Joss praises Tahmoh in new interview (& other news)

In a new interview with IGN, Joss Whedon, creator and executive producer of the upcoming Fox series Dollhouse, praises Tahmoh effusively and talks about his casting as Paul Smith.

Question: I know you're a big Battlestar fan. Was it great for you to get to work with Tahmoh Penikett?

Whedon: I'm gonna go out on a limb here and tell the truth – I've had a man-crush on Tahmoh since the first episode of Battlestar.

Question: From the moment he stayed behind on Caprica?

Whedon: I had a feeling about him. I just had a feeling about him. I know, he gave up his seat to Baltar! Not bright, but cute! But no, he just has a presence. Tim Minear watched the dailies and he said, "I can't believe you found this guy. This guy is so hard to find. A leading man that has a real soulfulness and a real unique quality" and I just felt that from Battlestar, and he brought it completely [to Dollhouse]. When I spoke to him, he was the first person to mention Never Let Me Go, the novel, just from hearing the premise of Dollhouse. The beautiful sadness of that novel so suffuses what we're trying to do, and it was so beautiful when he brought it up that I just knew this guy [was right]. And it follows my rule with Nathan [Fillion]. Hire a Canadian! They're gentlemen and they're very tall.

Never Let Me Go is a 2005 Booker Prize short-listed novel, which takes place in a dystopian Britain, in which human beings are cloned to provide donor organs for transplants (a full summary of the plot is available here.)

Read the rest of the interview.

In other Dollhouse news, Dollverse.com has posted a photo of a location for the series that's thought to be Paul's apartment. The black-out curtains likely indicate they were filming night scenes.

Also a new viral online game for the series has launched. You can follow all the latest details via posts at Whedonesque.