Alan Tudyk Rocks the Dollhouse

  We’ve been saying the same thing since Dollhouse began – it doesn’t have the wit, the spark, the pacing that we’ve come to expect from a Joss Whedon production. All of that changed last week when Alan Tudyk arrived on the scene. His introductory episode, “Briar Rose”, was clever, fast-paced and it had that pop culture wit and wisdom that was the hallmark of the best Buffy episodes.

Tudyk, known to scifi fans as Wash from Firefly, is the face behind the mysterious Alpha that we’ve heard so many scary tales about. Which is funny, because on the surface, Alan Tudyk isn’t a scary person, but he sure made us believe when he switched from the nutty and neurotic engineer Kepler, to a man you wouldn’t want to meet up with in the dark.

“I had so much fun playing Kepler, all this stupid physical stuff was great. And then turning into a bad ass was also fun,” said Tudyk, when he spoke to reporters on the phone after last week’s episode.  “Mentally speaking, and in this next episode, I’m only Alpha. I’m even more crazy, like he’s insane, insane.”

Playing the crazed killer was a new thing for Tudyk, and as much as he enjoyed the opportunity, it wasn’t something he’d sign up for on a long term basis.

“I like goofing around on set and joking around with the crew and everything. When you’re playing somebody who’s as intense as this guy is, I kind of have to be quiet and to myself from time to time and kind of keep my focus. If I was signing up for seven years of one or the other, I’d go with the fun loving, funny guy because it’s more fun to play. But luckily I don’t have to choose and Joss gave me this guy, which is both and many.”

By “many,” Tudyk means the other forty-two personalities that reside inside Alpha’s head.

“In this coming episode,” says Tudyk, “you see the effect of what forty-three people is on one person. We all have inner monologues, different voices that chime in throughout our day, different opinions on situations. Alpha has a little less control of his opinions. They are full people who all want voices. It takes an effort to maintain order in his brain.”

The actor admit that playing such a character was a little “crazy making” particularly when he’s contradicting himself as the various personalities battled for dominance. 

It was, however, this very character description that had Tudyk hungry for the role in the first place.

“[Joss] set me up really well because he didn’t tell me he wanted me for the role when he first described it. It wasn’t like we were in his office discussing work. We were over at Nathan Fillion’s house for Pictionary. We were on a Pictionary break when I brought it up. ‘What’s going on with the show? I want to hear about your new show,’ because it had yet to start and we were just getting into the strike time.

“He gave me a full scope of the guy, that he was this person who was obsessed with Echo and was forty-three people at once and has all of these skill sets crammed into one, but because he’s forty-three people at once, he’s mad. But he can do many things and he’s sort of godlike in his own mind. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s sounds so amazing. Who’s playing that?’ ‘I want you to play it.’ I was really blown away that he wanted me for it and I was excited. As you said, I don’t get to play bad asses very often.”

And bad ass he shall be as Alpha sets off on his quest for world domination that starts with bringing Echo up to his personal, god-like standard. According to Tudyk, it’s going to be one heck of a finale. As for the future he says. . .

“My fate beyond the episode, totally alive, living a healthy life in Venice, California. But Alpha’s fate? It’s uncertain.”

Which in a world of Dollhouse, could mean anything.

The Dollhouse season finale airs tonight on FOX and now I’m actually sorry to see it go.

Cr: Carin Baer/FOX