Joss Whedon

UP CLOSE WITH JOSS WHEDON

As ’Dollhouse’ ramps up, the Buffy creator spikes the idea of writing ’Lost’ or ’Heroes,’ talks up his sexy new ’active’ angel Eliza Dushku and ranks his Slayer as a classic comic character.

WIZARD: What did you learn the hard way since you first began running your own TV shows?

WHEDON: Cast for sanity. That means make sure that the people that you’re excited by as actors are people that you can live with for seven years. Now, obviously, you can only guess at that, but a vibe is a very important thing. And that goes for writers and crew members as well. I’ve gradually gotten better and better at surrounding myself with really sweet, decent, professional people. pad

That’s high praise then for Eliza Dushku.

Yeah. I mean, she happened largely in this part because of my enormous respect and affection for her.

The original pilot was episode two, right?

Actually, the original pilot is gone. It was meant to be episode two when I said I would shoot a new pilot, but then when it became clear what the network was after I knew that the pilot I’d originally shot wouldn’t work with any of the first episodes. And by that time, we started changing the actual sequence of events and so we decided it had to go. Again, that was not the network; that was my call.

Do you think we’ll see that on a DVD some day?

Uh, I suppose it might [end up there]. It got kind of turned around and bastardized but there was one final version that they did initially reject so that does exist somewhere.

When executives give you story notes at this point in your career, do you ever feel like saying, "I’m Joss Whedon, dude. Trust me, it’ll all make sense before you know it." You know, it is tougher, particularly this year because I had a 45-minute note session that was followed by an executive telling me how much he loved "Dr. Horrible" [Whedon’s online musical parody] which was obviously made without the benefit of network notes. And then I had "Cabin in the Woods" greenlit at MGM with no notes, which was rare for a movie, so I’ve been in this wonderful rarified position. But, having said that, I also, always, have to go in there knowing that their priorities may not be mine but their perspective is valid. If they know what they’re doing, and I think these guys do, they’re worth listening to. And even somebody who doesn’t necessarily get what you’re doing might be the one to say, "Hey, look, the emperor’s naked."

Am I correct that you’re going to have a nude emperor in episode eight?

Yes. I mean, I realize every show’s doing it, but still.

[Laughs] So how far of an arc have you planned for the series already?

When I pitched it, I gave them a six-year plan with a lot of leeway for change. But what I really mapped out was the first 13, and even though we start in a different place than I had originally intended, we end up exactly where I’d intended in the 12th episode. Then, in the 13th episode, things just get stranger. There’s some twisted sh— coming.

Can you give us an idea of what to expect from the second half of the season?

The second half of the season, especially starting with episode six, "Man on the Street," just kicks the entire franchise up a huge notch. It’s where we start to pay off on everything we’ve been setting up for five episodes in terms of the relationships and the progression that Echo’s going through. And then I just start twisting the knife and I don’t stop. Hopefully it’s still accessible to people; we’re still doing standalones and every episode has its own resolution, so it’s not just a rabbit’s hole. The first half was definitely, "This is the world and here’s how it works." And then the second half just takes that up to an intense level and then we really start to mess with the audience.

Does anybody die?

Does anybody die? Oh...it’s me. I’m not saying that anybody dies, necessarily. I’m saying that everybody dies. It’s awesome!

I know you’re a professional, but do you ever look at Eliza Dusku and just involuntarily think, "Holy crap, she’s hot!"?

Oh my god! Eliza’s just almost hard to look at and, um, is well aware of it. [Laughs] [But] she’s very good natured about it. She is ridiculously beautiful. I said to her one time that I was just so happy not to be in love with her, because I couldn’t imagine how awful that would be. I don’t think she understood it was a compliment.

Is it just me or is "Dushku" just a fun name to say?

"Dushku" is fun.

Before "Dollhouse," were there any overtures from producers from "Lost" or "Heroes" asking you to contribute?

No, no shows, ever, that I know of, approached me about that. And I would be surprised if they did, just because I could see a network saying, "Hey, a show’s in trouble; come take over," to someone, but [for] the showrunners themselves, the last thing you want when you’re trying to maintain order is to invite a big personality into the mix because then the power structure gets confused.

Buffy was No. 136 in our 200th issue’s "Greatest Comic Characters of All Time" feature. Are you okay with that ranking?

Yeah, because that was not her first medium and so to make that list at all is cool. I think that’s fair. I mean, we can try and do better. You know, we’re gonna kill her and then bring her back and then she’s gonna get a black costume and she’s gonna go all punk. We’re gonna do a lot of things to make her a really classic comic character.