Because we love new TV, Eliza Dushku and all things Whedon, we can’t help but ponder who might join the lovely Miss Dushku in her exciting new venture Dollhouse. So we thought we’d Sound Off on our dream Dollhouse cast. In case you haven’t heard the biggest TV news to cross the information highway in some time, you can read all about it here.

In order to keep it real we’ve given ourselves a few guidelines:

1. Don’t outshine the star! Eliza is the lead of the show, and she deserves it. Someone like Sarah Michelle Gellar or Jennifer Garner is not going to come in and play second fiddle, so no point in pretending they would.
2. Try to limit the Whedonverse cast. Joss has already commented that he & Eliza are probably enough from the old crew. “I never rule anybody out, but my first instinct is to try out new people because it is me and Eliza.” So let’s try not to create the dream team of Buffy, Angel, Spike, Anya and Willow.
3. Keep it real. Someone like Nicole Kidman probably isn’t going to leave her movie career to join a TV show.

JUST JODY: Since this thought is what prompted the sound-off in the first place, I’ll start us off by tossing in a vote for Amber Tamblyn as a doll. (And no, I don’t consider her a Whedonverse actor). This video is a great showcase of her work on Joan of Arcadia.

The one Whedonverse actor that I would love to see in a role on this show is Alexis Denisof. Perhaps as someone who works behind the scenes at the Dollhouse. My one concern is that he shouldn’t be in any sort of ‘Watcher’ role, but I wonder if he’s too old to be cast a doll?

Who else has some dream cast in mind?

SPADADA: We had the same thought at the same time. I just posted this comment to a friend on LJ: “OMG! I NEED Moonlight to get canceled and I NEED Joss to cast Jason Dohring in Dollhouse. OMG.OMG! It has to happen! Like Jensen in Dark Angel. OMG.”

We all know that Joss named Logan one of his favorite TV characters ever last summer.

“13) Logan from V Mars. Smirking his way into TV history.”

(source)

Check out the greatness of Logan in this video:

RAE: I can see Alexis as the federal agent that has heard the urban myth about the dolls and is trying to verify if they exist. That would take him out of a Watcher type of role.

Do you think Joss will set it up so that there’s an age limit on the dolls?

Well, since this is a dream cast, is it too much to ask Shia LaBeouf to return to TV? Am I breaking rule #3? He’s not quite box office gold yet, is he?

POLTER-COW: I would also be behind Alexis Denisof pratfalling his way into a conspiracy.

JJ: I don’t think Joss would set an age limit on the dolls, but the network might? But really I was more thinking that the dolls are supposed to represent people’s wildest dreams, and THAT could put an age limit on the dolls.

YES! That is totally breaking rule #3. I was even going to include Shia as an example for that one because I thought he might be on your list. But really, do you think he’s leaving the most promising movie career for a young actor that there is right now, to be on a Fox TV show?

R: That’s not fair! You used Nicole Kidman as an example and Shia’s no where near Nicole status!

SIGH.

Fine. I will come up with someone else. OK. Ryan Devlin. I think he does a good job in switching from charmer to evil schemer so I could see him in this type of role. I’m not sure it’s “dream” casting, though.

Female-wise, Liza Weil (Paris from Gilmore Girls) might be interesting.

JJ: True, Shia is nowhere near Nicole status. No question there. And I completely agree that he would be great on Dollhouse. But Young Indie is pretty much the most coveted movie role for young males and he’s it, and I believe he’s got a couple other big ones in the works. He’s the next big thing… there’s just no way he’d leave all that for TV.

I could totally see Liza having the chops to pull off the acting.

Who is Ryan Devlin? Should I know him from something?

R: OK, I concede the point about Shia. I agree, there’s no need for him to go back. He’s already the next big thing but, if he wasn’t, he would be once that comes out.

I wasn’t limiting myself to looks. I’m not getting the fantasy thing out of all the descriptions out there. I imagine they would have some dolls who stand out less than others.

Ryan Devlin was Mercer Hayes on Veronica Mars. Used to be a VJ for MTV.

R: I’d love to see what Jason could do with good writing behind him. (Sorry, Moonlight writers!) I don’t know that you’ll get that wish, though, Spads, given how Nina Tassler was just proclaiming her love for Moonlight.

JJ: OK, I am going to go ahead and incur the wrath of fangirls everywhere and say that while Logan was awesome, I haven’t seen anything other than Logan from Jason, and don’t think he could pull off the multitude of things needed for this type of role. Alright… blast me.

