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verybody is kung-fu fighting! Or at least, dusky Eliza Dushku seems to be doing so in most of her roles. Best known as the feral Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she's also kicked up her heels as rough-and-tumble cheerleader Missy in Bring It On. Next up, she dons a catsuit as Sissy, a bad-ass jewel thief in director Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (opening Friday).

Unlike so many of today's starlets, Dushku has eschewed boring, bimbo girlfriend parts in lieu of playing violent femme fatales. Why is she such a devotee of the Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! school of acting?

"I think it's my coloring," she smirks to TV Guide Online. "I think it's the dark hair. You don't see a lot of blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls playing the tough, edgy character roles. And the fact that I grew up in Boston with three older brothers and I have this deep, smoky voice - and I've always been an outspoken junior toughie.

"I always kind of knew how to hold my own playing touch football with my brothers," she adds, grinning. "I guess these little girls who grew up in Hollywood - not to stereotype these girls - but they don't have that."