Eliza's Acting

[VampSlayer]

I just wanted to start this thread, and see what people had to say. I just finished watching Five By Five & Sanctuary... Wow. Eliza impressed me so much. While I find Five By Five not too great in some areas, I think Eliza made the episode. Her speeches to Wesley while torturing him are outstanding, and her final alleyway scene is so heartbreaking. She continued to shine in Sanctuary; All her performances with Sarah are tear-worthy.

While I loved Eliza in the Buffy episodes, This Year's Girl & Who Are You, I think she got more of a chance to show her skills here. This is easily Faith and Eliza at her/their best, IMO.

I'll add in this video too. The beginning has one of Eliza's amazing acting scenes with Sarah, and then is followed by an outstanding video. Enjoy:


Thoughts?

[Josh]

Well I've always felt that Faith didn't get as much time as she should have in the series and being shown off (which was why I wanted so badly for her to have her own show). And her character development was definitely Angel centric so it makes sense that Eliza would have more of a chance to shine there. I mean on Buffy we just got her basically going evil and then years later she comes back all reformed.

[-'Goldilocks]

I totally agree with you VampSlayer. Eliza's acting in these episodes were pretty much flawless. Dont get me wrong, I love her work on Buffy season 3, especially consequences but She was pretty much outstanding in Season 4 and Angel Season 1. Five by Five, for me, is when Faith really became her own person and not just a helper and then obstacle Buffy had to overcome.

[BuffyFanOne]

I agree Goldilocks, Faith really became a full dementional character in Angel, as opposed to being just a Baddie on Buffy!

[drusillacakes]

What a great video... I kinda feel like watching Faith-centric episodes now.

Agreed-- that scene with SMG is one of her best. I just realized that when I watch that, I always flinch when Buffy tells Faith to shut up. She wants to make it right but she doesn't know how, and it seems like the odds are stacked against her. What I like about her on Angel is we see the vulnerable side-- the part of her that wants to atone but the biggest obstacle standing in her way is herself. I'm glad we got to see her play that role on Angel vs Buffy, because we can definitely see the full arc of her redemption, where the focus is on her. Plus, who knows more about guilt and redemption than Angel, right?

[Josh]

Oct 23, 2010 21:48:43 GMT -5 drusillacakes said:

What a great video... I kinda feel like watching Faith-centric episodes now.

Agreed-- that scene with SMG is one of her best. I just realized that when I watch that, I always flinch when Buffy tells Faith to shut up. She wants to make it right but she doesn't know how, and it seems like the odds are stacked against her. What I like about her on Angel is we see the vulnerable side-- the part of her that wants to atone but the biggest obstacle standing in her way is herself. I'm glad we got to see her play that role on Angel vs Buffy, because we can definitely see the full arc of her redemption, where the focus is on her. Plus, who knows more about guilt and redemption than Angel, right?

This is actually one of my favorite things to do to watch Faith's path to redemption. I basically start with This Year's Girl and then watch all of the episodes Faith is in on Buffy and Angel from that episode to the end of the series (with the exception of Judgment).

And I think the Faith/Angel relationship was particularly amazing because not only did she get SOOOO much depth once she started seeking redemption, but it allowed them to relate because they were both looking for the same thing.

[drusillacakes]

Oct 24, 2010 3:43:40 GMT -5 Josh said:

And I think the Faith/Angel relationship was particularly amazing because not only did she get SOOOO much depth once she started seeking redemption, but it allowed them to relate because they were both looking for the same thing.

Very true! And because they see so much similarity in each other, they are willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the other person does not lose their path. I love that scene where Wesley needs Faith to stop Angelus, and once Faith knows Angel is the one in trouble, she has no problem just busting through that jail window. He means that much to her. Powerful stuff.

[Tyler Austin "tiewashere"]

I have to say that Eliza's first run in Angel Season One basically proved to me that she could act. On Buffy, she never really did anything other than "I'm a badass" (besides when she played "Buffy" but Sarah's acting completely over-shadowed Eliza's in that episode) so when she broke down in the alleyway it was truly emotional and a great character moment. I remember my initial reaction was that I was floored and couldn't believe she pulled off that and made it believable.

