Ethan Reigns
Scooby
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.
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.