Dollhouse

Joss Whedon did double duty of the Y: The Last Man party in Los Angeles on Friday, serving not only as keynote speaker, but also as one of the Big Draws for the evening. We spent a few minutes with Joss once his speech-giving duties were over, and he filled us in about Dollhouse, his dance project with Summer Glau, and why Ronald D. Moore is putting up with his salivary glands.

What about Dollhouse will draw in your Buffy and Firefly fans?

Well, Eliza (Dushku). Duh. It’s very different than the stuff I’ve done before, but at the same time it’s still a very hardcore examination of the human condition. It really sort of boils it down to who are we, how are we programmed, what do we need, what is okay about us, and what is really not okay. It’s the most morally gray thing I’ve ever done. I think it might actually anger a lot of my fans, but there are questions I still have to ask. Ultimately I think it will intrigue them because that.

We keep hearing that the strike will be over soon. How has it affected Dollhouse? Have you actually written any of it yet?

I had just pitched the seven episodes for the show, I hadn’t written anything. I did not even so much as look at them during the strike, and will not until the strike is over. The day the strike is over, I will start working, so whatever we plan to do will certainly be pushed back by exactly as many months as the strike was... or still is.

Tell us a bit more about the dance project with Summer, we know you’ve been writing the music for that.

I’ve been working for a long time composing the score for a ballet short that I’ve wanted to film because of Summer. It’s a little piece and we have a choreographer we’re about to start working with it. I don’t know if she’s suddenly going to be shooting again or what, but we hope to shoot this hopefully in the late spring or early summer. It’s something I’ve dreamed about pretty much ever since I met her.

What would you do with it after you finished it?

I don’t know ... I guess go to festivals! I’ve never been to any festivals, so I guess I’d go to those with my short film. (He breaks into an impromptu little "I’m an indie short filmmaker guy" dance).

We heard you comparing Brian K. Vaughan to a Cylon up there. Are you a big Battlestar Galactica fan?

There is no bigger! I beat that "other guy" who thought he was the biggest fan. I’ve spent a lot of time with Ron on the picket lines, and he’s very gracious about my drool for the show.