After hanging up Faith’s stake in the final episode of Buffy, Eliza Dushku has been saving lives and setting hearts racing in the time-travelling adventure series Tru Calling. The ever-popular actress talks to Jenny Cooney Carrillo about her new role as Tru Davies…

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer reached its dramatic conclusion in May 2003, the scene seemed set for rogue Slayer Faith to take centre stage in her own spin-off series. But Faith’s real-life counterpart, Eliza Dushku, took everyone by surprise by signing up to topline Fox’s fantasy series Tru Calling instead.

Best described as a cross between Quantum Leap, Groundhog Day and Six Feet Under, Tru Calling stars Dushku as Tru Davies, a young morgue attendant who learns that she can communicate with the recently deceased and re-live the day before a person’s death, in a bid to change the past for the better. Although the show has performed disappointingly in the US ratings and looks unlikely to return for a second season, Tru Calling has nevertheless provided a strong showcase for Dushku and proven that the 23-year-old actress can comfortably topline a TV show.

As production wraps on Tru Calling’s first season, Dreamwatch meets Dushku in Hollywood and finds out her feelings on both Tru’s time-travelling antics and the Buffy franchise…

Tru Calling represents your first leading role in a TV show. Have you found there’s an added sense of responsibility being the star of a series?

Oh yeah. It’s a different ball game altogether. But it’s a lot of fun and I think that I was a good candidate. I have endless energy. I love to go to work every day. I’ve taken the responsibility and really gone with it. I even like the leadership aspects of keeping the cast and crew together. I’ve really enjoyed it, although the hours are insane and I miss being able to keep in touch with my friends and family.

What originally made you want to star in Tru Calling? And how was the show first described to you?

Initially, the show was pitched to me as a mixture of Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run, The Sixth Sense and Six Feet Under. Six Feet Under was one of my favourite shows at the time – and it still is, I think it’s a great show. So I really liked the idea for Tru Calling.

I thought one of the things that would make the show different was that the story was being told through a young woman. That alone had so many possibilities. I think there are still so many stories to be told about young women in different situations and predicaments. I liked the fact that here was a girl who had this responsibility that would come to manifest itself in so many different ways. I also liked that it would be a blessing at times and a curse at other times, and that she would have triumphs and failures. It just seemed like a really challenging endeavour.

Why do you think shows like Six Feet Under are so popular?

I guess it’s like when you drive by a car crash. I think we all have a fascination with death, and I think a lot of people discovered that about themselves when they started watching Six Feet Under. People were strangely drawn to it because it was very unusual. The same goes for me. We know so much and so little about death. I think that it’s interesting to explore it.

What would you say is the most distinctive and appealing element of Tru Calling for viewers?

There’s something really powerful about the idea of ‘what if?’ What if you could go back an hour or a day? What if I had made that phone call? The idea of changing your fate or changing destiny is something that people can relate to and are intrigued by. I like that our story is being told through this young, capable, romantic and beautiful girl, Tru. We’ve tried to make her as real as possible, so that people can get involved in her stories and her life.

I really feel like I identify with Tru in so many ways. I have tried to add some of my own nuances to Tru.

How physically demanding is the role? In the series’ opening episode, you seemed to be running in virtually every scene!

[Laughs] We actually cut down on the running from the pilot episode, which I really appreciated. Philip Noyce, the director, was so great and I learned so much. That man has something about me running, though. It was too much!

Making the show is physical and it’s fun. Sometimes the show has that Alias feeling. Tru has to integrate herself into the lives of so many different people. I like that I get to dress up and go undercover sometimes. Posing as a nurse, a student or a doctor is fun. But it is physical because we’re always on the move. It’s a high-energy show. That’s the main part of the concept: we’re racing against time. It’s a matter of life and death. It always comes down to the last second and so it is physical, but it’s good for me.

It must be a tiring show to film…

Yeah, we work an average of 16 hours a day, Monday to Friday. But the crew in Vancouver is just amazing. They’re so hardworking and everyone is just doing such a great job. We have so much fun. I can’t think of a better group of people that I would want to be spending that much time with.

Jason Priestley recently joined the cast of Tru Calling as the mysterious Jack Harper. What’s he been like to work with?

Jason has this crazy laugh that we all try and mimic. It’s insane and everybody tries to do the Jason Priestley laugh. And he says the word ‘dude’ 50 times in every sentence. It’s crazy and sweet and funny, and that’s cool with me!

