More Dollhouse Action Means More Stunts For Eliza Dushku
Dollhouse has stepped up the action this year which means more stunts for lead actress Eliza Dushku. TV Guide says she has sustained injuries including cracked toe, chipped teeth, burnt hair and a broken nose. That's seems like quite a few injuries but the action this season has been great. TV Guide also reveals some of Eliza's sexy photos from her recent Complex photo shoot. Take a look:
Access Hollyood's Laura Saltman visits Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushkum on the set of Dollhouse and she actually goes there. She asks about the Friday night timeslot and the comparisons to the Firefly situation. Joss looks really uncomfortable, but gamely answers the question. Eliza does much better, pointing out that she never watches shows when they air, but always Tivos them. Good point. Take a look:
We just knew it. Joss Whedon's Dollhouse really was in big trouble. Like, the network hated it. Fox thought it was too dark, too complicated and didn't have enough action. But Joss went back to the drawing board, fixed the problems and now everything's great. We hope. Here's what Joss said:
Basically, the Network and I had different ideas about what the tone of the show would be. They bought something somewhat different than what I was selling them, which is not that uncommon in this business. Their desires were not surprising: up the stakes, make the episodes more stand-alone, stop talking about relationships and cut to the chase. Oh, and add a chase. That you can cut to. Nothing I hadn't heard before on my other shows (apparently my learning curve has no bendy part) but frustrating as hell given our circumstances - a pilot shot, scripts written, everybody marching together/gainfully employed... and then a shutdown. Glad I was for the breathing room, but it's hardly auspicious. So back into the writer cave I went, wondering why I put up with this when I can make literally dozens of dollars making internet movies. Why I do put up with this is divided into three parts.
One: They're not wrong. Oh, we don't see eye-to-eye on everything, but wanting the first episodes to be exciting and accessible is not exactly Satanic. Being Satan is, but that's in their free time and hey, there's no judging in the Dollhouse. This kind of back and forth has happened on every show I've done, so if you liked those, chances are that was a part of why. And the need to focus on the essentials of what makes this universe tick - and which wire to cut to make it stop - really does bring up our game. So we as a staff have gone from blinking like unhoused moles to delving in with the same relish we had when we started. The show is really coming together now, in a way that I believe excites us and satisfies the Network. Of course, I have no idea if anybody else will like it, but I have the same faith in the staff, the crew and the remarkable cast that I always did. More, in fact. And what's more crucial:
Two: Nothing essential has changed about the universe. The ideas and relationships that intrigued me from the start are all there (though some have shifted, more on that), and the progression of the first thirteen eps has me massively excited. The episode we're shooting now I wrote as fast as anything I have before, not because I had to (although, funny side-note: I had to) but because I couldn't stop the words from coming. Because I can feel the show talking to me; delighting, scaring and occasionally even offending me. It's alive. Alive! Which is a far cry from how I felt a month ago. It's been hilarious trying to keep up with what's in, what's out, who's met whom and when - we've shot all of the first seven episodes out of airing order - but it's come together in a pretty thrilling way. My huge gratitude to our cast for their precision and patience.
*****
As for what's been changed, well, some things I obviously can't tell you. Some I can, for the record: The original pilot was in fact thrown out. Again, at my behest. Once it became clear what paradigm the Network was shooting for, it just didn't fit at all, even after I'd reshot more than half of it (see above re: despair). To get a sense of how completely turned around I was during this process, you should know there was a scene with Eliza and the astonishing Ashley Johnson that I wrote and shot completely differently three different times, with different characters in different places (actually I wrote it closer to eight times), and none of it will ever see air. Which is as it should be (though I'm determined to get Ms. Johnson back in the future). The scene just didn't belong anymore. Similarly, the character of November has fallen out of the mix, because the show simply moves too fast now for me to do what I wanted with her. Season three, anyone...? Happily, Miracle Laurie is still with us in a new role, playing against (and pining for) Tahmoh's character, Paul Ballard. Their chemistry is deeply nifty. The only other major cast shift is that the Dollhouse head of security, Laurence Dominic (played by Reed Diamond), who was written just for the now-defunct first ep, has stuck like fly-paper, and Reed is very much in the family for the present. (Most of my problems seem to involve my actors making themselves indispensable. This is the good problem kind.)
They made him scrap his pilot. Have we mentioned before that Fox ruined Firefly and that we can't understand why Joss would ever agree to work with them again? Maybe once or twice? Needless to say, we'll be tuning in no matter what.
Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku get a little silly as they discuss their upcoming tv show, Dollhouse. We certainly hope the rewrites are going well. Not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but we're convinced Fox is going to wreck this show just as surely as they wrecked Firefly. We're just saying. Let's hope we're wrong.
Joss Whedon has signed
with Fox once again to do a sf television series. It stars Eliza Dushku and it sounds really cool. The name of the show is Dollhouse.
According to the interview with E! Online with Dushku and Whedon, Dollhouse is the story of Echo, a programmable human plaything:
"Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language--even muscle memory--for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal.
"When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments--or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse."
We like the concept, we like the casting, we are very disturbed that the show is on Fox. Joss, Joss, what did they promise you to come back? Did they promise to show the series in order? Did they swear they wouldn't pull the show after a few episodes have aired?
Are you sill having Firefly nightmares? We are.
Eliza Dushku (Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and the star of Fox's ill-fated series Tru Calling, has inked
a development deal with Fox.
Dushku last toplined Fox's "Tru Calling," which was produced by 20th. Both sides remain enamored of the actress, who most recently starred in the Fox pilot "Nurses" (also from 20th).
"Clearly we've had a very long-term relationship with her," 20th Century Fox TV chairman Dana Walden said. "We wanted to be in a more significant business relationship now. She's such an interesting, smart, soulful person and that all comes through on the screen."
The studio is now starting to integrate Dushku in the development process, giving her a chance to familiarize herself with some of the scribes who have deals at 20th.
"You have to have a tremendous amount of passion for a person you make a deal like this with," Walden said. "You're not just sending them a script and asking them if you like a role. You're bringing them into the development process and integrating them into the fiber of the company."
Both Fox and 20th said they were impressed by Dushku's versatility, given the thesp's experience in comedy (the feature "Bring it On"), action and drama.
"She's a Fox star," said Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori. "She's rare -- an incredibly beautiful and feminine actress with a specific strength and playfulness. I just find her very unique. Kevin and I fans of the work she's put down on film."
Oh, please. We saw what Fox did to Serenity and to Tru Calling. What is it with Fox, anyway? Serenity's episodes were shown out of order and they never even finished the season. Same with Tru Calling, which was no Serenity, but was entertaining. No word on what vehicle they'll cast her in and then pull the plug on it four episodes in. Yes, we're still bitter over the whole Serenity thing. What of it?
Eliza Dushku (Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and the star of Fox's ill-fated series Tru Calling, has inked
a development deal with Fox.