And I forgot to ask where you got the description for that role Rae? Did you dream it up or did you read it somewhere?

R: WHAT?! I AM NO LONGER SPEAKING TO YOU.

Non-fangirl mode: I figured you’d have something to say about that one. I don’t know if I disagree completely. I think Jason is actually very bad at choosing his roles. He needs the right (and a great) writer behind him and I can see Joss coming up with something great for him. I’m not sure that’d be a doll or not. Maybe more the role Spads describes.

Oh, it’s in the logline description of the show released by Fox:

Logline: A dramatic series centering on a group of people who are imprinted with the personalities and abilities they need to carry out specific missions. Afterwards, their memories are wiped clean and they live together like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dormatory and lab. Echo, the main character, gains an awareness of what has happened to her and tries to find out about her past. Meanwhile, a federal agent has heard an urban myth about the dolls, and works to verify that they exist.

(source)

S: Proof that Rae is a television writer in the making!

Rae, Nina Tassler is only saying that because she wants the show to do better and wants to help it get some press. If something better with the potential for higher ratings comes along, ML will be out of there faster than Joan of Arcadia was replaced with Ghost Whisperer. (Screw you, Moonves!)

Speaking of JoA, I love Amber Tamblyn, Jody, and I totally think she could be another doll in the house.

And I think Jason could do it too. If he played an Alec-like character, he would be the one who toes the line and tries to make Echo “forget about the world out there” and just be happy with what they’ve got. There could be antagonistic sexual tension and everything!

R: Wait. What’s proof of that?!

I don’t disagree about Nina’s reasons for saying that but, and I never thought I’d be saying this, I can’t see CBS canceling it anytime soon. Depending on the strike situation, I can actually see it lasting the entire season if not longer. (And, sorry, Joel’s so not going to let Jason go until the show goes.)

OK. What about Joshua Jackson? Can I have him?

JJ: OMG! YES!! Please, let’s have Joshua Jackson. He’d be one of my first choices for males!

Hmm… I wonder what the ‘dolls’ wear when they’re deactivated??

P-C: I have to throw my hat in for Caroline Dhavernas because I need to see her on my TV again. She could totally be a doll. She was practically unrecognizable in Breach.

JJ: I am totally down with that vote! Caroline Dhavernas is fantastic. She played a wide variety of emotions with ease on Wonderfalls. (And she’s Canadian. Always a bonus in my book.)

R: Count me in on that one too. Too bad our votes won’t actually mean a thing to Joss.

S: “Get Joss on the horn!” (Wouldn’t that be awesome?) But seriously, if he doesn’t want to pull actors from the Whedonverse, he should at least look to the Fullerverse and Neptune, CA.

And now I am racking my brain for my favorite actors in canceled before their time series. (Unfortunately I’m mostly thinking of women. I think my favorite show creators are my favorites because they write such amazing female characters.)

Like Taylor Townsend. Love her. Let’s make Autumn Reeser a doll.

Maybe Alia Shawkat could be Echo’s real life sister.

Ooh, where JoA and VM meet: Juliette Goglia. She could dye her hair dark brown and play a young Echo in the main character’s memory flashbacks!

And next to Joan and a few of the God incarnations, Luke Giradi was my favorite character on Joan. What about Michael Welch as the college-age son of the federal agent?

JJ: Ohh, I agree Autumn Reeser would be a fantastic doll! She’s smokin’ hot and has the acting chops. Speaking of fantasies…

We really need some males in our cast! I’d love to see Jason Priestly back on my TV on a weekly basis, but I can’t really see him in anything on this show. Can anyone think of any younger males that would fit the bill??

GREG: I also like Autumn Reeser for this type of role - good call!

As for other leading ladies, how about Katee Sackoff? Maybe she’ll be done with BSG and Bionic Woman by that time. Oh, and one of my favorites, Nora Zehetner (Heroes, Everwood). She would be perfect for this. I’m still bitter that they killed off her character (Eden) on Heroes.

Leading men: Peter Facinelli (Damages, Fastlane) and Leonard Roberts (”D.L.” on Heroes)

I’ve got Heroes on the brain from watching the first season again.

R: Jason P’s in a show on LIFETIME, although I don’t know if it’s been picked up for a second season yet.

I like Kyle Gallner but he goes against your fantasy thing. I also like Jason Ritter (formerly of The Class) but I have no idea if he has the range needed for this type of show. What about Aaron Ashmore? I loved him on VM. Not sure how he did on SV.

