as far as
breaking stories and as far as directions that all the characters, including
Echo, went in.
Me: It seems like a lot of
the material that you've been involved with, like even the movie that's coming
out soon, Locked In, there's no, there's not a lot of lighthearted romps in
there. Do you like a certain level of intensity in your scripts? 'Cause
there seems a lot of morality and sense of self and destiny and questions of
such; a lot of the material you work with has those themes.
Eliza: Yeah I think
so, and I think for me, my art has, that saying art imitates life,
it's always been very true. And I think especially with Joss, he got to know me
from seventeen years old and as we sat down for lunch two years ago, at twenty
seven years old, he looked at things that were happening in my life and, you
know, I was at a point two years ago that I didn't know sort of who I wanted to
be in this business, and people were sort of pulling me in all these
directions.
So I wouldn't say it was biographical, but I think that was
absolutely something that we drew from, was this parallel of who am I, and who
do people want me to be each day, and exactly, that sense of self.
So those are things, that's a level of intensity that I do enjoy, but I have to say you
know I would love to, and I think I'm going to be involved in, something a little
more lighthearted and comedic in my next project (which I think I'll be announcing
maybe in a couple of weeks). But it's definitely, it's one of those things where
the grass is always greener; when you're doing a comedy you feel like a total
goofball, and you would do anything to do something serious and intense and
artistic, and then when you're doing that, you would kill to do a comedy. So, mix
it up.
Me: I was going to say
after all the intense kind of genre shows and unusual, I don't like the term
scifi but that sort of unusual genre, you must sometimes think maybe I should
do a procedural cop drama, just to balance it out?
Eliza: I don't know, I mean
I feel like I had a bit of an experience with a procedural type show with the
other tv show I did, Tru Calling. And while I enjoyed it, and it was something that
I'm glad that I tried, I have a little bit too much ADD to do the sort of same
procedure every episode in a row, but I would like to do more comedy and
something more comedic.
I feel like it's a part of me, and when I meet fans or when I meet new people or you know writers or
directors in town, they always comment on sort of what a funny goofball I am in
real life, and how that’s something that hasn’t really been seen. I mean, it was
seen a little bit in Bring It On, and I did a few comedies over the years, and
they were really fun for me, and they were just a great opportunity to show other colors, and I think I want to do some more of that, and explore some more
of that.
Me: Are you focusing more
on film, or on television, or on producing, or are you just open to opportunities
that come?
Eliza: I think, I mean I'm
open to opportunities that are coming and that I've created, and I'm definitely
producing and working behind the camera as far as a few films that we have that
we're working on. And you know television, you never know. I mean, it might be
something also I would see myself producing again, and I think I guess
there's no crystal ball in Hollywood and things are always changing, and the
climate’s always changing. As far as television versus film, I don't think
that I'll be headlining a television show for some time, but who knows, that could
change in six months.
But I do feel that right now I really now am looking for
the material, and so I'm excited about this project that I have coming up, and I
know I can't talk too much about it so I don't mean to tease you with it, but it’s
just, as far as we were talking about, in terms of a genre that I've worked in
and that I sort of have all of these fans and followers from, I felt in a way, that with Dollhouse - it came out and it was so exciting when it first came to be, and everyone was on board, and all the fans internationally were as excited as we were, and then the show ended, and yeah, I guess it sort of ended in a
dark way, and I have this feeling that fans sort wonder if I'm okay, or wonder if
I'm broken?
And you know, it's quite the opposite- we were grateful for
the opportunity, I feel like we created this exciting and
smart world for people with the two seasons of the show, and we were grateful
that Fox let us finish out the story and finish out the second year, and now it's
time to move on to something else.
(The project I have coming up, it's more
satirical and it plays with the genre.)
This is still the entertainment business, and it's not- you know, I am okay and I am
moving on, and this is still fun for me, and it's not something that I'm really
licking my wounds over for the rest of time, you know? It's movies and tv, and you
have an opportunity, and when that ends you pick up and do something else, so I
am excited to let my fans know that I'm okay. We're all okay.
Me: Well I just thought I'd
ask... You played the iconic vampire slayer, and I wonder, with the vampire
resurgence now, if someone actually asked you to play a vampire, if you'd
consider it?
Eliza: I've been asked that
question! I mean it all depends on the material. Again, I think I've been
offered a few of the shows that I've seen come out, or a few roles, and there is the part of me that says to follow one of the most iconic vampire
shows of all time with one that is sort of subpar is not something that I would
want to do, so I think (with as far as my agents) when a vampire thing comes along, unless it's, you know, Bram Stokers something, we’ve been a little selective
about that.
Me: A lot of critics have
always put out that you tied up the storylines beautifully in the finale of Dollhouse
in the second season, it was quite brilliant. Do you think it makes a difference to fans when you can tie up your stories like that?
Eliza: Absolutely, because you ask
them to become invested, and come along on this journey with all of the
characters, and I think it's absolutely important to give them an ending, and to
give them a finale. Again, that was something that we were really proud of
and also something that we were grateful that we had the opportunity to do.
Me: I always thought it was
interesting (the show) because my dad had a brain tumor and it's the same, ie the personality,
people have no idea that the mind (the brain and the personality), is so much
more fragile than people imagine, and that’s why I just thought the story was
brilliant in Dollhouse, because it’s not- people think the concept is so science
fiction, but it’s actually really quite possible. Like, you don’t realize the
mind is like a computer program, and that’s why I thought the show was
fantastic, because it was actually quite close to real life in a way.
Eliza: Yeah, I mean I think
that’s, again, something that Joss is just so amazing at doing. And you know, of
course, even Buffy, it was vampires and monsters, but it was the themes of the
show that people connected to, and that people felt like they could understand, and everyone could somehow relate to the characters and to the
situation. Obviously Buffy was about high school, and it was something
that everyone could understand.
Dollhouse had themes and characters as well, and some outsiders looking in would talk about how confusing a world
it was and how, you know, that it was quite simply human trafficking and
prostitution and all of these things that we heard, but I think we all
knew it was something deeper, and people who really got into the show felt like
they could relate in some way with it.
Me: Would you happily work
with Joss again?
Eliza: What's that?
Me: Would you happily work
with Joss again?
Eliza: Of course. He's my
buddy, he's my bro.
Me: A fantastic partnership.
Eliza: I just have so much
respect for him. I've been in this business now for almost twenty
years, I can't even believe it, I'm not even thirty and I never imagined myself
saying, I've done that for twenty years, but here I am. And I've worked with a
lot of people, and I just have genuine respect and admiration for him and his
storytelling and his, you know, his themes about young women.
I mean, I sort of
tripped and fell into this business when I was nine, and my mother is s
professor, a feminist, and she has raised us travelling the world, and being involved in women's rights and issues, and I don’t know if I
would of stayed in this business had I not had the opportunity to be working with Joss. Working with Joss on Buffy, like I said, was the first time I
felt like the work I was doing had social and emotional relevance; that I felt
like I was really contributing something to the world, and it gave me faith
that I could be an actress and not just be superficial, and play a role on a greater
level and a greater scale, and I've always been grateful to him for that.
