Dollhouse

TVGuide.com: Turning to TV, how are things looking for Fox’s Dollhouse? [The sci-fi thriller stars Dushku as Echo, an "Active" who has covert mission-specific personalities imprinted on her.]

Dushku: Awesome. We have all these rumors going around [in the wake of a production stoppage], and yet we’re on Episode 7 out of our initial 13. We’ve made some changes.

TVGuide.com: Hey, it’s totally fine to stop and catch your breath and do things right.

Dushku: Completely. And we feel like we’re in an awesome groove. The scripts are tight and exciting, and we’ve definitely upped the action. Initially, we were doing a lot of set-up, and Fox and Joss decided that we needed to have the some of the payoffs come sooner. As a result, I sashay to work every day! I know that sounds crazy, but I love it. I’ve played probably twenty-some different characters in the past couple months, and every one is a thrill. I’ve been riding motorcycles and deer hunting, I had a Muay Thai fight scene with a 6-foot-5 cop, I went river rafting, rock climbing.... The whole gamut.

TVGuide.com: When we spoke at the summer TCA (watch video), you told me you were bringing some "skills" of your own to the table. But it sounds like you’ve added a few.

Dushku: Yes, my "mad skills." [Laughs] Joss and I have been good friends over the years, and one of the things we laugh about is how I live a crazy life and am in 10 places at once. I’m a bit of a storyteller, so I share all these things and he puts them in the show. He joked at Comic-Con that this show is a bit biographical.

TVGuide.com: Should your and Joss’ fans be worried by Dollhouse’s Friday time slot?

Dushku: We’re in the age of DVR, man. People watch what they want to watch, and we feel confident that we’re going to bring [existing] fans and welcome new ones. The show is extraordinary. It’s cool and it’s hot and it’s different. It’s nice being paired with Sarah Connor Chronicles as a sort of female empowerment night. It takes a little bit of the pressure off [versus airing on Mondays], with 24 coming on after two years. I think the time slot gives us time to come on, air all of our shows and hook people. And I truly believe it will.

TVGuide.com: You obviously had certain expectations and things you were looking forward to with Dollhouse. But now that you’re well into filming it, what has surprised you about the show?

Dushku: I’ve obviously played a lot of strong characters, but Joss, from the very beginning, said, "I also see a lot of vulnerability, and different shades of you that others maybe haven’t seen." So I get these scripts and they’re different for me. We had this joke where Joss put me in a ’40s up-do and it totally threw me off. It just threw me off. [Laughs] He said, "Eliza, I have you figured out. Your comfort zone lies in your hair, and I’m going to take you out of your comfort zone as much as possible. I can throw you off a building or dump you in a river or have you get hit by a truck, and none of that fazes you. But a ’40s up-do sends you spinning. So get ready, honey — I’m going to take you for a little adventure!"