Eliza Dushku is not only the star of Dollhouse. She produces it too. Fox network execs had promised to leave Joss Whedon alone to work his magic on the show’s second season. She’s made sure they keep their word.
Eliza Dushku on Dollhouse
“I think Joss and the writers are definitely doing their thing and they’re not as censored as maybe they have been or maybe are used to being by a network,” Dushku said. “They’re inclined to push the envelope in a lot of ways and I think that back by fan demand was a big teller that people want what they, what Joss has to say. People want to hear what he has to say and see it unfold and revealed the way he wants it revealed so that’s what they’re giving them. I think it’s really cool.”
Whedon also plans to refer to the DVD episode “Epitaph One” sometime this season, but so far has taken references out of the early episodes. “I think the first episode that you saw is pretty locked but it’s a complicated thing because that was done maybe with in mind that there might not be a follow-up. Now we’re trying to not ignore that it exists but also try and work it in but not confuse people that haven’t seen it or new viewers. It’s a work in progress I think.”
As an actor, Dushku has more to play as Echo. It’s no longer just a new personality every week. It’s a bunch of them showing up at once. “It’s a little more interesting for me playing Echo in the doll state because even in the doll state she’s remembering. She’s more aware of certain things so it’s like that third dimension. We were sort of two-dimensional creatures in the house last year and this year, looking around and identifying people and things, Echo is reading books and it’s more interesting for me to play because she’s starting to sort of form her own understanding and of course starts working with agent Ballard and starts to not just feel when she’s glitching, but that this is wrong. She starts growing conscious that this is something that she wants to tear down and be free from.”
One scene from the season premiere that might seem controversial was actually no big deal to Dushku. Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) smacks Echo around to trigger the personality of an assassin. To Dushku, the ends justified the means.
“I guess I thought more of he says on the phone, ‘Is there a plan to get us out of the situation?’ They’re about to take me and fly off in the plane and drop me out somewhere over the Pacific. He goes, ‘Well, if you have an idea, I have a worse idea but I’ve got to do something.’ So he comes in and goes back to bringing out the assassin from the Man on the Street episode. He knows to bring that up is to sort of drill up that same dynamic that we had in the restaurant.”
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