20 years of Faith: Eliza Dushku looks back on her iconic Buffy role

Twenty years ago Eliza Dushku joined the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the vampire slayer Faith Lehane.

Eliza made her entrance in “Faith, Hope & Trick,” the third episode of season three, which originally aired on October 13, 1998.

She became the major focus of the third season and later appeared in shorter story arcs and also on Buffy’s spin-off series, Angel.

The character was created and introduced as a dark reflection of vampire slayer Buffy Summers played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Unlike Buffy, Faith had a troubled past, no support system and lacked Buffy’s golden moral code. And though Faith started out with good intentions, she quickly slipped and began to wreak havoc in Buffy’s world.

“It was fun to come in and be the one that shakes things up,” Eliza says.

Some viewers didn’t see things the same way though. Eliza remembers fans’ reactions to her arrival on Buffy 20 years back like it was yesterday.

“When I started being really naughty some people were upset by my antics and some fans started freaking me out. It was very real for them,” she recalls.

“People would call me by my character name like, ‘Yo Faith! Who do you think you are coming to Sunnydale and stealing Buffy’s boyfriend!’ They’d want to fight me on Santa Monica Boulevard and I was just trying to get groceries.”

Twenty years later, Eliza is still recognized for playing Faith, the role she credits for showing her all the ropes.

“When I got Buffy, I was just out of high school. I learned so much and I learned a lot from Sarah,” who she says had a really hard job to do.

“It wasn’t until I did Tru Calling and Doll House that I realized how hard. When you’re the No.1 person on the call sheet and in every scene, you’re the first person there on Monday morning at 4 a.m. and the last person leaving at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning. That’s your life. 8 months of that. It requires a lot of discipline, a lot of commitment and a lot of sacrifice.”

Keep up with Eliza by following the star on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Oct 31 2018. Filed under ChitChat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.