Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku

Dushku attending "Susan G. Komen's 8th Annual Fashion For The Cure" event - Hollywood, CA on Sept. 24, 2009
Born Eliza Patricia Dushku
December 30, 1980 (1980-12-30) (age 30)
Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1992–present

Eliza Patricia Dushku (pronounced /ˈdʊʃkuː/;[1] born December 30, 1980) is an American actress best known for her television roles, including her recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer[2] and its spinoff series Angel. She also starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse.[3] Additionally, she has appeared in several films, including True Lies, The New Guy, Bring It On, Wrong Turn and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.[4]

Contents

Early life

Dushku was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the daughter of Philip R. Dushku, an administrator and teacher in the Boston Public Schools, and Judith "Judy" (née Rasmussen), a political science professor at Suffolk University in Boston.[5] Dushku's father is Albanian American and her mother is of Danish and English descent.[6][7] Dushku attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, and graduated from Watertown High School. She was raised a Mormon, the faith of her mother (though she is not actively practicing).[8] She has three older brothers: Aaron, Benjamin (Ben), and Nathaniel (Nate), the latter of whom is a model and actor. Her parents divorced when she was still an infant.[9] In 2006, she visited her father's family in Albania after being personally invited by the prime minister. While there, she also visited Kosovo and received an Albanian Eagle tattoo on the back of her neck.[10][11]

Career

Early career

Dushku came to the attention of casting agents when she was 10. She was chosen at the end of a five month search throughout the United States for the lead role of Alice, playing with Juliette Lewis in the film That Night. In 1993, Dushku landed a role as Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, a role that she said opened a lot of doors. The following year, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies. She also had parts as Paul Reiser's daughter in Bye Bye, Love, as Cindy Johnson with Halle Berry and Jim Belushi in Race the Sun, as well as roles in a television movie and a short film.

Dushku took some time off from acting to finish her junior and senior years of high school. She was accepted to the George Washington University in Washington, DC and Suffolk University in Boston, where her mother serves as professor of government and previously served as dean of the campus in Dakar, Senegal.

Later roles

Dushku at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.

After completing high school, Dushku returned to acting with the role of Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a Slayer much more troubled than the main character Buffy Summers. Though initially planned as a five episode role, the character became so popular that she stayed on for the entirety of the third season and returned for a two-part appearance in season four, after which the remainder of her original story arc was played out as part of the first season of the Buffy spin-off series Angel. Repentant and rededicated, Faith returned as a heroine in a number of further episodes of Angel and in the last five episodes of Buffy. Dushku was inundated with piles of fan mail from legions of prisoners. She said:

I've been getting fan mail from maximum security penitentiaries and death row. What are the authorities thinking of in playing a show with young teenage girls to Death Row inmates? They write everything — disgusting things that you don't even want to know about. And they send me pictures — 'Oh, here's a picture of me before I was incarcerated!' — and there's some guy sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a moustache, and a big gut. It's so creepy. Way more creepy than Buffy.[12]

In 2000, Dushku starred in Soul Survivors,[4] reuniting her with Race The Sun co-star Casey Affleck. One reviewer described the film as "84 minutes of everyone's wasted time."[13] She followed that up with the hit cheerleader comedy Bring It On with Kirsten Dunst.[4] In 2001, she appeared in The New Guy with DJ Qualls and City by the Sea with Robert De Niro and James Franco.[4] The latter film garnered attention from a wider adult audience and several good reviews. The same year, Kevin Smith invited Dushku to be a part of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, where she co-starred with Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Larter, and Ben Affleck.[4]

In 2003, Dushku appeared in Wrong Turn,[4] a horror film in which she had the starring role, and The Kiss, an independent comedy-drama. Starting that same year, she also starred in a new Fox TV series, Tru Calling, where she played the main character, medical student Tru Davies. After having a grant pulled out from under her, Tru is forced to take a job at a local morgue where she discovers her power to "re-live" the previous day over again if one of the deceased asks for her help to change what has happened. Dushku turned down a role in a spin-off of Buffy The Vampire Slayer which would have been about Faith. She has had many roles as a "bad girl" in movies and relishes the opportunities. In an interview with Maxim in May 2001, Dushku says of her roles, "It’s easy to play a bad girl: You just do everything you’ve been told not to do, and you don’t have to deal with the consequences, because it’s only acting."[8]

Dushku starred in an off-Broadway production entitled Dog Sees God from December 2005, playing "Van's sister", a character paralleled with Lucy Van Pelt from the original Peanuts comic strip on which the play production is based. She quit in February 2006 along with several other members of the cast amidst rumours of alleged abuse from the producer, which were later dismissed.