[VampSlayer]

Oct 25, 2010 15:19:55 GMT -5 Tyler Austin "tiewashere" said:

I have to say that Eliza's first run in Angel Season One basically proved to me that she could act. On Buffy, she never really did anything other than "I'm a badass" (besides when she played "Buffy" but Sarah's acting completely over-shadowed Eliza's in that episode) so when she broke down in the alleyway it was truly emotional and a great character moment. I remember my initial reaction was that I was floored and couldn't believe she pulled off that and made it believable.

I think I agree with you on this, 100%. Great post!

[AngelFaith]

Oct 25, 2010 15:19:55 GMT -5 Tyler Austin "tiewashere" said:

I have to say that Eliza's first run in Angel Season One basically proved to me that she could act. On Buffy, she never really did anything other than "I'm a badass" (besides when she played "Buffy" but Sarah's acting completely over-shadowed Eliza's in that episode)

I have to respectfully disagree here. Eliza has ALWAYS blown me away, she brings a real vulnerability to a character that in the hands of a less-talented actress would have been very one-dimensional (is that the right expression I'm looking for? I'm tired right now).

Plus, in Who Are You, I think that she completely outshone Sarah. I think Sarah is an incredible actress, but I found her perfomance as Faith weak, unbelievable and very shallow. There was no real depth to her performance, none of the vulnerability and I really did not feel like I was watching Faith at all. Eliza, on the other hand, nailed every single one of Buffy's nuances.

Back to Eliza in general, though, I think she definitely got to flex her acting muscles to a greated extent on Angel and showed us just how raw and emotional she could be. Loved her performance when she's torturing Wes. She manages to portray just how much Faith hates what she's doing in such a subtle way. And that scene in the rain where she's begging Angel to kill her? OSCAR worthy!

[Tyler Austin "tiewashere"]

Oct 25, 2010 21:18:54 GMT -5 AngelFaith said:

Oct 25, 2010 15:19:55 GMT -5 Tyler Austin "tiewashere" said:

I have to say that Eliza's first run in Angel Season One basically proved to me that she could act. On Buffy, she never really did anything other than "I'm a badass" (besides when she played "Buffy" but Sarah's acting completely over-shadowed Eliza's in that episode)

I have to respectfully disagree here. Eliza has ALWAYS blown me away, she brings a real vulnerability to a character that in the hands of a less-talented actress would have been very one-dimensional (is that the right expression I'm looking for? I'm tired right now).

Plus, in Who Are You, I think that she completely outshone Sarah. I think Sarah is an incredible actress, but I found her perfomance as Faith weak, unbelievable and very shallow. There was no real depth to her performance, none of the vulnerability and I really did not feel like I was watching Faith at all. Eliza, on the other hand, nailed every single one of Buffy's nuances.

Back to Eliza in general, though, I think she definitely got to flex her acting muscles to a greated extent on Angel and showed us just how raw and emotional she could be. Loved her performance when she's torturing Wes. She manages to portray just how much Faith hates what she's doing in such a subtle way. And that scene in the rain where she's begging Angel to kill her? OSCAR worthy!

I would respectfully disagree that although her performance on Angel is spectacular, it is by no means Oscar-worthy.

But I always feel oddly uncomfortable whenever I watch anything with Eliza Dushku. I felt most of her performances were flat on Dollhouse, and even more so on Buffy. I think it has to do with her face and how she handles her body on Buffy (not so much on Angel). She seems to be playing the "normal/stereotypical" bad girl act by swinging her arms, and cracking her knuckles and holding the ends of her sleeves.

I felt Buffy got Eliza's mannerisms down MUCH better than Eliza got Sarah's. Eliza, to me, does not play a good "person in distress" to me. Buffy got Eliza's walk, her sit, and her look. She even shows more Eliza-esque acting when she subtly changed her emotion as she was beating "herself" up.

This may seem like I am completely ripping on Eliza, which I am not. I think she did a great job in everything she has done...she had just transcended to another level in Angel rather than in Buffy.