L i b r a i r i e . . .

I m p r o p e r  B o s t o n i a n . . .

E l i z a  D u s h k u  I n  B l a c k  A n d  W h i t e . . .

While waiting in the lush suite of the Four Seasons Hotel for Eliza Dushku to arrive, I wonder what the actress is like in real life. I think about the characters I've seen her play. In 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' the Watertown native was kicking butts and taking names ; in 'Bring It On' she was, well, also a badass, and in 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,' she played a feisty sex kitten. Given those rolls, I half expect her to show up in a patent-leather jumpsuit and kick down the door. Instead, she strolls in just like anyone else and introduces herself (as if we have no idea who she is) to each person in the room. She wears her hair in loose curls, and her make-up is polished but natural - there's no signs of the harsh black makeup that accompanies the tough characters she's played. She's warm and nice and never stops smiling.

The tough vixen image is something Dushku worries may get out of control. "Matty in the Morning called me a tramp," she says with a look of disbelief on her face. "I think I'm getting typecast. I mean, I know I play tough characters, but there's more than one side to me."

Having three older brothers and an admittedly "tomboy child" have fueled her ability to play the roles she has played. "I think that in high school I had a lot of aggression and that's why I was perfect for roles like Buffy," she says. "I got it all out of my character, but now I'm a more mature actress."

Eliza began her acting career at age 10. Her brother was going to an audition for a commercial in Boston, and he brought her along. The casting agent spotted her, and she got the part. A few months later, she got an invitation to come to LA to read for a Warner Brothers film. Her mother was reluctant, but with a little convincing from her brothers they ventured from their Watertown home and made the trip. Eliza got the part in 'That Night,' staring Juliette Lewis. A year later, she landed a role in 'This Boy's Life,' which starred Robert De Niro. "I had no idea who he was," she admits. "I was 10. I was just a kid having fun."

From that first movie role, "everything just sort of dominoed," she says. "Things just keep happening right after another. I never really think about where I'll be in five years. I'm just waiting for things to happen. I'm doing my best and being myself, and it seems to have worked so far."

She's had the chance to play a pretty-girl-next-door type in 'The New Guy,' released this summer, and nine years after 'This Boys Life,' she's working with De Niro again on her latest project, a Warner Brother's movie called 'City By The Sea.' "I play the girlfriend of Robert De Niro's son," she says. "This time when I worked with him, I was totally star struck. It was though I had never seen him before. He's so talented."

Though she's starting to play more diverse roles, it was the tough girl image that landed her on the cover of Maxim last year. But as provocative as those photographs are, her fans may be interested to know that she refused to get naked for that shoot, or to wear anything she considered too revealing. "I was a tomboy growing up, and when I come back home now, I always get some crap from my friends - making fun of me because they saw me half-naked across the pages of Maxim or something. When I'm shooting, I just try to make sure I wouldn't be embarrassed of it later, because in Watertown, you don't get away with anything," she says.

By the end of our photo shoot, I have a fresh perspective of Eliza Dushku - of a young woman who loves her family, is grateful to have people who care about her and respects herself. While she's still a badass in my mind, she's also the girl next door.