Eliza Dushku filmography and biography
Date of birth: 30 December 1980, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Eliza Dushku biography
Eliza Dushku was discovered at the end of a five-month search throughout the United States for the perfect girl to play the lead role of Alice opposite Juliette Lewis (I) in the film That Night. Since then, she has been in several films and has worked with actors such as Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Reiser, and James Belushi. Born in Boston on December 30, 1980, she has studied the piano, drums, and several types of dance (jazz, tap, and ballet). Her previous acting experience includes numerous amateur presentations at the Watertown Children's Theater where she was part of the company since she was in the first grade. In addition to acting, she is sometimes seen on stage at the Children's Theater signing for the deaf.
Eliza Dushku trivia
- Was legally emancipated from her parents because of the restrictive laws
that limit the hours that a minor is allowed to work.
- Younger sister of Nate Dushku.
- Her last name is pronounced DUSH-koo and rhymes with "push."
- In addition to Nathaniel (Nate), she has two older brothers named Aaron
and Benjamin (Ben) (born February 5th 1976).
- Dushku was the only family with that surname in the United States of
America in 1920 and were living in Massachusetts.
- Has worked with both halves of the Buffy season-five bad guy Glory/Ben
outside of the Buffy show: Clare Kramer in
Bring It On and Charlie Weber in
The Kiss (2003) (V).
- Voted the 9th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire
Magazine September 2002.
- Her mother, Judy (born Judith Rasmussen), is a university
administrator-professor at Suffolk University; her Father, Philip R.
Dushku, is an administrator-teacher in the Boston Public Schools.
- While on location, she surrounds herself with pictures of family and
friends.
- She always takes the back of her director's chair (the chair
personalized with her name) after a shoot as a souvenir.
- She used to have a German shepherd-husky-beagle mix named Korbit. Now
she has 2 dogs, a golden named Max Factor and a Bernese named Rigby
Idaho.
- Turned down a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off (based
on her character, Faith) for her role on Tru Calling.
- Good friend of Clare Kramer.
- She started her career by getting hurt at one of her brother
Nate Dushku's auditions and impressing the talent scouts with
her emphasized drama.
- Planned to attended Suffolk University and be an English major, but she
backed out at the last minute after she landed the role of Faith in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- For a long period of time, she refused to do nude scenes. She once
stated "You have a better chance of seeing God than me naked". Still,
in 2008, she appeared topless in the film
The Alphabet Killer.
- The tattoo she wore as Faith was fake.
- She did a political, social, and economic study of women in
post-apartheid South Africa with her mother.
- Stated in an interview that she is terrified of flying and will only do
so if she has religious artifacts with her.
- She attended the John Kerry (III) fund raiser on July, 2004.
- Attended the San Diego Comic Convention on July 25th, 2004, for a Q&A
session.
- She ranked #13 (2002) in Maxim's 100 Sexiest Women.
- She ranked #44 (2000), #13 (2001), #28 (2002) and #63 (2003) in Stuff's
Sexiest Women.
- Her favorite sport is Women's Ice Hockey.
- She ranked #76 (2002) in FHM-USA's 100 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.
- Shares a birthday with actress Kristin Kreuk, actor-model-singer
Tyrese Gibson, and some famous athletes: Tiger Woods, NBA
superstar LeBron James, and former Olympic sprinter
Ben Johnson (VIII).
- While filming Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, was called
Duck Shoot by director Kevin Smith (I) after he mispronounced
her last name accidentally.
- According to Chinese calendar and astrology, she was born in the year of
the monkey.
- Hosted the 2005 Winter Venatian Masquerade in New York.
- Her favorite color is black.
- Jamie Lee Curtis is her idol.
- Named #46 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special
supplement (2005).
- Was featured as #13 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002" supplement.
(2002)
- She went to an audition for the part of Mary Jane Watson in
Spider-Man. In one of the specials of the
Spider-Man DVD you can see her reading opposite
Tobey Maguire. The role later on went to Kirsten Dunst,
after Kate Hudson (I) declined the offer. Alicia Witt was
actually set to play that part in the end, but when Sam Raimi
saw Kirsten Dunst, she was a last minute audition, he chose her.
- Her maternal grandfather Richard Costley Rasmussen died at March 30th
2006. He was survived by his wife, Barbara Porter Hegsted.
- Has been working with an acting coach, Peter Kelley (I), since
she was a child.
- Is of Albanian, Danish and Colonial English descent.
- Ranked #11 on Wizard magazine's "Sexiest Women of TV" list (March 2008).
- When she was told her naturally deep, husky voice was destroying her
vocal chords, she went to a vocal coach to learn to speak in a higher
register.
- Says when she was a young child, her best friend lived in a funeral home
and they would often hang out in the mortuary after school, thus
desensitizing her to the image of dead bodies. She comments, "It was
very "Six Feet Under"".
- Of the three leads in Bring It On, she was the only one
who wasn't a cheerleader in high school.
- Her devoutly religious Mormon grandmother once tried to call powerful
Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz (who headed the agency that
then represented Dushku) to complain about a sex scene that her
granddaughter participated in on the TV show
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Is good friends with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Angel co-star Julie Benz, although the two never
appeared together in an episode of either show. Dushku has said that
she would love for Benz to appear in an episode of
Dollhouse.
- Has the words "Lead Kindly Light" as a tattoo. A hymn written in 1833 by
John Henry Newman.
- Girlfriend of Rick Fox.
- She ranked #26 on "Maxim's Hot 100 of 2010".
Eliza Dushku quotes
- Go big or go home. Because it's true. What do you have to lose?
- [When asked how being in prison has changed her angry and aggressive
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
character, Faith:] "How would prison change anyone? There was something
about the fact that she's a Slayer, so she wouldn't really be there
unless she wanted to be because she's got superhuman strength. She
could have busted out of that joint if she really wanted to, but she
and Angel developed this relationship. He was leading her down the road
to redemption, kind of facing the things she's done and recovering from
that and hopefully being a better her. She's been in there, doing the
time, thinking. She's still a tough girl, but she really has to
suppress her demons a little more. In these past few ["Angel"] shows,
that's what we're seeing -- her teetering on the line between the old
her and the new her" [Buffalo News, March 17, 2003].
- I love leather and it's great to be a bad girl at times. But there is a
time and place for everything. When I'm with Grandma it's flowers, and
when I'm out on the town scoping guys, you know...
- There are a lot of actresses out there who are the girl next door. I
relate more to characters who have an edge.
- You know, I really am probably one of the sweetest, most sensitive
people you'll ever meet.
- [On David Boreanaz and working with the 'Angel' cast] 'David is my
brother, man. He's my boy, and we just have so much fun. We really just
hit it off from the beginning, way back when, and I really love going
and working with those guys.'
- [On working with the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' cast] 'I'm really proud
of them all. Every time that I got back there I'd feel like I was going
back and seeing my high school friends again, because we'd been such
good friends over the years. I'll miss not being able to go back and
shoot with them, but they really turned it out for the finale and
worked their asses off, and I'm just really proud of all of it.'