She played the lead character on Nurses, a hospital comedy/drama for Fox. This was the second Fox pilot in which she has been cast, but will not be broadcast.[14] She appeared in the Simple Plan music video, "I'm Just a Kid", as the band's love interest, as well as Nickelback's video for "Rockstar".

Dushku has landed starring roles in two video game productions. She voiced the role of Yumi Sawamura in the English language version of Yakuza for the PlayStation 2, which was published and developed by SEGA, and released in September 2006. Dushku also stars as Shaundi, one of the lead characters in Saints Row 2, which was developed by Volition and published by THQ.[15] It was released (in North America) on October 14, 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. She also was the voice talent for the role of Rubi Malone, the main character in the game WET. She appeared at Spike TV's 2008 Video Game Awards in December 2008.[3]

More recent work

Tribeca Film Festival, April 2007

On October 1, 2005, she announced at Wizard World Boston that shooting had begun for Nobel Son in which she would star with Alan Rickman, Danny DeVito, Bill Pullman, and Peter Boyle. The movie was released at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.[16] Another project is On Broadway, an independent movie filmed in her native Boston. The movie is receiving great reviews[17] and a few of them highlight Dushku's performance. It is currently being shown in many independent film festivals and has already won six awards.

Variety announced on August 2, 2006 that Dushku would co-star with Macaulay Culkin in Sex and Breakfast, a dark comedy written and directed by Miles Brandman. A reviewer described Dushku as "charming" and giving the character "an edge."[18] The movie was released in Los Angeles in November 30, 2007 and on DVD in January 22, 2008. She starred in Open Graves, a 2008 horror-thriller about a satanic game co-starring Mike Vogel. She will play the main character in The Thacker Case and The Alphabet Killer, both based on real-life events and upcoming thrillers, one of them directed by Rob Schmidt with whom she had previously worked on Wrong Turn. Both movies will be released in 2008.[19] The Alphabet Killer contains Dushku's first topless scene.[20] The film earned mixed reviews, but reviewers praised Dushku's performance, commenting "Eliza Dushku commands the screen but cannot reconcile the script's conflicted and increasingly idiotic agendas."[21] She also appeared, along with Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine and Rachel Taylor, in Bottle Shock, a drama about Napa valley wine.[2] The film was directed by Randall Miller, who helmed Nobel Son.[2][22]

On August 26, 2007, Dushku signed a development deal with Fox Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox. Under the pact, the network and the studio develop projects tailor-made for the actress. They also approach her with existing pitches and scripts.[23]

Consequently, it was announced on October 31 that Dushku had lured Joss Whedon, famous for creating the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly series, back to TV, as they agreed to create a new show called Dollhouse. Dushku played the main character, 'Echo', and served as a producer on the show, which aired on Fox during the 2008–09 TV Season. One TV reviewer said Dushku "does wonderful things to a tank top, but her grasp of this vague, personality-changing character is a bit of a muddle."[24] In an interview, Dushku talked about how Dollhouse, and how her reconnection with Whedon came about:

I invited Joss Whedon to lunch after I did the business deal and decided that Fox, we'd had a cool relationship in the past and I wanted to do something else and I wanted to get back into a television show. I had him on the brain for sure but I hadn't called him yet, but I sort of took a leap of faith and set things up with Fox and then called Joss. We went to a four-hour lunch where I just sort of used my womanly wiles. No, we've become such good friends, kind of like brother and sister and kind of like he was my watcher, my handler from when I first moved out to L.A. when I was 17 and I was a little bit of a wild child. He's watched me and helped me and taught me over the years. I told him how bad I wanted and needed him back and he accepted and here we are.[25]

Dushku described Whedon as "my favorite genius ... favorite friend ... big brother ... and the only person out here I've ever wholeheartedly trusted, because he's never let me down."[26] Dollhouse was renewed for a second season. The producers cited their confidence in the strength of Joss Whedon's fan base and high DVR numbers as their reasons for keeping the show. FOX cancelled Dollhouse on November 11, 2009. The show officially wrapped filming on the second and final season on December 16, 2009.

