Eliza Dushku

All Dolled Up

Watertown native Eliza Dushku is moving into Fox’s new Dollhouse, but her Hollywood lifestyle can never erase the New Englander within.

Eliza Dushku, the star and executive producer of the new Fox show Dollhouse, is a typical Bostonian in many ways. The 28-year-old Watertown native is an ardent Red Sox fan with roots in both the city’s academic and blue-collar communities. If she’s in town, you might run into her hanging out with old friends at her favorite local pub or taking in one of Boston’s historical sites. And, in a moment of unguarded nostalgia, she might just tell you that her first girlhood crush was on Mitt Romney, who belonged to her church.

As Echo on Dollhouse, Dushku plays a sexy, soulful marvel who can be imprinted with any talent or skill at any time through futuristic technological wizardry—with a little shazam, she’s off doing daring stunts in fabulous costumes. And with Joss Whedon, the creative force behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at the helm, Echo is also constantly thinking, feeling, and discovering what it means to be a woman.

In addition to her work on Dollhouse, Dushku is developing several film projects through her production company, Boston Diva, including a biopic of Robert Mapplethorpe that would star her brother, Nate Dushku. She’s also working with her family to give back to local disadvantaged kids. And Dushku has launched a website, Bostondivalive.com, so fans can keep track of what she’s up to in her career as well as with her charitable efforts.

Dushku started her career in local productions at the Watertown Children’s Theatre. Hollywood discovered her when she was 12, and soon after she was cast opposite Juliette Lewis in That Night, a 1992 coming-of-age drama. Roles alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio (This Boy’s Life, 1993) and Kirsten Dunst (Bring it On, 2000) followed. Meanwhile Dushku was landing television roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Tru Calling, and joining the ranks of Hollywood’s hot young stars.

Boston Common recently caught up with Dushku at the end of a day’s work to talk about her new show, her old ’hood, and leaving JLo in the dust (literally).

BOSTON COMMON: What are your hopes for Dollhouse?

ELIZA DUSHKU: Well, when the idea for Dollhouse came up over a lunch with Joss [Whedon], we were talking about what it meant to be a young woman in society today. What are our struggles? What are our needs versus our fantasies? All we want to do is get people thinking about the human condition, to play around with those concepts and stories in these shows for an hour. All we ever hope is that we can tell these kinds of stories.

BC: You’ve worked with Whedon many times over the years [he also created Angel]. What makes him tick?

ED: He loves women, and that’s why he can study them and write them so well. Women are fascinating, and he gets that. I’m a feminist and my mother’s a feminist, and it’s important to me. I wouldn’t say it’s rare in Hollywood, but Joss is really a gem. BC: You’re often near the top of the list when men’s magazines rank sexy women. Is posing for those publications part of your feminism or a contradiction of it?

ED: It’s part of the whole machine, the photos and the physical element that we’re selling. When I started doing Buffy, I wore what they put me in, and they put me in leather pants and long sleeves because I was doing stunts and fight scenes. So it wasn’t like I was showing tons of skin, but my character, Faith, became a sex symbol. Then I started taking the clothes off. But I take care of my body. It’s definitely important for me to be in the best physical shape that I can stand. And when you’re working really hard on your body, it prompts you to show some skin. I hate to sound clichéd, but I love my body. I’m not supermodest. I don’t ever feel like I’ve degraded myself. I’m comfortable with what I’m putting out there. I grew up with brothers, and I never thought of myself as a sexy kid. I thought of myself as a tomboy. My Mormon grandma out in Utah has always told me to wear more clothes, but then she winks at me on the side.

BC: Help us dispel a few rumors. We heard you decided, on a whim, to run a celebrity triathlon [the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, held in Malibu, California, in September], and without any training came in third, easily passing Jennifer Lopez.

ED: I’d heard about the triathlon, and I’d never done anything like it. And so I just did it. I have no clue why. JLo came in fifth, and I came in third, but I had no idea because I was already at the free breakfast they give you after the race. I was eating waffles and JLo came in, and she’s really sweet. She was like, “Eliza, what are you doing?” And I was like, “I’m eating waffles; what are you doing?” And she said, “Cindy Crawford is up on stage; she’s been calling your name for 15 minutes. You came in third; go get your medal!” I was like, “Shut up!” And I went and I got my bronze. I talked to my friend Mark Shanahan from the Boston Globe the next day and said, “Mark, you have to spread the word to all my teachers from high school who knew me as a kid smoking cigarettes that I’m making up for old times.”

BC: We’ve also read that you’re dating New England native Seth MacFarlane, who created Family Guy.

ED: That’s completely not true. I’ve done nothing but try to dispel those rumors. They pick it up, and it spreads like a rash. He’s a friend. I actually ran into him the other night at a party and someone wanted a picture, and we were like, “Oh, wouldn’t that be great… to start more rumors.”

BC: Are you in a relationship these days?

ED: No, I’m single. I’m working. I’m with my work. I’d be horrible to date right now.

BC: We heard Joss Whedon struggled with the network over the creative vision for Dollhouse. How aware of this were you?

ED: From day one we’ve been partners in this, so I was aware of everything. Every time he talks to the studio, he talks to me about it. We were both working our butts off, and in terms of notes from the network, that’s really common—and certainly people dramatized it. I have respect for all parties. But Joss thinks outside the box and pushes the envelope, and I tend to stand by him.

BC: Where do you live these days?

ED: I live in the Hollywood Hills, in Laurel Canyon. My house is a bungalow. The reason I really love it is that I grew up with trees and green, and my house is tucked into the hills with a lot of trees. My dogs can run around, and there are nice trails. It’s cozy. The house is small, but it fits me.

BC: Has the economic crisis affected you? ED: I’ve always been pretty frugal, and I think it’s obnoxious to be going on big shopping sprees when so many people are suffering. And it affects everyone. I’m close to my family and I see how it’s affecting people I care about and love.

BC: What does it mean to you to be from Boston?

ED: I’ve been out in LA for 10 years, but I’m still a Boston girl at heart. I really think I’d like to end up there one day. Every time I come home and drive through the toll on the Mass Pike I get shout-outs.

BC: When you visit, where do you like to go?

ED: I like going to hang out with my friends at the local Watertown bar, Donohue’s. I love the Boston Common. I still walk the Freedom Trail and go to the Union Oyster House. I love the Charles River. It never gets old.

BC: Did growing up in Boston influence you?

ED: Oh, majorly. To me, Boston is such a melting pot. My father’s parents were Albanian immigrants who owned a convenience store in South Boston, and my father became a fourth-grade teacher and taught Bobby Brown and Ricky Bell and all the kids from New Edition. And my mom moved out to Boston from Utah. She was this liberal, feminist Mormon woman who got involved with civil rights and became a professor at Suffolk University, which is one of the most culturally diverse universities in New England. So we always had people from different countries around. That’s my mixture; that’s what Boston is to me. I love it. Boston is like a member of my family. It’s a really special thing for me.