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Eliza Dushku was called as Eliza Patricia Dushku at her birth. She is a very talented and well accomlished actress in the Hollywood film industry. She was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts by he rparents who were both college professors. She has three older brothers, whom she says used to terrorize her and taught her to become a tomboy, but she must have forgiven them as she still lives with her oldest brother Nate today.
Dushku appeared at the Watertown Children's Theater beginning in the first grade, performing in productions and also serving as a sign-language interpreter for hearing-impaired audience members. In 1991, Dushku was discovered in a casting search for the small coming-of-age romance "That Night" and tapped to co-star as the young, awestruck neighbor of a troubled sixteen-year-old (Juliette Lewis), who helps the older girl navigate her forbidden romance with bad boy Rick (C Thomas Howell). Dushku made an impressive screen debut, evincing all of the dreamy idealism of her character's youth without resorting to unrealistic sentimentality. The film was released in 1993, the same year that she was featured in her follow-up role as the daughter of Robert De Niro's sadistic character in the critically acclaimed biopic "This Boy's Life". 1994 saw her call Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger Mom and Dad in James Cameron's humorous actioner "True Lies".
Dushku made her TV debut at age 14 in the CBS "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation "Journey" (1995). After this, she returned to the big screen with featured turns as rebellious teens in the divorce-themed comedy-drama "Bye Bye, Love" (1995) and the Hawaii-set teen film "Race the Sun" (1996). Television beckoned again in the late 1990s, and Dushku made an auspicious comeback with a recurring role on The WB supernatural series "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", playing the eponymous heroine's nemesis Faith, a fellow slayer with nefarious motives. Dushku's portrayal of the striking, black leather-clad villain was appropriately chilling, and won the actress legions of fans while paving the way for a post-adolescent career.
A surprise guest turn on a 2000 two-episode arc of the spin-off series "Angel" (The WB) reprised the role of Faith, and Dushku lightened up some that same year with a featured role in the sharp cheerleading comedy "Bring it On". In "Soul Survivors" (2001), she was alongside other young Hollywood favorites like Casey Affleck and Wes Bentley. 2002, though, proved a banner year in the actress' career, proving her ability and rising star status in two high profile features, "The New Guy", which marked her return to teen comedy, and the crime drama "City By the Sea", in which the spunky ingenue
Dushku resides in Los Angeles. Dushku
resides in Los Angeles at present. |