Dollhouse

Interview: DICHEN LACHMAN GETS PLUGGED INTO THE SECOND SEASON OF ’DOLLHOUSE’

The actress talks about the series, favorite moments, cancellation and her love for ’FIREFLY’

Australian actress Dichen Lachman has probably been best known in her homeland for her regular role on the Down Under soap NEIGHBORS, and young fans of mermaid movies will recognize her for her work in AQUAMARINE. However, her versatility has best been showcased by her two seasons on Fox’s Friday night series DOLLHOUSE. Created by Joss Whedon, DOLLHOUSE tells of a secretive organization that programs people as “dolls” or “Actives,” who can be imprinted with any personality a client desires. Lachman’s active Sierra has been everything from a Special Ops agent to a ‘30s movie femme fatale. Over the course of the series, we learn that Sierra’s real name is Priya and, unlike most of her fellow Actives, she did not volunteer to be a part of the Dollhouse, but was instead drugged, made to seem insane and turned over to the House under the false pretext of “helping” her. We’ve also seen Priya find a romantic bond with Victor/Anthony, the fellow Active played by Enver Gjokaj. Note: most of this interview was conducted prior to the announcement of DOLLHOUSE’s cancellation – Lachman graciously shared her thoughts on the end of the series via an email follow-up.

iF MAGAZINE: In ‘Epitaph One,’the Season One finale available only on the DVD box set, it was kind of weird to see that a) Sierra/Priya and Victor/Anthony had a relationship that is b) now over.

DICHEN LACHMAN: I know! I mean, I’m [enjoying doing] more of that stuff, because our core characters are having more of an arc now. Before, it was like, ‘we’re this, we’re that, anything you want us to be, we’re that,’ but now the people who are really inside us are going to show more.

iF: Do you like playing the core character, Priya?

LACHMAN: I do. I really enjoy it. What I love is the challenge of playing the Active, the Doll who’s out there in the world, and having the core character come through, and then you’re dealing with this very tricky balance. This season’s really fun and Joss is able to do his thing with his writers and get really Whedony, witty banter and questions asked. It’s great.

iF: Most of what we’ve seen of Priya so far has been pretty dark. Does she have other, lighter aspects?

LACHMAN: I hope so. It’s very difficult to actually know because they don’t tell us a hell of a lot. We get the scripts a couple of days before we start shooting, but Joss is very good at dealing with incredibly dark issues and still sprinkling some humor and lightness into it. [Awhile ago], I had a FIREFLY marathon. Did you ever watch FIREFLY? Oh, I am in love with that show. I started watching SERENITY again and I paused halfway through, because I knew that if I finished watching it, it would be over and I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. And FIREFLY is a great example of Joss dealing with some really dark issues of humanity and what we do and then still having those little light, humorous moments.

iF: Has FIREFLY given you new appreciation for your DOLLHOUSE guest star Alan Tudyk?

LACHMAN: Oh, my God. And Nathan [Fillion] and Adam Baldwin [and the FIREFLY] female cast, who I have to say – just like our show, all have weird names. I love that show. You know that space cowboy thing, it just worked so well, I don’t understand why they’re not still making it. Apparently there’s a documentary about Whedon’s [FIREFLY] fans [DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE]. I have to watch it. I am really fascinated by it. Because FIREFLY is a phenomenal show on so many levels, and I’d be really interested to see how the fans band together. I mean, it’s remarkable.

iF: Although Joss Whedon is the ultimate authority on DOLLHOUSE, you’re often working with different directors and playing different characters in every episode. How is that?

LACHMAN: It’s a like a different movie every week. [laughs] I always walk away from scenes going, ‘I don’t know how that went!’ Obviously, on the inside, sometimes I read scripts and I’m like, [gasps] ‘I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off.’ But it’s like, you need to try and keep it together, [because disappointing Whedon] is not an option. We love the people we work with and we love the show – you don’t want to let anyone down. So it sort of makes you very focused and very committed and makes you bring it on.

iF: You and Enver Gjokaj showed up to support DOLLHOUSE staff writer Maurissa Tancharoen when she did a one-night gig in Hollywood in GET MORTIFIED, the stage production where people read embarrassing real-life writings from their childhood and adolescence. What was that like – any surprises?

LACHMAN: We kind of knew that she had that sort of experience, that child stardom [Tancharoen was a member of a teen singing group], and she’s pretty open about it with her friends, so it was just nice to see how her brain worked. It was fun. I actually started to think about all the stupid things I wrote.

iF: It seems like the DOLLHOUSE cast and staff and crew are fairly friendly off-camera.

LACHMAN: Once we got each other’s names right – one we got over that barrier, we were all friends.

iF: Do you have a favorite non-Priya/Sierra character you’ve gotten to play on DOLLHOUSE?

LACHMAN: I loved playing Topher’s friend. That was really cool. I thought that was a really beautiful, nice engagement. And then to play the fan girl [in episode ‘Stage Fright’] just was – I kind of felt like I was playing myself [laughs].

iF: If Sierra was programmed to be another character who’s already on the show – like Gjokaj’s Victor being Fran Kranz’s Topher – is there anyone you’d especially like to play?

LACHMAN: I’d love to do Topher, because I think it would be a really fun challenge, and because he’s got [the best lines].

iF: How do you feel about the viewer response to DOLLHOUSE?

LACHMAN: The support of all the fans and [the press who have embraced the series] – it’s been amazing to have people love the show. That makes us feel very happy.

iF: How do you feel about the cancellation?

LACHMAN: It has been truly amazing working on this show. I love the people I worked with and hope I get to work with them again soon. Not only do I feel I have made friends for life on this show, but it has challenged me creatively and I have learned so much. I don’t know if I will ever have something like this again – I can only hope. There are almost no words to describe it really … on the last day my heart was heavy, but I was also full of joy to have had such an opportunity in more ways than I could have imagined.