Whedonesque : Comments on 20497 : Summer Glau on Dollhouse?

Yeah, if he's already talking characters, I definitely expect to see her on the show next year. And wouldn't a chatty Cockney be fun? ;)

cabri | May 28, 03:58 CET

And not as a doll, thank heavens.

The One True b!X | May 28, 03:58 CET

Someone might want to edit to mention in the post that there are spoilers for other shows at this link.

The One True b!X | May 28, 04:00 CET

Yes yes yes!!!

ETA: "There's always a girl," says Boyd in "Omega." Are we gonna see a "Chinatown" ep for Boyd? Cuz Summer could play a girl.

[ edited by Pointy on 2009-05-28 06:24 ]

Pointy | May 28, 04:00 CET

Sounds good to me!

brinderwalt | May 28, 04:02 CET

I said a few weeks ago that she shouldn't play a Doll, she should play someone "Normal". Yay me!

So she's now rumoured to be on Dollhouse, playing Lara Croft AND be the new Buffy.

I can see her agent with the Dollar signs in his eyes and the "Ka-Chinng!" noise.

zz9 | May 28, 04:04 CET

Sorry, b!x, I don't normally post links. Should I add a regular spoiler tag? Or just write in that there are spoilers for other shows?

*iz dumb*

Anyway, I certainly needed this good news!

ShanshuBugaboo | May 28, 04:05 CET

I'm actually not sure of the rule of thumb on spoilers for other shows in terms of the tag, but at least mention it in the post, yeah.

The One True b!X | May 28, 04:06 CET

Oh, and maybe not as a dancer. Let's let her stretch her wings some. :)

cabri | May 28, 04:07 CET

This made my day!
"sound of the Whedonverse exploding" indeed.
*huge squee*

maxsummers | May 28, 04:08 CET

My pick: A straight-laced (and, if he wants to, talks-too-much) bigwig from The Center come to audit the LA Dollhouse. Or maybe the tech assistant of said bigwig. Make her audit Topher.

The One True b!X | May 28, 04:10 CET

Well, it's hardly shocking that it has occurred to Joss. It occurred to just about everybody.

It IS interesting that he actually talked to her about it. I wonder if she's going to have time next year. Isn't she rumored to have some movie lined up? It would be best if she were a semi-regular guest star, not just a one-episode character, you know?

Septimus | May 28, 04:11 CET

Ooooo, the bigwig comes to the Dollhouse with her gaggle of assistants and one of them is very snoopy, cute, and talking to all the staff like she's a peon and she turns out to be Adelle's new corporate-mandated "assistant". Oh, wait, I just spoiled it for you. :(

cabri | May 28, 04:13 CET

Yeah, I'm sure Joss was immediately scheming to get Summer on the show. Big surprise there.

electricspacegirl | May 28, 04:18 CET

So, how many people here think Joss arranged with Fox to get TSCC cancelled just so he could get Summer on Dollhouse? ;-D

cabri | May 28, 04:22 CET

*SQUEE*

Taaroko | May 28, 04:33 CET

I know! She could be the slightly annoyed secretary who mans the front desk of the supposed Rossum Corp. office upstairs, the one who no one in their right mind would bother or offend lest they incur her secretarial wrath.

[ edited by brinderwalt on 2009-05-28 04:36 ]

brinderwalt | May 28, 04:36 CET

My only disappointment would be that Summer has such a good acting range that if she turned out to be a doll it wouldn't be a surprise (to some of us at least).

I called Dr. Saunders after Episode 1. Fred and Illyria? Hello?

[ edited by Ronald_SF on 2009-05-28 04:40 ]

Ronald_SF | May 28, 04:40 CET

[redacted], is that you?

The One True b!X | May 28, 04:44 CET

Well if there were going to be a silver lining to T:TSSC getting cancelled this is it.

But if she's in Dollhouse than how can she be the new Slayer in that movie? ;)

Haunt | May 28, 04:48 CET

She should be a doll that is actually a robot.

It could be the big midseason reveal. Oh wait Summer is a doll... OH double wait she is a doll that is also a robot.

Litwal | May 28, 04:49 CET

Yeah. A robot tasked with passing itself off as a doll in order to infiltrate and subvert the Dollhouse operation itself.

brinderwalt | May 28, 04:55 CET

Oh my god. I'm way to excited right now for what little was said, but that would be incredible. Some great news to wash the nasty taste of the BINO movie!

SteppeMerc | May 28, 05:01 CET

"The most fun I have is when I get somebody who's good and comfortable at doing something, and then I make them do something else."

