LUCY LAWLESS
THE WOMAN BEHIND
THE WARRIOR
B Y D A V I D R E N S I N
X ena the Warrior Princess may have only a horse to get
around the ancient world, but when she's in Los Angeles,
Lucy Lawless, the 29-year-old New Zealand-born actress
who plays her, rates a limo. In fact, because of her
jam-packed schedule, the stretch Lincoln's backseat is the
only place Lawless can fit in a chat about being a role
model, a mom (to 8-year-old Daisy), and a mythic hero
who can kick anyone's butt and still find time to work on
friendship issues with her gal pal, Gabrielle (Renee
O'Connor). Lawless's day so far has included a long
outdoor photo shoot, promos for an animated
direct-to-video Hercules and Xena movie (due out this
fall), and an appearance on the NBC sitcom Something So
Right (which aired April 29). Now all she really wants to
do is head home and have dinner with her boyfriend, Xena
cocreator and executive producer Rob Tapert. But for the
moment, cruising along Mulholland Drive at dusk while
sipping a rum and Coke seems like a pleasant way to
unwind.
TV Guide: In your cameo on NBC's Something So Right,
you confronted their Xena rip-off character, Thena. That
must tell you something about how well your show is
doing.
Lucy Lawless: It says our show is really having an impact.
Of course, my personal goal is to totally infiltrate popular
culture.
TVG: In other words, world domination.
LL: In a nutshell.
TVG: Do you feel more empowered?
LL: The whole fame thing makes me giggle.
TVG: Your previous attitude was more sober.
LL: Yes. I used to be more afraid of being famous, but
now I'm determined just to roll with the punches. I'm not
going to suffocate and fall down dead.
TVG: Initially, you felt awkward being an instant role
model, right?
LL: I've relaxed tremendously about that. I finally realized
that being a role model doesn't mean people are
encouraged to be like me -- they're encouraged to go out
and be more of themselves. Before, it was too much
responsibility to bear because it's all I can do to be a good
role model to my kid. I don't need other people's kids on
my plate.
TVG: Who in your business inspires you?
LL: Susan Sarandon and Helen Mirren. I also think
Madonna's an admirable creature, but I don't intend to
model my career on hers. Xena's breastplates will not
suddenly go all pointy.
TVG: You weren't the first choice for Xena. The original
actress got sick and had to drop out. Did you ever meet
her?
LL: Once, and to my everlasting shame I was kind of a
smart-ass. She didn't know who I was and I knew full well
who she was -- Vanessa Angel -- and she was working on
the Universal lot in Weird Science. I leapt off this
Universal tram and said, "Oh, can I have a photo with
you?!" Now I have this photo with her being so genuine
and me having a smart-aleck look on my face. She was
very kind to someone she didn't even know.
TVG: Apology noted. How, in your life, have you had to
be a hero?
LL: By being a working mother and going through a
divorce [from Garth Lawless, a bar manager]. You feel
you're losing your kid and you can't defend yourself. You
can't speak ill of the father. You can be persecuted, but
you can't persecute. Your kid thinks that you don't care.
There have been moments when I've had to fight every
natural urge to strike back. Xena does the same thing,
fights urges.
TVG: How has your daughter reacted to your show --
especially since it's now on in New Zealand -- and your
celebrity?
LL: At first, she really hated it. Wanted it all just to go
away. She equated it with the breakup of her family. In
fact, the two were completely unrelated. [Pauses] She's
much more comfortable with it now. She's realized that
Xena is not going to turn my head away from her. She's
even slightly proud. She realizes now that it's a cool show.
When it finally aired in New Zealand, the next weekend --
she stays with me on weekends -- I asked her, "Did the
kids say anything about the show?" She went, "Yeah, they
really liked it, actually!" She kept using the word
"actually."
TVG: You've talked about Xena's dark side. She's been
bad, and now she's good. What urges are buried inside that
she's still trying to resist?
LL: She may be good, but she doesn't feel she's good.
Xena's agenda is just to get through the day without killing
someone. [Laughs] There is no such thing as atonement
for her. The time for reconciliation with people she's hurt
is past because they're long dead. That sword of Damocles
will always hang above her head. The day that she finds
peace with herself will be the last day of the series.
