Eliza Dushku is More Than Just the Bad Girl on "DollHouse"

Tomorrow night marks the return of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" mastermind Joss Whedon to the small screen and fans are excited to see how the new show pans out. Whedon's latest creation is "Dollhouse," airing on Fox and starring Eliza Dushku.

Eliza Dushku is Echo, a member of an illegal group of individuals who are given variety of personalities in order to perform missions for clients. But when the mission is over, the girls, called Actives, have their brains wiped clean. When Echo and the other Actives aren't on a mission, they lounge about in the Dollhouse, a fancy resort of sorts.

Echo goes on her missions as she's programmed to do, but she can't help but wonder if there's something more to her and if there's something behind the mysterious world of the Dollhouse that's not altogether pleasant.

In an interview with SciFiChick.com, Dushku said, "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."

Eliza Dushku is no stranger to Joss Whedon's crazy/creative plot twists. She was a member in good standing of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" cast as Faith, a rogue slayer of sorts, the complete opposite of Buffy. Though she was only meant to star in five episodes of "Buffy," Dushku's popularity kept her on for the entire third season, episodes of later seasons, and a role in the "Buffy" spinoff, "Angel."

Many people have commented that "Dollhouse" won't be believable because Dushku is so good at playing the bad girl, that she won't be able to "become" anything but that. But Dushku says otherwise. Dushku has said that the show was, in a sense, based around her own life and therefore, keeps things interesting.

"I just have sort of an appetite for people and stories and telling different stories and being in a different place and traveling and experiencing just different emotions."

She also stated that because Joss Whedon has known her for a long time, he knows more about what she can do, giving her different acting opportunities than what other individuals have given her throughout her career.

Dushku has taken roles in True Lies, Bye Bye, Love and Race the Sun. While her role in "Buffy" is memorable, the younger generation may remember her more from the cheerleader comedy Bring It On and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

No doubt, Dushku is crossing her fingers about being a part of a Fox TV series, as her most recent show on Fox, "Tru Calling", was canceled in 2005 after two seasons. Fans are already upset with the fact that "Dollhouse" has been shoved to the Friday night slot, a classic dead zone. Here's hoping that Whedon fans, old and new, will gather together and watch anyway.

Chuck Barney, Barney: Joss Whedon Welcomes You to His 'Dollhouse', San Jose Mercury News

Eliza Dushku Interview, SciFiChick.com

Eliza Dushku Biography, TV.com