Eliza Dushku Biography

ELIZA DUSHKU

Date of Birth: December 30, 1980

This Boston, Massachusetts native is the daughter of college professors and was raised with her three older brothers in a staunch Mormon household. As a child, she studied piano, drums and dance (jazz, tap and ballet) for fun.

She started acting as a child, performing in numerous amateur presentations at the Watertown Children's Theatre, where she remained part of the company for many years after the first grade. When she was eleven years old, she landed the lead role of the Lord High Executioner in the musical, The Mikado.

A year later she decided to audition for the starring role of Alice Bloom in the film That Night. After a five month search throughout the United States, she was chosen to play the part. Two years later she landed the role of Schwarzenegger's daughter in the action film, True Lies.

Dushku's workload wasn't getting any smaller, and eventually she was legally emancipated from her parents because of the strict laws on the hours that a minor is allowed to work. She remained hard at work though, with a starring role in the film Bye Bye Love, and eventually landed the role of Faith the Vampire Slayer, in the hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just a guest role at first, she soon became a regular from 1998 to 2000 for the show, and even made numerous appearances on the spin-off series, Angel. During shooting however, Dushku did take some time off to complete her high school education.

Following the exposure on Buffy, Dushku had a pile of feature film work thrown at her door. She spent the beginning of the 21st century getting through the massive workload including starring roles in films like Bring It On, Soul Survivors, The New Guy and City by the Sea.

She took on the starring role in Tru Calling, a new drama that debuted in the fall of 2003 on the Fox network. The show was a hit and has been renewed for a second season.

Eliza currently lives in L.A. with her brother Nate, who is also an actor. In addition to acting, she sometimes returns to sign plays for the deaf at the Watertown Children's Theatre, where she started her acting experience.

Filmography:

Noah's Ark: The New Beginning (2008) (voice)
The Thacker Case (2008)
Open Graves (2008)
The Alphabet Killer (2008)
Bottle Shock (2008)
Sex and Breakfast (2007)
Noble Son (2007)
On Broadway (2007)
The Last Supper (2006) The Kiss (2003)
Wrong Turn (2003)
City by the Sea (2002)
The New Guy (2002)
Soul Survivors (2001)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Bring It On (2000)
Switch (1999)
Race the Sun (1996)
Bye Bye, Love (1995)
Fishing with George (1994)
True Lies (1994)
This Boy's Life (1993)
That Night (1992)