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

N e w  W e e k l y . . .

F a i t h  N o  M o r e . . .

With a busy filming schedule, Eliza Dushku doesn't regret moving on from Buffy on which she played Faith

Now that Eliza Dushku, who played Faith in Buffy The Vampire Slayer has become one of Hollywood's hottest teen starlets, she's having fun reading all the gossip about her supposedly busy love life. "I read that I was with Ben Affleck AND Matt Damon - at the same time!" she roars, laughing. "But I am still not quite famous, so that kind of gossip doesn't happen very often. But it was funny, because when my friends read about me and Ben, they were calling me up saying, 'I hate you!'" she laughs. "But I've known him since I was 12 years old. So believe me, there's nothing interesting going on there."

Dushku recently starred with Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On, and says of life these days: "Some people assume that I'm a 'movie star' and so they won't even talk to me!" Dushku says guys are intimidated by her because of her tough-girl image. "But the right type of guy would jump at the challenge", she grins. Apparently he already has, but the subject of her love-life is off-limits. "I'd hate to read what I said in a magazine, like, 'Oh I'm really in love and this is THE one', and then by the time this interview appears, I'm not with him any more! I think some things are just too personal to talk about."

In her upcoming role in the sexy comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back she plays part of a sexy "anti-Charlie's Angels trio", with Ali Larter (Legally Blonde) and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (wife of director and star Kevin Smith). Smith resumes his silent "personality" with buddy Jason Mewes and a cast of thousands, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Shannon Doherty and Alanis Morissette. "We had so much fun," Dushku recalls. "I loved wearing the catsuits; it was so cool! And with the actors who came in for cameos! It was like, who's coming today? It was really exciting!"

Even though she hasn't been on Buffy for the last two seasons in the US, she says, "Since Buffy, my life has been... different." She pauses. "It has a huge folllowing. Buffy fans pop out of bushes, and they're kind of everywhere. And it's been surreal with all the attention on the Internet, but it's flattering that I've had such a huge impact through the character, and I loved being on the Angel show, too."

What most people don't know is that Dushku, who recently turned 21, has been working since she was five years old. "Buffy was my stepping stone back in to this business. I took two years off making movies to finish high school," she says. "It was funny, because people would say, 'You've worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies) and Leo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro ( ) and you're going back to high school?" she laughs. "But my mother is a science professor at university, so I doubt she would have let me not finish school.

"I've lived with one of my brothers in LA for three years now, so I'm pretty normal. I'm not that interesting in that sense." Incidentally, her brother, Nate, appeared in Anti-Trust with Ryan Phillippe and on TV's Felicity,

"I don't know if I'm going back to Buffy or Angel," she says. "I've just done three movies back-to-back, so I'm doing a breather right now. I'd like to go back to Buffy, but I've been in a coma, I've jumped off a building, I've been in prison - how many other ways can they bring me back? But those guys are geniuses, so who knows?"

In her next role, Dushku stars opposite De Niro again, in City by the Sea. "It was really challenging, because I play a 19 year old heroin junkie with an 18 month-old baby." Lucky for slim Dushku, she didn't need to lose weight for the role. "I have a fast metabolism. For lunch, I eat two main meals," she insists. "Believe me, I eat a ton. Bt I'm active - I work out and I lead a busy lifestyle."