Dushku was the voice actor for contract killer "Rubi Malone" in the action video game Wet, alongside fellow actors Malcolm McDowell and Alan Cumming.[27] Dushku secured exclusive rights to make "The Perfect Moment", a film based on the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and enlisted the help of Ondi Timoner.[2]

Dushku provides her voice for Noah's Ark: The New Beginning and will also appear in the film Locked In set for release in 2010.[28]

Personal life

Dushku resides in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California.[29]

Dushku is the CEO of her production company Boston Diva[30] and served as both lead actress and a producer on the short-lived FOX cult hit, Dollhouse created by Joss Whedon. She is an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox.[31]

Dushku is currently dating former basketball player Rick Fox.[32]

Awards and nominations

Dushku in 2004

She was twice nominated in 2004: for a Teen Choice Award at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Star - Female for Tru Calling and for a Saturn Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films at the 30th Saturn Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series for Tru Calling.

Maxim magazine ranked Dushku 6th on the "Hot 100 Women of 2009" list.[33]

Dushku was nominated in 2009 for a Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Actress for her role of Echo.[34]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1992 That Night Alice Bloom First Role[4]
1993 This Boy's Life Pearl
1994 Fishing with George Piper Reeves
True Lies Dana Tasker [4]
1995 Bye Bye Love Emma [4]
Journey Cat TV Movie[4]
1996 Race the Sun Cindy Johnson [4]
2000 Bring It On Missy Pantone [4]
2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Sissy [4]
Soul Survivors Annabel [4][13]
2002 The New Guy Danielle [4]
City by the Sea Gina [4]
2003 Wrong Turn Jessie Burlingame [4]
The Kiss Megan
2006 The Last Supper Waitress
2007 On Broadway Lena Wilson [4]
Nobel Son Sharon "City" Hall
Sex and Breakfast Renee [4][18]
2008 Bottle Shock Jo [4]
The Alphabet Killer Megan Paige Associate Producer[21]
The Cover Up Monica Wright
2009 Open Graves Erica
Noah's Ark: The New Beginning Zalbeth Post-production
2010 Locked In Renee Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998–2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Faith (and Buffy Summers in episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You"), 20 episodes
2000–2003 Angel Faith 6 episodes
2002 King of the Hill Jordan Episode: "Get Your Freak Off"
2003 Punk'd Herself Uncredited
2003–2005 Tru Calling Tru Davies Title Role, 27 episodes
2005 That '70s Show Sarah Episode: "It's All Over Now"
Reading Rainbow Herself Episode: "Unique Monique"
2007 Nurses Eve Morrow TV Pilot; Main character
Ugly Betty Cameron Ashlock Episode: "Giving up the Ghost"
2009–2010 Dollhouse Echo Lead role, producer

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Faith Lehane
2006 Yakuza Yumi Sawamura
2008 Saints Row 2 Shaundi
2009 Wet Rubi Malone Main Character
2010 Saints Row 3 Shaundi