He’s the nicest guy – he’s so charming and he’s very enthusiastic about being on the show. I think he’s brought a good chemistry to the morgue! I’m excited to see his character’s storyline unfold. I know some secrets that are very cool. I think it’ll be exciting for viewers.

How happy have you been with Tru Calling’s first season?

I think that with any first season show, there’s a lot of politics involved. There’s a lot of focus on bringing in viewers and bringing in certain demographics, so you try to be very safe.

If the show continues, I think that it would be fun to take more risks in the second season, because I’m a risk-taker. If the day rewinds and Tru discovers the person she’s supposed to save is a rapist or a child molester, would there be a point where she would decide not to help that person? I think those are intense issues. So I think that’s a direction it would be bold to go to in, and I’d certainly be all for that.

Before you signed up to star in Tru Calling, there was a lot of speculation that you were going to play Faith in a Buffy spin-off show. Were you ever actually approached about making that series?

We had discussed it. [Buffy and Angel creator] Josh Whedon really is a dear friend. I started that show when I was 17 years old. He and I really grew on each other and came to be great friends. When Buffy was ending, he and I would sit down together or go to breakfast and lunch, and there was one breakfast where we started brainstorming – we thought of the possibilities and the ‘what if?’

I think Joss and I both decided that maybe it wasn’t the time for a Faith spin-off. I told him about Tru Calling. I wanted to try something different and take the road less travelled.

Did you have more fun playing Faith when she was a goodie or when she was a baddie?

It’s fun to play the bad girl, I’m not going to lie to you. [Laughs] Sometimes it was really exciting and liberating to be completely off the wall and psychotic. I also liked getting to kiss David Boreanaz [Angel] too!

But I also liked seeing Faith evolve and transform and go from places of deep pain, confusion and fear. Faith began dealing with that, and she began to hope, and I think those are important things. So I think I like them equally.

What was the atmosphere like on the set of the final Buffy episode, Chosen?

It was almost like a high school reunion. I was just extremely flattered that they included me in the final season of Buffy. They featured Faith so, so much. I thought that was really cool and I was so flattered and excited about it. I was thrilled to do it.

I love the cast. I really grew up with them. They’re all so professional and so hard working, and I was really proud of them all for what a great job they did. It was great to see them for the finale, because I wasn’t at Sarah Michelle Gellar’s or Alison Hannigan’s weddings. Sarah is really cool and I have a lot of respect for her. We actually share the same manager, and she and her husband, Freddie [Prinze, Jr], are very sweet. They’re all good people and I wish them the best.

I was sorry to hear that Angel won’t be continuing. I know a lot of other people are too. That’s two big blows in one year for the Buffy fans.

Do you think you might play Faith again one day?

I would love to go back. I love anything that Joss writes for me. But I don’t know how realistic an option that is. Maybe we’ll do a big reunion show and everyone will come and it’ll be a big Buffy party. Who knows?

Faith and Tru share some obvious similarities as characters. Are you at all worried that you’ll become typecast?

I can think of worse things to be typecast as than a strong and smart young woman! I’m not too concerned with being typecast.

Your film and TV work has won you a strong following among young men. How do you feel about that?

I could do without the letters from prison! They freak me out. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why they’re showing a show about young teenage girls in maximum-security prisons to these psycho-murderer men!

But it’s fun to have really cute guys come up to you. It’s then that I think, “Wow, maybe this isn’t so bad! These cute guys really like that movie I did and want to come up and say hi.” So there are perks. I try not to take it too seriously. For the most part, in my daily life, I’m not that glamorous. I’m a normal young woman.

What kinds of things do you do when you’re not working?

I like to go out, eat dinner and catch up on people’s lives. When I have some serious down time, my mother and I go travelling. If anyone out there is interested in having me headline and host a travel show, I’d do it in a second! I love the Lonely Planet guidebooks and I’ve travelled all through China and visited South America and Africa.

Finally, coming back to the theme of Tru Calling – what one moment would you re-live if you had the chance?

Oh, that’s a big question! [Laughs]. I really try to just live my life and not regret anything. But if I could re-live today though, I wouldn’t have asked for a doggy bag at [upper-class restaurant] The Ivy. Because when I walked outside, the paparazzi were all taking pictures of me with my doggy bag! If I could re-live anything, I would have leftmy salad inside.

This article originally appeared in Dreamwatch Issue 117 (June 2004)