Eliza's Acting

[Ethan Reigns]

Actors are above all, specialists. Most professionals are.

I happen to be an electrical engineer. Don't ask me the proportions of sand, cement and gravel to mix to make concrete for a bridge. In the same sense, don't expect a cardiologist to perform an appendectomy. And don't expect an action-oriented actress like Eliza Dushku to be able to do all aspects of drama, comedy, action, horror and any other category of acting. To be able to do all the different "engagements" plus Caroline, she had to be reasonably versatile and she was. I'm not saying she could have played the part of Buffy - SMG had a different set of skills that made her draw people into her pain and drama. But for the parts ED was asked to do, she did a pretty good job although I get the OP's idea that she looked like an actress playing a part rather than becoming the character - Michelle Trachtenberg was best at becoming a part, even better than SMG on Buffy.

People may complain about her acting in Dollhouse, but the nature of Dollhouse is that it could never be a starring medium because the personality of the character is never given the chance to come through except in an overall arc where capabilities that were supposed to be wiped are seen to persist. When personalities are wiped for each episode, it is not possible for personality characteristics to gain any momentum.

 

[thrasherpix]

Just my own musing: I wonder if the director knew what they wanted? Because if they don't then that hurts the actor's ability to do their jobs.

I also wonder if they felt they had to have a "constant" in her character so that the viewers could "bond" with her, which would also dilute her acting.

Neither of these would be a problem where Faith "is Buffy" in BTVS. And she does pretty good there (I just love her scene as Faith trying to convince Giles she's really Buffy).

 

[tripdastati0n]

Sarah Michelle Gellar as echo would have been better lol. I wasent impressed by her acting but of course shes amazing as Faith

 

[Give Us A Kiss]

Eliza Dushku isn't that great of an actress, she can do Faith well, but I wasn't too impressed by most of her other roles.

 

[Athene]

I think playing multiple personalities convincingly is a very hard task I think very few could pull it off. I find Eliza really enthralling in all of her roles so I was happy with her performance as Echo.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I agree she has range issues, and ideally, you work around the limitations of your contracted actors. My guess is this, Joss likes pushing actors out of their comfort zones, like Amy and Illyria, or Andy Halley's little talk with Eve in Not Fade Away. E.D. as a professional actress, knows that she had a comfortable gig as a hot girl, but if she wanted to work after fourty, she needed to challenge herself, and she trusts Joss. I mean, it seems silly, but doing a role like Illyria is why Amy Acker is still working today. So yes, I think she was taking a role that both her and Joss hoped would grow her as an actress. It's either that or start a line of teas, a wellness blog, gaslight the 7th in line to the British crown, win a really big lawsuit or marry rich.

 

[Last Watcher]

Well she has done the really big Lawsuit thing

She actually said in an interview about Dollhouse that Joss was taking her out of her comfort zone on a weekly basis......

 

[white avenger]

Eliza Dushku isn't that great of an actress, she can do Faith well, but I wasn't too impressed by most of her other roles.

Well, let's be honest, Eliza hasn't had much opportunity to play any other sort of role except assorted versions of a tough girl. Whether she doesn't get the offer for any other sort of part, or she just doesn't feel comfortable doing anything else, I don't know, but I can't recall ever seeing her in any other sort of story, with the exception of Schwarzenegger's daughter in "True Lies/" Maybe she would be great in a comedy or a musical. She may be a fantastic singer or dancer, or any other sort of role, but we've just never seen it. Like many other actors before her, Eliza has become type cast, and once that happens, it's very hard for an actor to get roles out of type.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

While I agree Eliza has limitations as an actor (and that's fine), I also cut her some slack. She was playing a new character (sometimes more than 1) every episode, with maybe a week and a half to prepare, as the lead. While Enver and Dichen are great, they also have less screentime most of the time, and only one or two characters to play. So, I do give her a little bit of slack, because it couldn't have been easy. I know a lot of people bring up Orphan Black, which I've not seen, but I think that might be a different shooting schedule than the weekly Fox Network. Plus, British actors are always better. lol.

But I do love Amy Acker! She can do anything! I will watch anything she is in, I even tried watching that Fox X-men show she was on The Gifted, but gave up on it. I loved her in Person of Interest! And of course she was amazing as Fred and Illyria. One of the reasons I enjoy the episode The Girl in Question is because of Amy's acting playing Illyria pretending to be Fred. So, amazing.

 

[fauxindigo]

She doesn't have the most range but I think in Dollhouse, Eliza showed more range than in any other show or film she's done which is cool.

I thought she showed her most range in episodes Omega, Man on the Street, A Love Supreme and especially Ghost & Belle Chose -both of which show her playing two very different personalities in the same episode..

 

[rogueangel]

Dollhouse was a strange show. Echo was a difficult character, because who she was was deliberately undefined and changing. I think that lack of a more fixed central character was a big problem for audiences.