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Has being a producer on the series and coming up with it with Joss given you any new perspectives on making a TV series that you might not have had before?

It's sort of been what I expected. I have been in this business now for over 15 years. I sort of grew up in this business and it was just exciting and it was sort of, I don't know, I guess I could say validating to have a friend and a partner like Joss in this and to have him acknowledge that this was something that he believed, an undertaking that I could make or take with him.

He obviously has ten million things to do in a day, most importantly, being up in the writers' room and breaking stories and knowing that this is sort of our baby and this is something that we, at that meal, decided to do together with passion and with enthusiasm and that I would be the constant and on the set every day.

I have sort of picked up and learned a lot about how the machine operates. It was just more exciting than anything and it also just sort of made me that much more invested in just the fine details of the show and then just even in things, the political aspects and everything from moral on the set to making sure our crew members felt heard and looking for warning signs. There are just so many elements, but I absolutely loved it because, again, this is something that I asked for. I mean I asked for every single bit of it and I can truly say I've loved every bit of it, like the responsibilities, the effort, enthusiasm, the whole crew, the whole cast, everyone involved in the show has wanted it as badly as Joss and I have.

Those are the people that we wanted to surround ourselves with and by and so it has certainly been challenging, but it's been the best kind of challenging, because I mean I've learned so much, but I've also just gotten the opportunity to be more hands on than project I've ever worked on.

Are we going to find out exactly is there a reason that Echo is the one that is becoming more aware? Is there going to be a reasoning behind her glitch or is she just the one that we're following because she's the main character and we're just following a doll becoming aware?

No. I think you're going to. Well, I can tell you that you're going to find out sort of what kind of time frame the Dollhouse has been operating under and what maybe happened to previous dolls. I think that we just come into the story with Echo, but there have certainly been dolls before her and there will certainly be dolls after her.

Why Echo? Probably because I'm me and Joss and I came up with the idea together, so we decided to bring the story up with me sort at the head of the herd.

What about Dollhouse makes it so different -- "game changing" and "mind blowing"?

Well, it's provocative. It's disturbing in some ways. It's controversial. We're dealing with altering and programming people and I think that that's a very sensitive topic, but I think that it's relevant and I think that it's exciting because I've always wanted to do work that has to do with us evolving and questioning, making people uncomfortable I guess. That's sort of what interesting storytelling is to me is asking different questions and taking a closer look at desires and fantasies and taboos and sexuality and these are all things that Joss and I initially discussed in our infamous first lunch when we were talking about making a show. They were things that I knew he, as a creative genius, which I truly believe he is, had the ability and the imagination to create with me and at the same time roll in a story that just puts those parts together tightly, cleverly, with drama and humor and pain and joy.

Obviously, anyone who's known his work in Buffy and then anyone who knows him as a person knows that he's just all of those instruments. That's, I think, what makes this such an extraordinary show.

Are we going to see any episodes from a client's perspective where they learn that that's a curse instead of a gift?

Absolutely. I mean I think that's sort of the point; that's one of the main themes in this whole story that we're telling here is that objectification hurts -- whether you're the one, whichever side you're on because that's why we're all different and that's why there are certain parameters and morals in our society.

When you step outside of those things and you put such control in certain people's hands in terms of what people want and need and desire versus what they think they want and need and desire they may be surprised at sort of the Frankenstein story. You're absolutely going to see clients wishing perhaps that they had not decided to add that extra element to their Active or to their doll I guess you could say.

Are all 13 episodes mapped out or are they done?

We just finished them last week [i.e., the first week in February, 2009]. Yes.

Are your tattoos covered up for the show?

I have a few, yes, but they're all actually in places that can be covered with just a swimsuit. Sometimes we cover them up.

Was there one character when you were doing your different personalities that you liked best? Did you like being the bad girl or did you like being the sweet girl?

It surprised me, because on the one hand it's awesome and exhilarating to be the sexy assassin, but at the same time I've been surprised time and time again how much I also really enjoy playing; like I play this blind cultess and it was just so different than anything, than any skin I had ever been in and I really, really enjoyed it. It was challenging and yet it was like liberating to have the opportunity and to see the world, not see the world, but to be in the world in these different skins.

That was a particularly special episode, as was being the personality of a 50-something-year-old woman in my own body. That was another one that's coming up that was very interesting. I don't know if I have a favorite, but they've all had their own special nuances and places for me.