Amy Acker, Miracle Laurie, Harry Lennix cast on Dollhouse

April 20, 2008

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Joss Whedon revealed the actors who will portray the last two major characters on his new show, Dollhouse, at Whedonesque this week.

November, one of the human dolls and recurring character on the show, will be played by Miracle Laurie. A relative newcomer to television yet experienced theatre actress, 26-year-old Laurie has an interesting resume that includes some modelling and dance, as well as leading roles in theatre productions of Jesse and the Bandit Queen, Eastern Standard and The Tempest. (Older Whedon fans will probably recall the odd Tempest reference in Firefly and Serenity and have a happy geek moment hearing that she played Ariel once.)

The role of Dr. Claire Saunders, originally described as an attractive older woman, has gone to Amy Acker, well known to Whedon fans from the series Angel, where she played the loveable scientist Fred and later Illyria, an age-old demon who was to appear in a spin-off movie about Spike, the rock star vamp played by James Marsters.

Acker also has a background in theatre and dance. Her television appearances include Alias, How I Met Your Mother, Supernatural, October Road and Tim Minear’s prematurely cancelled Drive. In 2004, she won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Fred in Angel, a role that earned her several notable nominations.

Earlier this week, the announcement came that veteran actor Harry Lennix would appear in the series as the bodyguard to Echo, the leading character played by Eliza Dushku. Lennix is best known to fans of the SF genre from his appearances as Commander Lock in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. He was also seen in recurring roles on television series 24 and Commander-in-Chief.

Televisionary posted an early review of the script for the pilot episode, titled Echo, a few days ago. Between “bigger issues of morality and mortality,” “hard questions about the ethical ramifications of science and technology,” “a multitude of morally grey characters engaged in one of the most sickening and intriguing displays of human trafficking ever devised,” “a metaphysical drama about the nature of memory and identity” and “a Shakespearean story of hubris and likely vengeance,” there seems to be plenty to look forward to.

To recap, here are all the main characters and cast of Dollhouse:

ECHO (Eliza Dushku) – leading doll, a young woman who is everyone’s fantasy and who begins to remember details of her previous assignments that were supposed to be wiped from her memory

PAUL SMITH (Tahmoh Penikett) – FBI agent obsessed with the Dollhouse myth, also Echo’s love interest

TOPHER BRINK (Fran Kranz) – ‘amoral’ programmer who is in charge of imprinting personalities on the dolls

BOYD LANGTON (Harry Lennix) – ex-cop and Echo’s handler, bodyguard and father figure

DR. CLAIRE SAUNDERS (Amy Acker) – a beautiful yet scarred woman who looks after the dolls

ADELLE DEWITT (Olivia Williams) – the manipulative ‘iceberg’ who runs the Dollhouse

SIERRA (Dichen Lachman) – the “knockout doll” and friend of Echo’s

VICTOR (Enver Gjokaj) – the doll who can play “everything from Errol Flynn to young DeNiro when he’s active”

NOVEMBER (Miracle Laurie) – the “Tracy Turnblad“ of the dolls

For regular updates on Whedon’s new show, head over to DollhouseTV.