Q&A with Eliza Dushku

Interviewed By Matt Ginella
Illustration by Joe Ciardello November 1, 2009

Eliza Dushku, 28, grew up across the street from a country club in Boston, where she admits to a checkered childhood of stealing golf balls and sneaking on the golf course at night. In a recent Q&A, the star of the Fox TV series "Dollhouse," talks about her touch around the greens, her passion for exploring new places, and why she's the last person who should be giving LPGA Tour players fashion advice.

What's your first memory of golf?
As far as I remember because I grew up across the street from a beautiful golf course in Boston -- the Oakley Country Club. As far as I can remember we had golf balls coming through our windows and into our yard -- beaning people in the head on our back porch. I have three older brothers and we would climb fences and trees and watch golfers, we'd run out and steal golf balls and then run up to the green and try to sell them back to them. We'd ask them their names and then we'd say, 'Wow, it's your lucky day, this golf ball has your initials on it.' Most of the time we'd get chased off. And then I remember at Christmas, when I was about seven, my three brothers and I were all gifted a nice, but novice, set of clubs. And we thought we were pretty fancy. We'd go out at night and play when no one was on the course.

Who's the best golfer in your family? Can you keep up with your brothers?
No. I'd love to say that I could, because I'm a tomboy, and I've always said, 'Anything they can do, I can do better.' But I'd probably say my brother Nate, he was always the natural athlete. My brother Ben is also pretty good.

Do you take golf trips as a family?
It has been awhile. I know this is Golf Digest, so I don't know how much you cover mini-golf, but my family's more inclined to do the mini-golf thing. We have nieces and nephews now and it's a lot easier, and that's the way we did it as kids.

Do you have an established handicap? Are you a member at a course?
I'm not. But my friend and honey is a good golfer.

Your friend and honey... is this Rick Fox?
He golfs. I'm sure I can learn a few things. I like driving ranges as well. From my childhood, and from mini-golf or driving ranges over the years, there's definitely a sort of nice meditation that I experience -- there's a calm and yet a charged focus that I get from golf.

What's your best score?
Should I lie and sound cool and say I've shot in the 70s?

It's up to you.
I keep it in the 70s. [Laughs]

Do you watch golf on TV?
I had a boyfriend who was a groundskeeper on a golf course and he was quite a golfer. And I remember, at that time, I really followed the game and watched it on TV. I had a phase of being pretty into it.

Will you watch the Masters?
Sometimes. I have to admit -- I don't watch as much golf as I do other sports. It's always awe-inspiring to watch Tiger Woods. I love his story and I love that he blows everyone away.

If Tiger and Phil were in the final paring of the Masters, which one would you root for?
I root for Tiger. I think he's hard not to root for and not to watch.

Are you a better putter or a better driver?
I'm a better putter. I can have wild, wild drives and I can have funky drives sometimes, so putting is more my strength. And that ties into my roots with mini-golf. I have more practice putting.

Tiger was considered a golf prodigy. You got into acting when you were 10 years old. Would you consider yourself an acting prodigy?
I don't know. I sort of had dumb, but great luck. I definitely couldn't sit here and call myself an acting prodigy. I think I was in the right place at the right time and also, I always took direction very well, even though I was one of the most rebellious and precocious and wild children. I could always take direction if I wanted to.

Tiger had a focus and motivation at a young age to be a great golfer. Would you say you had motivation at a young age to be a great actor?
Yes. I had that, too. Honestly, for me, I don't remember it being so much that I was passionate of acting as a craft. But I remember being an unbelievably hard worker, and I loved doing it right, and I loved the satisfaction of having the director and the director of photography happy that I had hit my mark, found my light, and memorized my lines. Again, with three older brothers, I was always competitive. That got me through the early years and as I've gotten older, it has seeped into my bones a little more, but that was my foundation. I'm grateful for that and now I get to play more with my emotions.