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Life!
by Hong Xinyi
WRONG TURN, RIGHT MOVES
She staked vampires in Buffy and fights off mountain men in Wrong Turn. But on-screen tough gal Eliza Dushku confesses to having a case of puppy love

Eliza Dushku's first ecstatic words to Life! are: 'I'm a new Mummy.'

Those who fancy the dark-haired, gravelly-voiced actress can relax. She is merely the proud new owner of a puppy, and the 15-minute telephone interview from Los Angeles early this month is periodically interrupted by her cooing babytalk to the hyperactive pooch.

Perhaps Dushku needs a fluffy antidote to her tough-as-nails screen persona. To date, she is most well-known for playing rebel vampire slayer Faith in the recently concluded TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer as well as guest stints in the Buffy spin-off, Angel.

Like fellow Buffy alumni Sarah Michelle Gellar (Scooby Doo) and Alysson Hannigan (American Pie), Dushku has capitalised on her small-screen clout, playing a spunky gymnast-turned-reluctant cheerleader in the 2000 teen comedy, Bring It On, which grossed US$68 million.

In Wrong Turn, her latest movie, a group of teenagers get stranded in the woods and have to fight off gruesome mountain men.

Dushku plays Jessie, who is - no surprise here - 'outspoken, strong and tough when things start to go wrong'.

Things, of course, will go terribly, horribly wrong, given that this movie is produced by the same people who gave you I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997.

Dushku, however, gets a tad defensive when it is suggested that Wrong Turn is a teen-slasher flick.

'It doesn't wink at the audience like Scream. It's more of a throwback to the blood and gore of earlier horror movies.'

And this girl loves her blood and gore.

'I saw Nightmare On Elm Street when I was seven years old, and I loved the adrenaline rush even though it was terrifying,' she recalls with relish.

No wonder some have started calling her the anti-Kirsten Dunst. The actress laughs off the comparison with her Bring It On co-star.

'They like to cast the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress as the sweet, demure good girl. And I get cast as the opposite kind of characters because my dark hair and deep voice contrasts with that very well,' she says.

The 22-year-old, who started acting at age 12, admits that 'I have become a little less defensive and softer now that I'm older'.

That is why she decided to retire Faith's black leather pants, choosing to headline a new drama series titled Tru Calling rather than star in a spin-off based on the Buffy character.

'I played Faith for five years, and I love everything about her. But I think it's time to try something different.'

How different? In Tru Calling, which debuts in the United States in September, Dushku leaves her staking days behind, and gets to travel back in time and save lives.

But if you are going to miss Dushku duking it out with creepy-crawlies, don't worry - her character will be working the late shift at a morgue.