Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku, the Next Wonder Woman?

Actress Eliza Dushku is reuniting with Joss Whedon in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator’s highly anticipated series Dollhouse, which debuts next month on FOX.

In the series, Dushku plays Echo, one of a group of "actives" or "dolls" who’ve had their minds wiped so they can be imprinted with any personality to carry out a mission. And as the personas pile up, Dushku gets some juicy roles.

Q: What’s it like to play so many different characters?

A: The possibilities are sort of endless; I’ve done everything from hostage negotiator to crazy sexy assassin. Some of them are very biographical — like me bow hunting. I was actually doing that when Joss Whedon sent me the original pitch for the series. I told him how we had taken down an elk with a bow and arrow and he made that a part of the second episode.

Q: Wait a minute, you shot an elk?

A: I gave it a go because you’ve got to try everything. As a meat eater, I think that it was only appropriate that I experience that. But I’ve only killed something that I would eat.

Q: Do you feel a bond with Sarah Palin, who likes to hunt caribou and moose?

A: That’s a pretty broad comparison. I just wanted to go out and hunt my own meal. It’s not like I’m joining the NRA.

Q: You’ve filmed on a lot of locations for the series.

A: One of the reasons why I love this role so much is getting to travel. I’ve traveled the world with my mother, who’s a political science professor. But the irony is that I have a crazy fear of flying. I’ve been known to not get on a plane if I don’t have some kind of religious ornament like a cross. It’s weird but it really kind of helps delay the fear.

Q: Any memorable travel experiences?

A: My mom always kind of taught us how to land in a city and just find your way. She sent my brother and me to China when I was 14 with our passports and a guidebook. In upper Mongolia, they had public showers and I walked in and it was me and 30 naked ladies. I tried slinking down to the last spigot which, of course, didn’t work. Everyone started laughing at me.

Q: Rumors persist that you may take on the big-screen role of Wonder Woman.

A: Wonder Woman’s hot. But you’ve had action hero movies that are just stinkers and some that are smart and exciting — you have good and you have bad. So for me it would depend on the script. Right now, it’s not on my calendar. The rumors are out there. I am aware of them. I think it’s like some fans have a fantasy. But who knows what the future holds?

Q: Ever had a moment when fans thought you were like a character you’ve played?

A: When I was doing Buffy the Vampire Slayer I almost got in a fist fight with a ski lift lady. She tried to rip my ticket off and she put her hands on me and I was losing it. I was screaming at the lady and my friends were like hiding behind their snowboards. All of a sudden, people started going, "Hey, isn’t that the chick from Buffy? Wow! She really is tough." But she was really out of line, I swear.

Q: So now you’ve decided you’d better avoid tabloid headlines?

A: I actually feel more like I can’t do those things because I’m an actress who gets recognized. It’s weird, but being a celebrity has actually tamed the crazy chick in me. That’s not to say it still doesn’t pop out every once in a while.

Q: You’ve been acting for a lot of years. What have you learned?

A: I think the more you obsess about this business and what’s real and what’s fake and whose real and whose fake to you, and the more you stress about it, the more self-obsessed you are and the more you’ll just drive yourself crazy. I just go, ’Look, this is my job, it’s totally crazy, it’s out of control, but the benefits are unreal.’