That guy ~~is such a poop~~ would make - well, is - such a good teacher.

Nothing gives you more than venturing out of your comfort zone, and sometimes it's so hard to get there on your own. I'm sure Summer would love to get a chance to stretch in another direction, and he is just the guy to put her on that ol' rack. ("No hair-acting!!" "Now you must sing!")

Neat.

QuoterGal | May 28, 05:11 CET

Yay. Silver lining.

CarpeNoctem | May 28, 05:21 CET

I am so glad Joss agrees with us about casting her as something other than a doll (because we all know she could do that better than anyone else in her sleep), but I'm not surprised. He's a smart guy.

Lirazel | May 28, 05:25 CET

I'd love her as an interfering agent of some kind.

jcs | May 28, 05:32 CET

She could be a client.

ShanshuBugaboo | May 28, 05:41 CET

Maybe she could be one of the Dollhouse masseuses. We haven't seen much of them anyway, so I think it could be doable. Then she could strike up a burgeoning relationship with Topher or something like that.

zuzuspetals11 | May 28, 05:49 CET

But if she were a doll Joss could get her barefoot again. ;-)

AnotherFireflyfan | May 28, 05:49 CET

Another possibility is that Summer plays a regular person (not a Doll), but there's always the possibility that she can be sent to the attic or become a contractor in the future. Hmm, so many possibilities...

Ronald_SF | May 28, 05:53 CET

But normal girls don't last many episodes!

hacksaway | May 28, 05:54 CET

I think she should be Victor's former girlfriend/wife. I think those two would work great together.

archon | May 28, 05:58 CET

Summer could never be a doll. She would be taking the spotlight from the main star.

jperiodrperiod | May 28, 06:00 CET

Yay! I hope it some awesome part that I never would have dreamt up. Kind of like Stephen Kepler before he went all crazy.

jkalderash | May 28, 06:05 CET

A handler. The new doctor. FBI agent that Loomis gets interested in the case. Rossum's daughter. Alpha's captive. Ballard's ex-wife.

Ooh, this is fun!

shambleau | May 28, 06:10 CET

Ooh, I like the Ballard's ex-wife idea. Makes sense that after they break up he'd start obsessing over another petite brunette.

ShanshuBugaboo | May 28, 06:14 CET

Caroline's sister? They look quite alike in the photo. Although my vote would be for Ballard's sister or best friend. An outside (the Dollhouse) person to humanize and ground Ballard would be a good thing. I'll take Summer in any role though, she's fantastic.

onthedrift | May 28, 06:19 CET

Oh, all of these are awesome ideas. I especially love the one about Victor, archon. Enver is quickly becoming one of my favorites on the show, and I do think they'd be brilliant together.

She could be our contact with the outside world this season--he's disappeared but she doesn't know where, she comes looking for him, tangles with the Dollhouse....

Lirazel | May 28, 06:20 CET

My gosh, what I told my uncle was correct. He was so annoyed that TSCC was cancelled because he was never going to see "Cameron" again that I told him to wait until next season since she'll more than likely pop up on Dollhouse, lol. My problem is that I don't get why the same people have to show up on every one of Joss' shows. *shrugs* I understand they're good actors but at least try to branch out and make new connections with other people. It's almost like a clique at this point. :-P

holypotatoes | May 28, 06:25 CET

Like Enver, Dichen, Olivia, Harry, Tahmoh, Miracle and Fran?

hacksaway | May 28, 06:33 CET

Snap.

The One True b!X | May 28, 06:34 CET

I'm sure every director re-uses favorite actors, but not every director has a fandom dedicated to picking apart and/or hallelujah-ing his every casting decision.

cabri | May 28, 06:52 CET

Lirazel, I can just perfectly envision how the scene would play out if she finally caught up with Victor after all this time and sees what has been done to him. Maybe that could be the beginning of her realization that he isn't who he used to be. Perhaps it could be a moment like in Angel's "I Will Remember You" episode where the imprint breaks down for a few minutes allowing the real person in Victor to emerge just long enough to communicate with Summer (of course, they'd have to explain how he retained his memory of her... maybe he loved her so much that they couldn't erase her from his memory).

EDIT: Plus, we'd have the whole triangle-thing going between Victor, Sierra, and Summer, and who doesn't love that stuff? ESPECIALLY when there's no clear winner.

[ edited by archon on 2009-05-28 07:07 ]

archon | May 28, 07:03 CET

To hacksaway: Like Dushku, Acker, Tudyk, Sheppard. Not to mention writers Craft, Fain, Minnear, Espensen, Bellomo, Tancharoen and director Solomon. So yeah, on a new show that's only had 14 episodes that's quite a bit of previous coworkers.

