Eliza Dushku

Template:Actor

Eliza Patricia Dushku (pronounced Pooshkoo or DUSK-koo) (born December 30, 1980) is an America actress best known for her television roles, particularly her recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel.

She has also starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse.

Early life

Dushku was born in Watertown, Massachusetts. Her father, Phillip R. Dushku, was an administrator and teacher in the Boston Public Schools and her mother, Judith "Judy", was a political science professor. Her father is Albanian and her mother is of Danish and English descent. Dushku attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Watertown High School.

Career

Early Career

Dushku came to the attention of casting agents at the age of 10. She was chosen after a five month search for the lead role as Alice in the film, That Night. In 1993, she landed the role of Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, a role she has later said opened a lot of doors. The following year, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies. She had parts as Paul Reiser's daughter in Bye Bye Love and as Cindy Johnson in Race The Sun.

Dusku took time away from acting to complete her junior and senior years of high school. She was accepted into the George Washington University in Washington D.C as well as a place in Suffolk University in Boston, where her mother works as a professor.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

After completing high school, Dushku took the role of Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a Slayer much more troubled than title character, Buffy Summers. Though initially planned as a five-episode role, the character became so popular that she stayed for an entire third season and returned for two episodes in season four; a part that played out the remainder of her character arc in spin-off series, Angel. Re-dedicated, Faith became a more heroic character in other episodes of Angel as well as returning for the final five episodes of Buffy.

Other Roles'

In 2000, Dushku starred in cheerleader comedy, Bring It On and followed it up with Soul Survivors, reuniting with her Race The Sun co-star, Casey Affleck. In 2001, she appeared in The New Guy with DJ Qualls and City By The Sea with Robert De Niro and James Franco. The same year, Dushku was invited to be a part of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

In 2003, Dushku starred in horror film, Wrong Turn as well as indie comedy-drama, The Kiss. She was also cast as the lead in new Fox series, Tru Calling where she played medical student, Tru Davies. The show includes many guest-stars like Kal Penn (Hunt/Unidentified psychic demon), Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates), Christina Hendricks (Unidentified barmaid), Clare Kramer (Glorificus), Wade Andrew William (Gregor), Kristoffer Polaha (Dylan Blim), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Sam Ryan) and Alec Newman (Drogyn) Dushku turned down the chance to appear in another Buffy spin-off which would have focused on the character of Faith.

Dushku appeared in an Off-Broadway production entitled Dog Sees God in December 2005 where she played Van's Sister. She quit in February 2006 along with other cast members amidst rumours of an abusive producer.

Dushku appeared in the Simple Plan music video for 'I'm Just A Kid' and in the video for 'Rockstar' by Nickelback.

Duskhu has also appeared in a total of five video games. She voiced the role of Yumi Sawamura in the English version of Yakuza for Playstation 2, released in 2006. She also starred as Shaundi, one of the lead characters in Saints Row 2 released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008. Dushku leant her voice to the lead character, Rubi Malone in WET. 2013 also saw Dushku announce her reprisal of the role of Shaundi in Saints Row IV.

Recent Work

In October 2005, Dushku announced filming had begun for Nobel Son alongside Danny DeVito and Bill Pullman. The movie was released at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. On Broadway was another independant movie shot in her hometown of Boston. It's been shown in various film festivals and won several awards.

Dushku co-starred with Macaulay Culkin in Sex & Breakfast released in 2007. She also starred in films, Open Graves, The Thacker Case and The Alphabet Killer.

In 2007, Dushku revealed she had lured Buffy creator, Joss Whedon, back to TV and that they had discussed and agreed to create TV show, Dollhouse. Duskhu produced the show and also starred as lead character, Echo, along with Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle), Summer Glau (Prima Ballerina) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce). Other Guest on the show are Carlease Burke (Winslow), Kevin Will (Heath), Maury Sterling (Barney), Chet Grissom (Clark), Tony Amendola (Thesulac Demon), Jim Piddock (The Valet), Kristoffer Polaha (Dylan Blim), Tanoai Reed (Local Boy), Glenn Morshower (Phillip Newton), Clayton Rohner (Lee DeMarco), Stacey Scowley (Unidentified woman (Conversations with Dead People)) and Felicia Day (Violet)

Personal Life

Dushku lives in Laurel Canyon, California. On a visit to Albania in 2011, she applied for Albanian citizenship and recieved an Albanian ID card and passport.

She is the founder and CEO of Boston Diva Productions and serves on the board of directors of the THARCE-Gulu Organization (The Trauma Healing and Reflection Center in Gulu).

Dushku began dating former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player, Rick Fox in October 2009 and in August 2010, it was confirmed they were living together. In December 2011, Dushku announced she had moved to a vegan diet. In June 2014, Dushku confirmed that Fox and herself had decided too call off their relationship in order for her too move back too her hometown of Boston where she is due to attend college.

Trivia

Family

Was legally emancipated from her parents due to the limits a minor was allowed to work.

Is the younger sister of Nathaniel (Nate), Aaron and Benjamin Dushku.

Dushku were the only family with that surname in America in the 1920's.

Her last name is pronounced "DUSK-koo" and rhymes with 'push'.

She has 2 dogs, a Golden Retriever named Max Factor and a Bernese named Rigby Idaho.

Personal

While on location, she surrounds herself with pictures of family and friends.

Good friends with Clare Kramer who played Glory in Buffy. As well as series star, Sarah Michelle Gellar and actress, Julie Benz who played Darla in both Buffy and Angel.

For a long time, she refused to do nude scenes. She did, however, appear topless in The Alphabet Killer.

The tattoo she wore when playing Faith was fake.

She is terrified of flying and will only do so if necessary and only if she has religious artifacts with her.

Jamie Lee Curtis is her idol.

Awards

9th Sexiest Female Movie Star - Australian Empire Magazine in 2002

#13 Maxim's 100 Sexiest Women in 2002

#44 (2000), #13 (2001), #28 (2002) and #63 (2003) in Stuff's Sexiest Women.

#76 (2002) in FHM-USA's Sexiest Women.

She ranked #93 (2001), #58 (2002), #48 (2003), #26 (2004), #83 (2005), #38 (2008), #28 (2009), #21 (2010) in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women.

* Ranked #11 in Wizard magazine's "Sexiest Women of TV" in 2008

She ranked #26 on "Maxim's Hot 100 of 2010".

* Ranked #38 on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World (2011).

Gallery

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