This Boston, Massachusetts native is the daughter of college professors and was raised with her three older brothers in a staunch Mormon household. As a child, she studied piano, drums and dance (jazz, tap and ballet) for fun.

She started acting as a child, performing in numerous amateur presentations at the Watertown Children's Theatre, where she remained part of the company for many years after the first grade. When she was eleven years old, she landed the lead role of the Lord High Executioner in the musical, The Mikado.

A year later she decided to audition for the starring role of Alice Bloom in the film That Night. After a five month search throughout the United States, she was chosen to play the part. Two years later she landed the role of Schwarzenegger's daughter in the action film, True Lies.

Dushku's workload wasn't getting any smaller, and eventually she was legally emancipated from her parents because of the strict laws on the hours that a minor is allowed to work. She remained hard at work though, with a starring role in the film Bye Bye Love, and eventually landed the role of Faith the Vampire Slayer, in the hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just a guest role at first, she soon became a regular from 1998 to 2000 for the show, and even made numerous appearances on the spin-off series, Angel. During shooting however, Dushku did take some time off to complete her high school education.

Following the exposure on Buffy, Dushku had a pile of feature film work thrown at her door. She spent the beginning of the 21st century getting through the massive workload including starring roles in films like Bring It On, Soul Survivors, The New Guy and City by the Sea.

Dushku currently lives in L.A. with her brother Nate, who is also an actor. In addition to acting, she sometimes returns to sign plays for the deaf at the Watertown Children's Theatre, where she started her acting experience.

A list of her favorite things:
Favorite Music: Beastie Boys
Favorite TV Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Favorite Movie: Beaches
Favorite Book: The Godfather
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Sports: Girl's Ice Hockey, New England Patriots
Favorite Activity: Hanging out with family. "I Love my family; my family's the greatest. Any chance I can get to see them it's the coolest thing."

• Kevin Smith nicknamed Eliza "Duck Shoot."
• Eliza studied dance and music in her early years.
• Eliza has three older brothers. One is actor Nate Dushku, who co-starred in AntiTrust.
• Eliza was raised with a strick Mormon parents.
• Her last name is pronounced "Dush-koo." (Dush rhymes with hush)
• Eliza signs stage productions at the Watertown Children's Theatre in Boston.
• Eliza graduated from high school in 1998 and was accepted to Boston University and George Washington University, but decided to take time off to work on the television series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."
• Both of Eliza's parents are college professors.
• Eliza was raised a Mormon, but she isn't a practicing Mormon herself.
• When Eliza was 14 and her brother was 18, their mother gave them each $1,000, a plane ticket to Beijing and told them not to come home until they'd seen eight cities.
• Eliza got hooked on smoking when she was 15 years old, after she had to smoke for a role.