I'm not trying to purposely nitpick at his decisions as to who he chooses to work with but when you have an entire thread here with people saying that they saw this sort of thing coming, I don't really see that as a good thing. It just seems like he's sort of in a rut. :s

holypotatoes | May 28, 07:06 CET

But what a wonderful rut it is :D

Rachelkachel | May 28, 07:08 CET

I'd disagree. Consider how many new faces there are, if we're counting guest stars as well. Four previously-used people is nothing considering how many people have been on the show so far.

Jobo | May 28, 07:09 CET

... Liza Lapira, Aisha Hinds, Reed Diamond, Kevin Kilner, Erin Cummings, Angel Desai...

Personally, I liked the old days (though I did not personally live through them, old though I may be) when a producer/director often had a repertory company, and used & re-used his writers & actors at will - like Orson Welles with his Mercury Theatre actors. It was quite the norm, and it was considered by many that the relationships allowed the theatre experience to deepen and be enriched by that knowledge.

You know, a loaf of bread only cost 25¢ and you could get a steak dinner for $2. Really. And the tomatoes didn't taste like cardboard, and the doctor came right to your house when you were sick.

What are you looking at?!! You kids get off my lawn now!

But it's true. Repeated experiences creating together ain't necessarily a sign of being in a rut.

QuoterGal | May 28, 07:12 CET

I don't see an issue with him working with people he works well with. I especially don't understand how anyone could have a problem with Joss using the same writers. These are people he trusts to work in his world with his characters and come up with compelling stories. Why should it matter to us that Tim Minear has written episodes for three of his shows? That is hardly a rut - Minear's episodes often rival Joss Whedon's own writing.

As far as cast, Joss himself has stated he wanted to populate Dollhouse mostly with new people and not all his old friends, but there is nothing wrong with him using a terrific actor more than once.

AnotherFireflyfan | May 28, 07:13 CET

The possibilities are endless. Summer is a doll herself, so any role will be perfect for her. I'm particularly liking the idea of her being from The Center or some other higher-tier-of-Rossum-than-thou. Or someone from a neighboring Dollhouse. Chicago or Manhattan, perhaps?

CrazyKidBen | May 28, 07:21 CET

So, less than a handful of familiar actors in a vast sea of new faces. Yep, that's one Hell of a casting rut there.

The One True b!X | May 28, 07:21 CET

Can Dollhouse afford to cast Summer?

Simon | May 28, 07:25 CET

I expect as Dollhouse gets more established, more new writers will come on-board, too. It makes sense that for a first season, which is tough for any show, he'd want a crew he already knows he can work with. In the future he can take risks by hiring on inexperienced writers. Although it may also be an issue of rewriting. Joss has said that back in the day, he would sometimes rewrite whole Buffy scripts. With two kids, he might not have that luxury (er... maybe not the right word) and so wants people he can pretty much guarantee won't need a page-one rewrite from him. Hence, old buddies.

Jobo | May 28, 07:26 CET

I had something very clever to say but some how it just comes out as a big sigh and a smile.

Satai (with Punsch) | May 28, 07:37 CET

Summer would add interest and viewership to the show. Fox may have an interest in keeping Summer working on Fox projects - she may even have or get an agreement ike Eliza and Tim have. I venture to guess that Summer's addition would be worth the cost.

peacemonger | May 28, 07:42 CET

Dream Come True Nerdgasm

Hanselel | May 28, 09:19 CET

I'm far too excited to make guesses about particulars, but I'll bet she'll play a strong female character.

shpedoinkel | May 28, 09:31 CET

Summer DeWitt?

I could so see her playing Adelle DeWitt's daughter.

Bingo!

Zoic_Fan | May 28, 10:07 CET

The villain, she'll be the villain goshdangit! I mean come on, the last four seasons of television that Joss has done have all featured a Firefly vet as a recurring baddy. Nathan in Buffy, Gina and Adam in Angel and most recently Alan in Dollhouse. Joss could of course decide to change this pattern up a bit, but honestly I get a kick out of watching the crew of Serenity terrorize other Whedonverse heroes.

Thuddles | May 28, 10:18 CET

right now I'm sooo praying they can somehow pull it out :p

maz | May 28, 10:49 CET

YES!!!

I would ♥ Summer in Dollhouse (or anywhere near Joss, really).

Lino | May 28, 11:06 CET

Is she under contract with FOX?

