Eliza Dushku Talks ‘Dollhouse’
Eliza Dushku spoke with Sci Fi Wire, beginning the publicity drum beat counting down to the February 13 debut of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. As most know, Whedon and Dushku were having a meal when inspiration struck and he conceived the show for her on the spot.
The Dollhouse refers to a government operation where the assets have their memories wiped with new personalities imprinted. The series picks up when Dushku’s character begins to recall her past “lives”.
"Last episode, they surgically implant cameras into my eyeballs and send me into a cult compound as a blind woman," Dushku told the press. "I was playing this tripped-out blind woman. Then I’m playing a 50-something-year-old woman in my own body in this next episode. There are just so many stories.”
The series is shooting 13 episodes including a reshot pilot and once shut down production for two weeks in order to let Whedon retool. As a result, it has picked up the label of a “troubled” show before it airs. On the other hand, the stylish promos have generated good word of mouth.
"I think [the way] he also originally had outlined it, we had the 13 episode pickup, but he wanted to gradually play out stories and do a lot of setups," she said. "[The network] wanted more payoffs early on to hook people, I think, so we made that adjustment. I think it’s been really successful. The scripts are tight, solid, fast, action, drama, comedy. It’s really great."
When asked about the Friday night “death” slot for SF on Fox, she scoffed and said, "Dude, we’re in the age of DVR. People watch what they want to watch."