Crave Online: There were some surprises last season about who was a doll. Could anyone be a doll at this point?
Joss Whedon: I’ll tell you right now, everybody is not a doll because it would be very easy for us to pull that trick over and over and ultimately shoot ourselves in the foot, because you would find that nothing was at stake and that everybody would see the plot was coming. We’ve actually grounded the show fairly heavily. People who are dolls, are dolls and the other people, every now and then, I’m not saying never, I’m not saying we won’t question reality every now and then but basically, we’re taking the people we have and we’re pushing them around as much as possible. We’re trying to keep it grounded so that people know that there is something at stake and if somebody did have their personality altered or taken away, that that would be a huge deal. That’s like the attic. That’s like death. That’s like the worst thing that can happen to a character so we want to make sure that the characters are grounded enough that people feel those stakes. If we just make people dolls, Willie-Nillie, then it’s the rabbit hole and none of it really connects or means anything.
Crave Online: How will Echo, and of course the many other characters she is flashing to, come in to her own this season?
Joss Whedon: Basically, through force of will. She did have all those personalities dumped into her at once and as we pick up, we’re going to find out that that’s starting to affect her. Rather than be at sea in between engagements, she’s much more directed and driven, and even in her doll state is growing, and learning and starting to try to access these personalities to see what they can help her with, because she has a mission that she understands now, which is to get back to her personality and get everybody back to theirs.
Crave Online: This second season was kind of a gift. How many seasons do you see Dollhouse going for?
Joss Whedon: The premise is limited and I think by season 17, you’re really going to see us repeating ourselves.
Crave Online: Do you think there will be another one-off episode that will be exclusive to the season 2 DVD of Dollhouse?
Joss Whedon: I don’t think we’ll have a DVD exclusive because I don’t think anybody’s going to pony up the dough for it. But I do think we will be revisiting the world of Epitaph One.
Crave Online: How did you figure on bringing new viewers to the show this year?
Joss Whedon: Well, we always try to make, especially in the first episode of the season, but generally we try and make the premise clear enough so that if you haven’t been watching it, you don’t have to do a huge amount of math. There’s a lot of exposition in the first episode of the season, to help that. But at the end of the day, you do have to go, “Well, if they don’t get the premise,” and we’ve even rejiggered the opening credits to make it clearer, than they’ll either become involved in these peoples’ stories or they won’t. You have to move slow enough so people can grab a hold and jump on with you, but you have to keep moving.
Crave Online: Do you have a pitch to new viewers on how to reintegrate themselves or is the answer as simple as watch the DVD?
Joss Whedon: No, I think the answer would be more like buy the DVD, and buy some for your friends. Then have discussion groups where you buy more. Subtle? Too much integrity in that response?
Crave Online: How are arced is the show going to be this season?
Joss Whedon: The show is going to be pretty arcy. Clearly what people responded to was the workings of the Dollhouse and the progression of the characters in it and we’re going to honor that. At the same time, I’m very much of the mind that you do need to resolve something in an episode. You can’t just create a series of twists and turns. You need an episode to have a sense of completion, so there will still be engagements or at least problems that need to be dealt with, but they will feed into the main arc as well.
Crave Online: What do you think it was that convinced FOX to sign you on for another round and hopefully longer?
Joss Whedon: I think it’s the nature of the business and the nature of the fan base. The nature of the fan base is they’re in it for the long haul, and they’re nurturing, and they’re intense about it and they will see it through. They will stick with it and that means years after it’s cancelled. Firefly still sells, Buffy still sells, and that’s also a business thing for the studio. They’re in it for the long haul because they know the long haul is how my work pays off. I don’t make hit shows. I make shows that stick around that people come to long after they would have stopped generating revenue in the old system. With the advent of DVD and the eventual monetization of Online, there’s a market there that exists beyond your Nielsen numbers, and the fans showing up and DVRing, and buying a DVD, and proving on all my other projects that they don’t do these things lightly, that it runs deep in them, means that the base doesn’t have to be as broad for the studio to think it’s worth it to try and eke out another season.
Crave Online: How has Eliza Dushku helped shape who Echo has become and will become?
Joss Whedon: Well, she really wants to dance burlesque. We keep forgetting to put that in. Eliza has specific things she’s interested in, specific things she feels comfortable with. Sometimes I like to go to that place because I know that she can knock it out of the park and sometimes I like to go in the opposite direction to take her out of her comfort zone because that’s the best thing you can do with an actor. The fact is she shapes it because she is very specific as a person. She’s very specific in the way she presents and even though there are many different aspects to that, the people don’t usually get to see how funny she can be, how elegant. She doesn’t always have to play the tough girl, but she really just presents. It was a conversation about all of the different things she was supposed to be, or had been, or was trying to be, or trying to get away from that led to the creation of the show. It made me think, “Wait a minute. That’s what the show should be about.” So it wasn’t so much that she said, “I’d like to be the following things,” although we talked about what the characters are, it’s just that she is so many people that we pluck from them. She did go bow hunting. I understand, however, that she herself was not hunted.
Crave Online: Does Dollhouse have anything in common with Cabin in the Woods in the way they both manipulate characters and expectations?
Joss Whedon: The two pieces were written, or conceived, very far apart and then they ended up at the same time, which is awkward for me because it does seem like, “Well, he does like to do that.” But the fact of the matter is I am obsessed with it. People are constantly being manipulated, and controlled, and conditioned, and lied to. I feel like it’s a valid thing to discuss and to use the various sort of arch. There is an evil corporation that is controlling your every thought as a concept, is something that is so not that far removed from how we live our lives in terms of socialization, and advertising, and our society, and so I really can’t seem to get past it because it does fascinate me. How do we create ourselves when society is telling us who to be?
Crave Online: What made you think Jamie Bamber should marry Echo?
Joss Whedon: If you were those two, wouldn’t you get married? They’re so cute. He came in as the guest star in the first episode, which was just besides a geek dream for me, an extraordinary experience because he’s not just very professional, and precise and talented, but he fleshed out a character that could have been a little bit of a cardboard cutout. He has such sincerity and gravitas that you feel terrible. He makes you feel you’ve betrayed him, even if he’s completely in the wrong. It’s something that he shares with Adelle. Maybe it’s a British thing, I don’t know.
Crave Online: Is there a difference between having Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas on this season as opposed to Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft?
Joss Whedon: There is enough of a difference in sensibilities to make it interesting, but not so much of a difference in quality as to make it problematic. They really are similar in that they are rock solid, very story driven, really good producers and delightful to be around. But then they have different obsessions and they come up with things differently. I love and miss Liz and Sarah but Tara and Michelle have really brought a fresh eye to it.
Crave Online: You had Alan Tudyk on last season and Summer Glau this season. Are there plans to get the rest of Firefly on here at some point?
Joss Whedon: It’s a death match between Firefly and Battlestar as to which of them is going to get all their people. The fact of the matter is they’re people I admire and they’re people I know I love to work with and this season, I’m a lot less concerned with how the cast is perceived. Last season, we felt like we wanted to make sure that this was new territory and that people didn’t think of it as just, “Oh, it’s just these faces and he’s doing his old thing.” Now I’m like, “I know these people can act,” and honestly, the people that are watching it are fans anyway. If they know who these people are, they’ll be thrilled. If they don’t, they’ll see good acting so it doesn’t matter to me as much. So yes, I have no fear of throwing anybody that I have worked with or just want to work with in anytime I can.
