If you’ve been wondering all these years why there was never a Faith-centered Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff series, Eliza Dushku finally dishes the dirt on why the project never came to pass.
Personally, I had no idea that such a spinoff was ever an option, but then again I didn’t jump on the Buffy bandwagon until after the series was cancelled. Apparently there were rumors that there was going to be a spinoff series focusing on the Faith, the bad-girl slayer who seemed somewhat redeemed when Buffy wrapped up its seventh and final season but it never happened.
According what Dushku said in a recent interview posted by SFX, there were a number of factors that led to the project being scrapped.
“After I finished the show, I’d withdrawn from school and followed up with a couple of films like Bring It On, but I’d had such an awesome experience working with Joss I was ready to go down that road again. So I met with Joss and Tim Minear and spoke about the potential for a Faith spin-off. But Buffy had just gone on seven years and Joss was really straightforward: he couldn’t play the kind of day-to-day role he had on Buffy – he had his family.
Dushku went on to say that while she loves Tim Minear, Whedon’s unavailability to do the project was a contributing factor. She also wanted to explore other characters. Dushku admitted that, while she doesn’t regret the decision to move on with her career and leave Faith behind, she does think talks could have gone on a bit longer.
I’d say that her initial decision not to pursue future Faith projects was a good one. As much as I loved both Buffy and Angel, when I think of a Faith-centered series, I picture Dushku rescuing and mentoring other misguided wild-child girls and giving them speeches about how she too once lived recklessly and it led to bad things. I like how her character was fleshed out in Angel and then resolved somewhat in the final season of Buffy. I don’t think her story needed to go any further than that.
What do you think? Would a Faith series been an excellent Buffy/Angel spinoff? Or do you think it would’ve been disastrous?
