Dichen Lachman brings Sierra to life in 'Dollhouse'

Priya and Dichen -- how much alike are they?

They're alike in many ways. I am and Priya is very free-spirited and artistic, and in that way, very similar. As far as their other traits, when Jed [Whedon] and Maurissa [Tancharoen] wrote "Belonging" where Sierra was Priya, they had said before to me, "Listen, we want Priya to be as much like you as you can possibly make her" -- which is a challenge because I'm actually quite uncomfortable being myself on camera. I'm very awkward, and I'd much rather pretend to be someone else. I find that much more comfortable. I don't know what that says about my personality, but I did try to make her as similar to me as I possibly could. She's sort of more bohemian and I think I'm more ambitious and goal-oriented.

Has there been or will there be a specific assignment for Sierra that you would've liked to explore further?

I would like to kick some serious [butt] like Eliza gets to do!  To do lots of stunts and fast-moving action stuff. Only because you don't really get to do that sort of stuff very often and in a show where you can be anybody, it seems to be the perfect place to explore that. ... I suppose a spy or a covert operation, spy-type of thing, even though I kind of got to do that last season.

What would you do if you were able to access and use the dollhouse technology?

I've been thinking about this recently. ... I've come up with a few different ones. Recently I've been listening to classical music and sadly I don't play an instrument. I would love to be able to program myself to pick up any instrument and to be able to play it very, very well, and to be able to read music and dance as well. I'm very uncoordinated and I'd love to be able to bust a really great move.

So what happens when and if Joss has an episode where you're a ballerina or a classically trained pianist or a violinst?

Then I would learn. It would be much easier to have Topher just program me. But that's what I love about acting -- that it requires these sorts of things. You have to get out and learn it. If you want to do what you love, you have to go out there and force yourself to do it. ... I'd just ask Joss for a fair amount of warning, and then not sleep until I had it down!

Using the school analogy you gave when we first spoke, you said that "acting was like school lunch" -- what have you learned since being on the show?

One is learning from the other people that I work with because they're remarkable at what they do and have been doing it longer than I have. I love to just watch them, and even if I wasn't there, just from watching the show I learn so much. ... And also we get scripts sometimes the night before we're shooting and it'll say that you're doing a mid-Atlantic accent and it's very film noir from 40 years ago or something -- and you've got literally hours to work on an accent and build the character by finding their movements and little nuances in the person in such a short time. That is a wonderful challenge and it's really kept me on my toes.

Tahmoh Penikett said the writers are now writing for the actors as well as the characters, and I guess this is what led to the back story of Sierra.

Yeah, I guess they're influenced by our personalities. If they see an influence they try to incorporate it into the character. I think that just happens in television the longer you work together.

So, you're a painter?

I do paint, and I wanted to actually be a painter. Sometimes I'll whip out paints. It's tough to find the motivation, but it's also a solitary, lonely occupation. What I like about acting is that it is such a collaborative thing.

Cool. So they pulled that from you?

I think it was just by chance. The actual work was done by Brooke Reidt. She's a wonderful artist and I hope that she gets a little credit.

Anything else you can tell us about your character or "Dollhouse" in general?

Dollhouse focuses on Echo, so most of the engagements require Eliza Dushku to spring into action. Dichen Lachman sometimes takes a back seat, showing how actives like Sierra work for the dollhouse. Lachman said big things are still coming for her character.

Dichen Lachman on Dollhouse

“She’s also becoming more aware,” Lachman said. “I mean, Eliza’s character is leagues ahead of the rest, but she’s starting to retain things, absolutely. I think essentially, we can’t really play what we know of the future which makes sense, but I think just to remember and just keep that core default character, like for Sierra I think she has a deep, genuine poetic sadness. Like she’s sad but in a beautiful way and no matter who she plays, I try and incorporate that in some way, shape or form.”

The second season’s focus on the continuing story means that supporting characters have room to develop week to week. “I think you should be very excited. I think you’ll notice it’ll be more focused on the dollhouse and less on the specifics of the engagement but more on the inner workings, the intricacies of how it’s structured politically, the hierarchy and how far it really stretches out. It’s going to be more epic, it’s going to go wider, broader and you’ll get to learn more about the characters. You’ll see more of Victor and Sierra’s relationship, not flourish. That’s a really big term to use for what they have but you’ll just see them get closer and you’ll get to see them become more aware, like Echo. You’ll get to see Tahmoh in the dollhouse, trying to work in an environment which he initially had very contrary feelings to. It’s exciting, it’s different. I’ve been very excited about every episode.”

The very first episode of season two shows Sierra returning from an engagement as a racist Brit. “I thought that was really cool. I love it, I love it. I also kept crossing out the lines because she says, ‘Tie me down and spank me’ but for some reason, I kept saying, ‘Bend me over and spank me.’ Joss had to come over and say, ‘It’s not bend me over. It’s tie me down. I don't know why you’re saying bend me over.’ I think he just likes to stick to the script he wrote and I messed it up.”

What else is coming up for Sierra, you just wait and see. “She gets to do some cool stuff. I think you get to learn a little bit more about her and where she’s from. Not a lot.”

Dollhouse airs Fridays on Fox.

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SciFiNow recently interviewed Dollhouse’s Dichen Lachman and amid all the Whedon-related banter, we managed to get her on the subject of Star Wars. Responding to rumours that she is currently lined up to feature in the upcoming TV series based around the franchise, Lachman had the following to say:

“If that’s true, then that’s amazing. If it’s the TV series then that would be awesome if I could do that after Dollhouse, as I am a huge Star Wars fan.” Following this she geeked us out with some frankly awesome trivia: “I can tell you that the Ewoks in Return Of The Jedi are actually speaking Tibetan,” she said. “I can actually translate what they are saying, which is: ‘What’s this? What’s this? Oh hurry, hurry, hurry’ mostly repeating the same stuff. So I bet you didn’t know that.”

On a final thought Lachman made it clear that, rumour or not, she would like to feature in this series:

“I am a huge George Lucas fan; I love those movies and that would be a dream come true – I’d love to do it, it would be incredible,” she said before suggesting: “Maybe I could be Queen of the Ewoks.”

Dollhouse season two is scheduled to air on 25 September 2009. In addition to this, season one of the series is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray.

Adoring Dichen

Dichen Lachman attends Fox All-Star Party in Pasadena with other menbers of the Dollhouse cast

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