Originally hired for a handful of episodes as Faith, a tortured Vampire Slayer called in to help Buffy early in season three, Dushku found her character suprisingly and quite effectively transformed into this year`s major villainess. "Originally it was like, `We`re going to introduce a new Slayer and see what happens,`" Dushku explains. "Then all of sudden, [creator] Joss Whedon`s ears started ringing and he picked up things and wanted to continue writing me in. Turning me into the villain was part of it. Last year it was Spike and Drusilla, and because Buffy is about Sunnydale where everything is so happy, you need a contrast in there. I was happy to do that."

The 18-year-old actress never expected Faith to make such an aboutface, especially since it looked as if Mr. Trick (K. Todd Freeman) was being groomed as this year`s key nemesis. However, the chemistry between the Mayor (Harry Groener) and Mr. Trick never quite clicked; both the Mayor and Faith`s characters proved far more intriguing, and Mr. Trick was offed,with Faith taking over as the evil politician`s main henchwoman. "Faith did come in as a serious character with all these weird things about her," Dushku notes. "She`s obsessed with violence.She doesn`t think before she speaks. She hurts people mentally and physically. From that, I guess they felt, `There`s a good basis for a villain.`"

A nice dynamic also developed between her and the Mayor, who`s provided something of a father figure for the troubled vampire slayer. "Faith came to Sunnydale with good motives," says Dushku, "but she realized she was different from everybody and not completely satisfied. Even in `Bad Girls,` where she tried to make Buffy her little partner in crime, it didn`t work. Everyone was telling her she was wrong and bad and she realized she couldn`t trust anyone. The Mayor, although evil, encourages her. He doesn`t put her down and is the first person she feels wants to help her and really cares about her."

As she had never appeared in a genre effort before,nothing could prepare Dushku for her first ghoul encounter on the Buffy set. "It was my first day and I knew there were vampires on the show," she recalls, "but everyone treats them so nonchalantly. They have all these demons walking around with no faces and spikes coming out of their heads, and to everyone who works on the show it becomes normal.

My first time, though, it was early in the morning and I was wiping my eyes. I stepped into the makeup trailer and this guy came down who was 7 feet tall and this psycho-looking vampire - he was playing Kakistos - and I literally screamed. He kind of looked at me and said, `Hello,how are you?` and I apologized. But that`s the story of the show. It happens every day. The initial shock is there, but it wears off."

With the monster aspects dealt with, Dushku also had to adjust to her increasing workload in the stunt department. While she started the season only doing the before-and-after shots, she progressed to more physical work than she ever imagined. "It has definately increased," she says. "In the first episode, I think they popped me in twice. The stuntwoman did the fights, then I came in to actually stake the vampire or jump up from being knocked down, but that was about it. This week, though, I got to the set and the stunt coordinator told me I was doing this kick and punching that thing. I was going, `Wait a minute, there`s no stuntwoman here,` and they were liked, `Oh, but you can do all this stuff.` I did it and it rocked. It was so much fun. I`ve learned the kicks and how to sell it to the camera."

Another trick Dushku has gotten the hang of is not hitting people for real, which occurred on several occasions during the year. "I actually hit Sarah one time accidentally," a slightly embarrassed Dushku admits. "She came up behind me unexpectedly, and I whipped around and punched her in the face. It`s so crazy sometimes when you`re working on a set like this. The cameras are rolling and everyone is silent. They kind of leave it up to you and don`t cut. I cut the scene every time, because I can`t go on with it. I know Sarah stayed in the moment after I hit her and she recoiled, holding her jaw, like, `You psycho,` which was perfect for the scene. But I couldn`t continue - I felt bad. You have to be a good person over acting. I have gotten better, though. They trust me more. I`ve stopped actually hitting people now."

As much as the Buffy ensemble has gotten tighter over its three season, Dushku felt fortunate to be welcomed in as quickly as she was. "It happened so fast, but everyone on the show is so professional," she says. "You have to trust them, and also the writers, that they`re going to do cool things with the character. It`s weird being 18 and playing 18, working with all these people in their late 20s. But they treat me like a professional."

Nailing the part of Faith was a fluke: Dushku had dropped out of acting for two years and was asked to audition for the new slayer role when she decided to get back into the game. "Faith was described as a mix of biker girl and trailer trash," she says. "I remember in the audition doing some wild punches at the camera, I wore a bunch of jewelry and dark eye shadow. The way I dressed was totally off the wall, and I guess they liked that."

Though unfamiliar with Buffy when she nabbed the part, Dushku soon learned what a strong series she had come aboard. "I gained a whole new respect for it after seeing about 20 episodes they sent me home with," she recalls. "When I first signed on, my friends joked with me about being a vampire slayer, but after watching it I realized that it`s a very smart show. It`s not just about the vampires."

Getting so good at being so bad has also rubbed off a bit on Dushku, which the actress notes could get her in trouble if she`s not careful. "I definately need to remember that in real I`m not a vampire slayer and not as tough as I am on the show," she says. "I was in a movie theater and there was a rowdy couple and I started yelling at them, and could have totally gotten into a situation I wouldn`t have been able to get myself out of. All I thought, though, was,`I`m a tough guy, I can say whatever I want, and if not I`ll kick their ass.` But it`s not like that. My brother tells me, `You know you`re not Faith. Let`s try not to throw punches.` What can I say? I`m more apt to kick people now."

Dushku actually followed in her brothers footsteps to become a preformer, landing a commericial agent through him at a young age. She played Leonardo DiCaprio`s sister and Robert De Niro`s daughter in This Boy`s Life, followed by a plum role as Arnold Schwarzenegger`s daughter in James Cameron`s action pic True Lies. "I was this normal kid, and then I was running around with Leonardo DiCaprio and hanging off a plane with Arnold Schwarzenegger," Dushku marvels. "I just fell into it. It was luck."

While Dushku committed for the full third season on Buffy, she`s a bit reluctant at this writing to sign on full-time if the producers ask her aboard for another year, or perhaps even for the Angel spinoff show. While Dushku would love to continue guesting, she much prefers working on movies, since it gives her more time to engage in her favorite pastime - traveling.

"I don`t really know where Faith is going to go from here," Dushku admits. "It`s unrealistic to assume that she`s going to turn back into a good guy. She came in with a bang and may trail off. Obviously, Sunnydale is not the place for her. People are sick of dealing with her crap. I don`t know where they`re going to take her, but I hope they have a good ending for me, guesting in the future would be nice too. I love the cast and crew, and it has been a terrific way to come back into this field."

Reprinted from SciFi Teen - June 1999