Special appearances

References

  1. ↑ "It's 'Dush' like 'push.'" Eliza Dushku, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, February 23, 2004. [1]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Tatiana Siegel (February 25, 2009,). "Eliza Dushku focuses on photog film". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000588.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Photo Gallery -- 'Dollhouse' star Eliza Dushku arrives at Spike TV's 2008 Video Game Awards in Culver City, CA -- December 14, 2008". Variety Magazine. 2008-12-15. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=photoGalleryAlbum&galleryid=2414&order=2. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 "Eliza Dushku -- CreditsByRole". Variety Magazine. 2009-09-07. http://www.variety.com/profiles/people/CreditsByRole/Actor/31454/Eliza%20Dushku.html?dataSet=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  5. ↑ "Eliza Dushku, the Next Wonder Woman?". PARADE Magazine. January 29, 2009. http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/archive/eliza-dushku-wonder-woman.html. 
  6. ↑ Eliza Patricia Dushku's Ancestry
  7. ↑ Ancestry of Bill Richardson
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Paul Young (May 2001). "Faith No More". Maxim Online. http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=4046&src=fc. 
  9. ↑ "Eliza Dushku Interview-The New Guy". about.com. http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aa050202b.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-03. 
  10. ↑ Beggy, Carol; Mark Shanahan (June 8, 2006). "Dushku Wears Her Heritage Proudly". Boston Globe. p. E9. http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2006/06/08/dushku_wears_her_heritage_proudly/. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
  11. ↑ "Dushku finds Tru Calling in Albania homeland". The Boston Herald. June 8, 2006. p. 019. 
  12. ↑ "E.D.t.v.:: the eliza dushku news channel". eliza-dushku.com. Archived from the original on 2003-09-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20030902195143/http://www.news.eliza-dushku.com/archives0102/na050101.html. Retrieved 2009-04-23. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 ROBERT KOEHLER (September 14, 2001). "Soul Survivors (Review)". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117798885.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  14. ↑ "Dushku joins Fox's 'Nurses'". Variety. 2007-03-11. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960922.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  15. ↑ Pavlacka, Adam (September 12, 2008). "Saints Row 2 Singleplayer/Co-Op Preview". WorthPlaying. http://worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=55664. 
  16. ↑ Nobel Son review
  17. ↑ Femia, Michael (April 30, 2007). "On Broadway At the Independent Film Festival of Boston". Bostonist. http://bostonist.com/2007/04/30/on_broadway_at_the_independent_film_festival_of_boston.php. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 John Anderson (November 29, 2007). "Sex and Breakfast (Review)". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935547.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  19. ↑ Jacks, Brian (May 15, 2007). "Eliza Dushku Joins The Force For ‘Alphabet Killer’". MTV Movies Blog. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/05/15/eliza-dushku-joins-the-force-for-alphabet-killer/. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
  20. ↑ "Eliza Dushku topless in The Alphabet Killer". Egotastic. December 22, 2008. http://www.egotastic.com/entertainment/celebrities/eliza-dushku/eliza-dushku-topless-video-from-the-alphabet-killer-topless-004259. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Ronnie Scheib (Dec. 17, 2008). "The Alphabet Killer". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939227.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  22. ↑ Campbell, Christopher (July 20, 2007). "Eliza Dushku and Bill Pullman Join 'Bottle Shock'". Cinematical. http://www.cinematical.com/2007/07/20/elisha-dushku-and-bill-pullman-join-bottle-shock. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
  23. ↑ "Dushku busy with Fox TV". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930231821/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i3183b40c3b46a938e4669aa95744ca66.  August 26, 2007
  24. ↑ Brian Lowry (February 8, 2009). "Dollhouse". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939592.html?categoryid=32&cs=1&nid=2578. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  25. ↑ "Eliza Dushku: Dollhouse". SuicideGirls.com. February 5, 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Eliza+Dushku%3A+Dollhouse/. Retrieved 2009-02-05. 
  26. ↑ Michael Schneider (October 31, 2007). "Joss Whedon preps Fox series". Variety Magazine. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975136.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-09-07. 
  27. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/wet/news.html?sid=6213530&tag=topslot;thumb;1
  28. ↑ Eliza Dushku is Locked In
  29. ↑ "Eliza Dushku shows us L.A". The Boston Globe. 2007-08-28. http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/california/gallery/show_us_los_angeles?pg=7. 
  30. ↑ www.bostondivaproductions.com
  31. ↑ Shanahan, Mark (December 17, 2006). "Star turn". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2006/12/17/star_turn/. Retrieved July 13, 2008. 
  32. ↑ Eliza Dushku Confirms She's Dating Rick Fox
  33. ↑ http://www.maxim.com/girls/hot-100/79081/2009-hot-100-100-91.html#95
  34. ↑ «Eliza Dushku is nominated at the Scream Awards 2009» on Spike.com, 01

External links