JJ: Bumnmer, we don’t get Lifetime up here.

Hey, it’s not MY fantasy thing… it’s Joss’. And I don’t see why KG couldn’t fit in that?

I loved Aaron Ashmore too! And why not throw in the equally great twin brother (Shawn Ashmore, X-men) and double the pleasure! Oh yeah… they need to have twin dolls. I’m all over that fantasy.

I think Jason Ritter has some pretty serious acting chops. (Rae, when are you going to watch Joan of Arcadia?) I’d watch him every week too.

Good call with Peter Facinelli G! He’s definitely fantasy worthy!

R: Haha… well, I meant the interpretation that it would have to be just good-looking/young people. I actually think they’d probably go for a large range of different people because the “facility” would have to have people to cover every type of fantasy. I could picture that people who come from “bad families” would have a mother fantasy.

I wonder if some of the dolls would be more like guest stars to cover that type of thing, actually.

Oooh. Sorry. I suck. 30 Rock. Dexter. FNL. JoA. I have a lot of catching up to do.

JJ: OK, but going off this quote from Joss:

“The idea is those with the money or connections can access this secret highly illegal facility where they can basically fulfill their greatest fantasies. Most people assume that means sex—and on an occasion it does, because that is a lot of people’s fantasies—but it’s basically scenarios. They can basically re-enact scenarios of romance, adventure or anything perfectly, because they become the person that you want them to be—they become that person.”

(source)

The only people I can see fitting that bill are the beautiful people. The rich and powerful just aren’t going to have old and ugly as part of their wildest fantasies. Plus, it’s TV and it’s Fox and the people are usually pretty and shiny no matter what the premise is.

And that comment about the guest stars brings me to what I was going to throw out there for our closing comments…

This seems to be the type of show that could lead to some great guest roles. I was thinking of the people who want to have their fantasies fulfilled, but Rae has a good point that there could be guest dolls too. So, my final Q is - Who would be your dream guest actor for Dollhouse. Absolutely no guidelines - give us your wildest dream!

R: Ok, ok, I do see what you’re saying but I’m still guessing the cast will be a little more diversified, if only because that leaves more possibilities story-wise. That said they will all be pretty and shiny. I agree. Aren’t they all? Even the ones who aren’t quite as pretty as others are still pretty by normal life standards.

As for my dream guest actor, I have to think about this one.

S: I think I have to be obvious about this and vote for David Boreanez. I am a big fan of Angel and Faith as friends and Angelus and Faith as enemies. I would love to see these two on screen together in any capacity.

JJ: Yes, David B and Eliza do have some excellent chemistry together.

I have 2 dream guest actors. Both blow all the rules, so I know they’ll never happen, but it’s a dream right? I would love to see SMG come in as a doll who goes bad and has to be stopped by Echo. And I’d love to see someone like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt come in and play someone like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt who gets a fantasy acted out.

R: Oh, thank goodness you picked SMG because now I don’t have to name her.

Actually, I have a bunch I’d like to see but I’d really love to have the cover of Buffy Season 8 #7 come to life… so my #1 dream casting is Anthony Stewart Head.

This may depend on whether she ends up being a regular on Heroes but I wouldn’t mind seeing Kristen Bell on the show either. As a client of the organization or someone affected by a fanatasy that is being played out. I’d also enjoy Lucy Lawless showing up.

JJ: Never mind guest starring… Lucy Lawless needs to have a regular role! I fell so in love with her at CC, and I think she’d be able to fulfill a lot of guys fantasies.

And I’d watch KB in anything.

R: Haha, well I did think about bringing her up earlier as a regular. I could see her actually being someone who helps run the facility. They’d need fantasy-level beautiful people meeting with the clients, right?

G: For big name guest stars, how about Scarlett Johansson and Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal? The Gyllenhaals in an on-screen brother and sister role would be great.

P-C: It would never ever happen in a million years, but Cate Blanchett is one of those actors who just disappears into her roles so that you hardly recognize her from movie to movie.

Also, I am completely randomly throwing out Tracy Middendorf‘s name because she guest stars in EVERYTHING. And she’s pretty.

JJ: Well there you have it folks. A whole slew of possibilities for the recently announced new series Dollhouse. Let’s hope Tim and Joss have some extra time on their hands, and catch our post… you never know we may have picked a winner.

What do you think? Any good choices? Did we miss your favorite? Who would you like to see?