Angel TheVampire | May 28, 11:29 CET

Just to add to the "Joss hires his friends again and again" discussion, remember he didn't hire Eliza. She hired him!

zz9 | May 28, 12:09 CET

Angel TheVampire, Summer was counted as a "WB Star", I know that much. I don't know if she had a development deal.

gossi | May 28, 12:14 CET

I bet Summer is the kind of girl that all other girls hate because she's better.

doublemeat | May 28, 12:35 CET

This would be awesome. Plus it sounds like it's actually likely, which helps.

redders | May 28, 12:43 CET

Whedonesque brought me a massive smile to my face after all the gloom and doom the past few days.

Jayme | May 28, 12:46 CET

Ooooo, the bigwig comes to the Dollhouse with her gaggle of assistants and one of them is very snoopy, cute, and talking to all the staff like she's a peon and she turns out to be Adelle's new corporate-mandated "assistant". Oh, wait, I just spoiled it for you. :(

I'm giving this one to cabri, for my favorite idea of the topic.

GVH | May 28, 12:55 CET

Maybe Fillion can drop by for a guest appearance and we can have the 'cowboy actives in space' episode. Surely that must be some rich guy's fantasy.
Of course, it will have to be the series ender, since Wash-Alpha will crash the ship... or be killed if they get a pickup for S3.

[ edited by baxter on 2009-05-28 13:20 ]

baxter | May 28, 13:18 CET

I can just see it now. Some rich guy who is obsessed with a tv show that never got its due and pays to have it recreated. With him as the resident "red shirt" so as not to spoil all the other lovelies acting around him. Awesome!

Can I be rich now?

Genia | May 28, 14:53 CET

I love the idea of Ballard's ex, or some kind of official nemesis for him -- an agent with OPR, for instance.

OR -- Caroline's sister, or "Victor"'s sister (or wife?), on the trail trying to find out what happened to their loved one.

OR -- a professional rival for Adelle of some kind, who wants her job, like a Gavin to her Lilah.

OR -- Dominic's NSA handler.

KingofCretins | May 28, 15:14 CET

I think it'd be interesting to see her as a doll who's already completed her 5 years (if it actually ever happens). Was it worth it? Any lingering stress effects or residual memories? Lots of things to explore there.

koyaanisquatsi | May 28, 19:09 CET

Make her audit Topher.

I would LOVE to see this, bix! They would drive each other nuts! It'd be great! :D

korkster | May 28, 19:33 CET

Isn't it kind of the point of doll that you'd have to play many different roles? I thought the "doll thing" was more or less thought up imagining a way for Eliza to showcase her talents.

Really hope Joss continues the awesome "tradition" of a having Firefly star as villian per season (nicely noticed, Thuddles).

Anyway, more Summer would be awesome of course. Hope she'll appear (and stay on long).

the Groosalugg | May 28, 22:22 CET

Summer Glau + Joss Whedon = INSTANT WIN BUTTON

Dan Corson | May 28, 22:32 CET

I think a director/writer can only have a "casting rut" if the people that are cast suck. All of Joss' repeats are fantastic. I keep waiting for Jonathan M. Woodward to show up on Dollhouse, and I'd love it if he got a more substantive role than Holden, Tracy, or Knox.

QingTing | May 28, 22:52 CET

I love the idea of her being associated with Ballard. Especially as his no nonsense ex who still holds a bit of a torch or something...

Squee! : D

silent knight | May 28, 23:55 CET

I love the masseuse idea someone had. Maybe she sees how tense Topher is, massages him, and things get complicated. With Amy Acker (maybe) gone, Topher will be missing a female to play off of/have complicated relationship with, which I think is when Topher is best. Also it will helpe us delve into the particulars of the Dollhouse. How do the masseuses kept quiet, how are they trusted? Are their brains altered? What do they think of this crazy shit?

[ edited by narky on 2009-05-29 05:48 ]

narky | May 29, 05:48 CET

Summer said she wanted to play a "normal girl" before she died of extreme old age.

Was I the only one who watched Mammoth?

Oh wait, yes, yes I was.

Aidan W. | May 29, 11:51 CET

I get a kick out of watching the crew of Serenity terrorize other Whedonverse heroes.

Thanks Thuddles - I laughed so hard when I read that, and I agree. But I also like the ideas of her being someone from Victor's life. Those two actors together would be wonderful and I would love to see it!

Passion | May 29, 13:37 CET

Aidan, no, you weren't. Saw it on TV here a while ago and liked it.

zz9 | May 29, 14:55 CET

May 28 2009