Eliza Dushku Acting in Dollhouse

Eliza Patricia Dushku (pronounced /ˈdʊʃkuː/; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress best known for her television roles, including her recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She also starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse. Additionally, she has appeared in several films, including True Lies, The New Guy, Bring It On, Wrong Turn and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Dushku was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the daughter of Philip R. Dushku, an administrator and teacher in the Boston Public Schools, and Judith "Judy" (née Rasmussen), a political science professor at Suffolk University in Boston. Dushku's father is Albanian and her mother is of Danish and English descent. Dushku attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, and graduated from Watertown High School. She was raised a Mormon, the faith of her mother (though she is not actively practicing). She has three older brothers: Aaron, Benjamin (Ben), and Nathaniel (Nate), the latter of whom is a model and actor. Her parents divorced when she was still an infant. In 2006, she visited her father's family in Albania after being personally invited by the prime minister. While there, she also visited Kosovo and received an Albanian Eagle tattoo on the back of her neck.

Dushku came to the attention of casting agents when she was 10. She was chosen at the end of a five month search throughout the United States for the lead role of Alice, playing with Juliette Lewis in the film That Night. In 1993, Dushku landed a role as Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, a role that she said opened a lot of doors. The following year, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies. She also had parts as Paul Reiser's daughter in Bye Bye, Love, as Cindy Johnson with Halle Berry and Jim Belushi in Race the Sun, as well as roles in a television movie and a short film.

Dushku took some time off from acting to finish her junior and senior years of high school. She was accepted to the George Washington University in Washington, DC and Suffolk University in Boston, where her mother serves as professor of government and previously served as dean of the campus in Dakar, Senegal.