Eliza Dushku, Buffyverse alum and current star of the FOX TV series Dollhouse (which returns this Friday night with all new eps), is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Complex magazine. In Eliza’s coverstory interview, she talks about Dollhouse, her new video game, her upcoming movie projects and her favorite cuss word. Oh yeah, she also features in a very sexy photospread. Here is Eliza’s Complex coverphoto and excerpts from her coverstory interview:
After all, her futuristic TV show Dollhouse (about people who are brainwashed and given new personas) was a hit with critics but a miss with the ratings—so much so that the network declined to air the season finale. Dushku even prepared to be slapped with the C-word (“cancellation,” morons). But then a funny thing happened on the way to the Internet forums: viewers, galvanized by the news, rallied around the show and fox picked up Dollhouse for a second season. And right now you’re looking at why. ¶ See, the 28-year-old Dushku is an O.G.—Original Geek—and the fans love her for it. She stole scenes in the cult fave tv show Buffy The Vampire Slayer (and later in the film Bring It On and Tru Calling) and has been kicking ass ever since. While Hollywood is busy trying to win over fanboys, Eliza has had them in her leather pants pocket for ages. of course, It doesn’t hurt that her mentor, TV impresario Joss Whedon (the guy behind Dollhouse and Buffy), is the only other person with more geek cred than her. Now Dushku gets a second season and another round of playing a killer/mom/thief/hostage negotiator/girlfriend/blind cult follower/whatever else Joss can think of. But in a show where she can be anyone, Eliza Dushku just wants to be herself. And we couldn’t appreciate it more.
You just started shooting the new season of Dollhouse. How’s it going so far?
Eliza Dushku: I got married, consummated my marriage, and had my honeymoon—all yesterday! Today me and the hubby are beating each other down and breaking things. A lot going on, a lot of brawling. Jets and exploding Tahoes and me against a hangar full of giant stunt guys.
That’s a big week.
Eliza Dushku: Only when I come into my trailer do I, in secret, peek at my bruises and bangs. [Laughs.] ’Cause while I’m out there I’m like, “I’m good, let’s do another one!”
What’s the biggest difference between last season and this one for you?
Eliza Dushku: We’re back because of the love of fans and people who found and stuck with the show. Critics and viewers saw something really special, and the fact that we’re back just confirms that it’s all real. Now we have a chance to go deeper and really look closer in the beast.
Where were you when the show got renewed?
Eliza Dushku: I was in Uganda with my mother—who is an African politics professor—and some of her students. We were learning about some of the child soldiers from the war in Uganda and looking at building a trauma center for the rehabilitation and integration of these poor child soldiers. I’ve always had a plan B in terms of my life and my career. I love acting and producing, and I love this business, but at the same time my world is live-or-die based on if I’m on the hottest show. So I live my life, travel, and see what else is out there for me to be a strong part of, you know?
Looking at some of the projects you have down the line, what’s going on with the film Valediction?
Eliza Dushku: Valediction is wrapped and gonna be coming out—it’s a really great little movie. It comes in the 2010 slate of projects. I have stuff that I’m developing and negotiating, and I’m focusing on the new Dollhouse season. We have some exciting announcements coming up. The producer element is definitely something that’s driving me a little bit harder. It has me inside the machine. This business is a crapshoot, and now with this added role, I’m getting my hands in it more.
You have the Robert Mapplethorpe biopic that you’re producing too, right?
Eliza Dushku: Yes, yes. It’s awesome.
And is that just because you want to see a lot of naked guys?
Eliza Dushku: [Laughs.] Where does your head go? No, it really is deeper than that. It’s about self-discovery and self-reflection and breaking the mold of what society and media tells us we’re supposed to be interested in and what we’re supposed to be attracted to…versus what we’re not. That’s interesting to me.
And you’ve got a video game in stores, which I have a feeling might mean more to our readers than a Mapplethorpe biopic.
Eliza Dushku: I do! It’s called WET, as in “wetworks” [a euphemism for assassination]. I play a gun for hire, like a working-class Lara Croft. She’s all padded up, a Jack Daniel’s-drinking badass. That just proves again that it’s sort of a fun and kamikaze place for me to play.
The gameplay looks crazy.
Eliza Dushku: Yeah, it’s pretty rad. It has that ’70s Tarantino vibe to it.
Does it weird you out that people are gonna be googling “Eliza Dushku Wet”?
Eliza Dushku: Why? What’s weird about that? [Laughs.] It is what it is. That’s what my grandma used to say, great words to live by.
It has a lot of swearing in it—the game, not your grandma’s saying.
Eliza Dushku: My character has a bit of a truck driver/sailor/killer mouth, no doubt.
After the jump, check out a few more excerpts from Eliza’s Complex coverstory interview and see some of the sexy pics from her accompanying photospread …
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