Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku was most recently seen as Echo, the persona-shifting ‘doll’ kicking ass and taking names, as Eliza’s characters are wont to do, on Joss Whedon’s short-lived Fox series Dollhouse–but even today, she’s still best known for a different role in another, longer-lasting and much more popular cult classic Whedon series: that of Faith, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s dark-haired slayer frenemy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Dushku recently attended the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, where she talked about her years as Faith, and her character’s many complexities, with enduring appreciation. “What I loved about her was that even when she was completely in the dark side, completely out of her mind and killing people and torturing people, she was written in a way, and we played her in a way, that people still felt for her, people still pulled for her. It wasn’t just black and white, good and evil, it was this really complex grey area and people loved her in spite of everything she did.”

Like James Marsters’ peroxide blond British vampire Spike, Faith proved to be such a breakout character that the few episodes Dushku was originally signed for were quickly expanded to extend the entire third season of Buffy and for several more after that, ending with appearances on Buffy’s spin-off series Angel as well. “I realized at a certain point how incredible that role was when I had young women coming up to me on the streets and writing me letters, telling me stories of how they had been abused, and when my character came on Buffy they confronted their abusers,” Dushku says of her character’s inspiring popularity. “It just empowered all these young women.”

Dushku turned down the chance for a Faith spin-off in order to do Tru Calling after Buffy’s end.