TVG: So Xena is just fated to keep wandering around the
ancient world?
LL: Yes. She keeps moving. If she puts down roots, she
might have to face herself. She'll never have a home. She's
a misfit -- and that's where we are similar.
TVG: Why do you think you're a misfit?
LL:. I have chosen to live in a rarefied atmosphere. People
react differently now that I'm on the telly. I become more
of a misfit all the time, but I suppose that's what I wanted to be.
TVG: How would you characterize your relationship with
Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo?
LL: I would characterize it as [leans close to the
microphone and smiles]: We have no competition going
on whatsoever. He's my big brother, and I love him. Just
because Xena came from Hercules' rib doesn't mean I
want to knock him off.
TVG: Xena has switched bodies with her archenemy,
Callisto. What if you switched bodies with Hercules? What
would you do with a day in his skin?
LL: I would totally corrupt Herc's reputation, no doubt!
Not deliberately, of course. The possibilities are
mind-blowing. I suppose I might also be very freaked out
and looking for a surgeon. Boy, would he be sorry when I
changed back!
TVG: In the direct-to-video animated Hercules and Xena
movie you not only do your character's voice, you also
sing a song. Will your voice be balm or blasphemy to your
fans?
LL: All the hard-core fans know that I sing. The song is a
real kid pleaser. It's a pop ballad.
TVG: So should we expect an album of Lucy Lawless
singing Greek classics?
LL: Yeah. I'm thinking of doing Sappho's greatest hits.
TVG: I hear that you'll be segueing from one Grecian
formula to another in the fall, playing the part of Rizzo on
Broadway, in "Grease." How did that happen?
LL: It was a complete surprise. When I did The Rosie
O'Donnell Show last August, I also sang. During our chat
she told me she'd been in "Grease." I asked her what role,
and she scoffed and said, "What role do you think I
played? Rizzo, of course. Do you think they're going to
cast me as Olivia Newton-John?" A couple of months later
the offer came through. Apparently the play's producers
just happened to be watching at the right time. I think it's
ironic that even in my time off from being a bad girl who
wants to be a saint, I play a bad girl.
TVG: What modern, indispensable comfort would Xena
kill to have?
LL: Tampons.
TVG: Well -- you're clearly a lot saucier than that stern
spoilsport Xena.
LL: She can be lots of fun. In an episode this season Xena
went undercover at a beauty pageant. You see her dumb
and blond. You even see her uncovered. [Smiles] I walk
up the ramp and, as I pivot at the end, I give a little flick of
my tush, and you get to see right up Xena's skirts. It was a
happy accident, and the angle was good, so I didn't mind.
TVG: Is there anything you'd like to change about your
regular costume?
LL: I wish it was a caftan, but you can't high-kick
someone in a caftan.
TVG: Xena is more experienced with men than her pal,
Gabrielle. What advice is she dying to give her young
friend?
LL: She's not really in any position to give advice.
Recently we had a guest star who had a problem with her
man because he was in love with Xena. Xena decided to
give her some womanly tips. Next thing, the woman comes
out wearing some sort of Neanderthal dominatrix outfit.
That was Xena's advice!
TVG: What criticisms of the show have you heard that
you just don't get?
LL: I say, Lay the hell off Joxer. I think many of the
die-hard fans dislike him because they think that Xena and
Gabrielle dislike him. That's an affront to a wonderful
actor, Ted Raimi. He's comic relief, and the show needs
him because Xena cannot fill that role. Nor can Gabrielle.
Neither of us is allowed to look silly. Joxer is a good vent
for the audience because everyone loves seeing him get
hurt. So stop being nasty about him on the Internet. I am
offended on behalf of a friend and colleague.
TVG: Heaven and hell have their ancient equivalents in the
Elysian Fields and Tartarus. Where is Xena going?
LL: I think she will find, to her great surprise, that she gets
pushed through the cat flap in the door of the Elysian
Fields. She'll get in by a whisker.
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Last Updated 27-Apr-97 tony@shelbynet.net