Eliza Dushku has a natural knack for entertaining.  Now 33-years-old, she made her acting debut in the 1992 coming-of-age film, That Night, in which she played in a starring role as Alice Bloom.  Dushku’s character was a young girl growing up in Long Island, New York during the 1960s, and spent most of the film trying to understand how love works.  Although the film received mixed reviews, Dushku’s acting skills were praised.  Movie reviewer David Stratton stated: “This isn’t exactly riveting material, and the film’s modest production values seem more suited to the small screen. Nevertheless, [D]ushku makes the hero-worshiping moppet an engaging character…” By the mid 90s, it was clear that she was building a solid foundation for a long and successful career in Hollywood.  In the late 90s, Dushku achieved overwhelming mainstream success when she landed the role of Faith in the hit sitcom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  While still a member of the Buffy cast, Dushku earned a starring role in the 2000 cheerleading film, Bring It On in which she played Missy Pantone, a new member of the high school cheer squad.

Throughout the 2000s, Dushku’s star continued to rise and she was considered one of the sexiest women in Hollywood with Maxim Magazine ranking her 6th on their list of “Hot 100 Women of 2009.”  However, even with her level of fame and success, Dushku has kept many of the details of her personal life under wraps. Here are five little known facts about Eliza Dushku.

5. Eliza Dushku’s acting career began after she injured herself at one of her brother’s auditions.

The acting gene apparently runs in the Dushku family.  Eliza’s older brother, Nate, has also had a somewhat successful career, and if it weren’t for him, his baby sister may have had no career at all.  According to Dushku, her career began at just 10 years-old after she accidentally hurt herself during one of Nate’s auditions.  She recounted the story stating: “”I tripped, got a bloody nose and I was an instant drama queen,” she recalls. “The casting director went, ‘Who is this kid?'”  Unfortunately for Nate, his little sister’s career her certainly surpassed his.

4. Eliza Dushku is afraid of flying.

In her line of work, Eliza Dushku probably has to spend a decent amount of time traveling by airplane; however, Dushku has a very real fear of flying.  During an interview with Parade Magazine in 2009, Dushku briefly discussed her fear stating: “…the irony is that I have a crazy fear of flying. I’ve been known to not get on a plane if I don’t have some kind of religious ornament like a cross. It’s weird but it really kind of helps delay the fear.”  However, Dushku has since tweeted that she is a #flyaholic, suggesting that perhaps she has gotten over her fear.

I'm EPD & I'm a #flyaholic. Fly almost errrday (or errrweek). Back in 1 home again now.. for a little while. Then off to the other #lildizzy

— Eliza Dushku (@elizadushku) April 29, 2013

3. Eliza Dushku dated Rick Fox for five years.

After five years of dating, Eliza Dushku and former NBA baller, Rick Fox, decided to end their relationship. Dushku has spoken very openly about the couple’s split and has said: “Rick’s an L.A. guy and I’m a Boston girl…I’d rather be a little physically cold here than emotionally cold in L.A….I missed my town and my family.”  However, their decision to call it quits came as somewhat of a shock because it appeared as though they were planning on getting married.  Back in 2011, Fox told US Weekly: “I’ve failed in marriage before, and this will be her first marriage…So we want to make sure the foundation is laid in a responsible way where communication is had about what she wants from life as a woman — whether she wants to have kids or go back to school — whatever she wants to do.”

2. Eliza Dushku was legally emancipated when she was a teenager.

Eliza Dushku is among the many Hollywood stars who decided to seek legal emancipation.  When a minor becomes emancipated from his/her parents, the child is “freed” from parental control and the parents are no longer responsible for their child. In Dushku’s case, she ‘divorced’ her parents when she was just 13 years-old so that she could have more freedom in regards to pursuing her career.  According to a source Dushku ” requested legal emancipation from her professor parents at the age of 13 in order to circumvent restrictive child labor laws and work longer hours on the set of 1993’s “That Night” and “This Boy’s Life.”

1. Prisoners loved Eliza Dushku in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Faith, Dushku’s character on the popular series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was a slayer who came from a “damaged background” who often made poor choices.  Faith was introduced during the show’s third season.  Initially, Faith was an ally for the main characters on the show; however, after a series of unfortunate events, Faith becomes one of the show’s villains.  Apparently, her character resonated so much with prisoners that she became inundated with fan mail from people dealing with the consequences of their own bad choices.  However, the constant letters seemed to make Dushku feel uncomfortable and she once stated: “I’ve been getting fan mail from maximum security penitentiaries and death row. What are the authorities thinking of in playing a show with young teenage girls to Death Row inmates? They write everything – disgusting things that you don’t even want to know about. And they send me pictures – “Oh, here’s a picture of me before I was incarcerated!” – and there’s some guy sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a moustache, and a big gut. It’s so creepy. Way more creepy than Buffy.”

 (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)