Aricles Annex - Xena: Warrior Princess Magazine Articles

---

Total TV

November 1997

Lucy Lawless Uncut

By Scott Barwick

Well, there's nothing like waiting in a hotel lobby, never mind that it's the Ritz-Carlton New York. You get time to think. You get time to think how much money you don't have to stay here. Mainly, though, you get to people-watch. The person I'm watching for specifically is Lucy Lawless. Yes, Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle, caught Barwick apparently in the grip of The Rosie O'Donnell Show and typical New York traffic, and almost anonymous.

"People don't look twice," Lawless would later say to me about being recognized. "They're expecting to see some enormous woman. This muscle-bound, leather-clad woman." And to a degree, watching her walk into the lobby, I see what she means. No trademarked yip-yip-yip yell upon entering. She turns out to be very soft-spoken, with her charming New Zealand drawl. Gone is the heavy-metal breast-plated getup, replaced by a purple sweater and black skirt. No sword, only a publicist. (Which poses the question: Which weapon does a star need more in NYC?) Were it not for her pale blue eyes, which would stand out just about anywhere, she's probably right about not being noticed. The star of TV's number one syndicated show is just a hard-working, single mom . . . and a very hungry person. One of the first things she asks the publicist after the interview is over is, "When can we order?" At least you know that Lawless--unlike Xena--is not going to bust some heads if the food doesn't come on time. But being quoted out of context is a different matter, and she's quick to jab back at a recent Ms. magazine article that questioned her political correctness.

Total TV: What happened with Ms. magazine?

Lucy Lawless: What happened there was, the problem with phone interviews. They're often too unreliable. When you see it in print, I sound like a iiiiii-diot. When I said I was shocked to be called a feminist, I didn't mean I was shocked and disgusted. I was shocked because it never occurred to me that [Xena] was a political show. [The interviewer] said: Are you political? What do you mean, political? My father was a politician. What do you mean? My mother was a suffragette. Do I vote? Do I want to stay out of politics? It means such different things. Another reason that [interview] came across so poorly, I have been terrified of this whole role model thing. It's one thing for Xena to be it but another for Lucy Lawless to be somebody's role model, and I thought that was too heavy a burden. It's a bit intimidating. Since I've been here [in NYC] this week, I have met a heap of women that seem to be incredibly inspired by the show and not inspired to be like Xena but inspired to be themselves. They use the word empowered. It feels kind of new-agey to me. But it's a great word, and it's a perfect expression for what they're feeling. A woman goes out and buys a Harley because she's always wanted to, that's great. As long as she doesn't kill herself.

So you're not uncomfortable with Xena's being a role model?

No, it doesn't feel like a weight on my shoulders at all. I'm thrilled to be part of someone who does that. It's good for little boys to see a strong woman, in a starring role, a multidimensional character.

Why aren't there any more women heroes on TV?

I don't know. It just seems the world was ready for this one and really embraced it. And you ain't seen nothing yet. We have six episodes we just filmed for the new season. I'm really proud of some of the work we've done. They're wonderful episodes.

What do you think is the show's appeal?

It is fun. They love the humor. You know, there's a lot of really intellectual people, professional people [who] it started out being a guilty pleasure and now they're really into it. It's high-common denominator television. It's not all T&A. There's a lot more content than style, more style than eye candy. It's kind of what I live by, in that in the show my job is to make people feel something. 'Cause to be an action star was really never my ambition. I guess it's to pass vicarious experiences on to somebody. And it's a perfectly noble thing to want to entertain. Sometimes I do shake my head and say "What am I doing?" All I do is make a television show. [inaudible] I'm sure we all have this conflict that sometimes I love my job to pieces.

It looks like it could be a little fun.

Yeah. [laughs] We really have fun. We have to. We spend 14 hours a day at it, and to treat it like it was a drag and to take it for granted is just a big mistake.

Is it easier working in New Zealand, being at home?

Yeah. It does help. Also from a family aspect, because of my daughter. It would be too disruptive to her life to have to move. And her dad's there. And I wouldn't want to force a decision on her like who to go live with, who to spend the holidays with.

Has the show finally started airing in New Zealand?

Yeah. They're up to episode eight now.

Are you starting to get recognized?

They do notice me, but people are by and large extremely nice. They leave me alone. I appear to be scary.

Do they recognize you here?

Not really. Not really. People don't look twice. They're expecting to see some enormous woman. This muscle-bound, leather-clad woman. If they look twice, if I'm static they might [laughs] recognize me, but you just keep moving. No, I don't get hassled at all.

Having four older brothers--was that good preparation for playing a warrior princess?

Yeah. Lots of battling. Lots of battling. You had to be pretty wily to survive, or fast. And I wasn't fast so I had to be wily! [laughs]

You look like you do most of your own stunts. Did you ever get knocked silly?

Yeah. Hell yeah. It's an occupational hazard in this kind of job. You get hit. Always bruised. I had a black eye once. Loosened all my teeth. That was an interesting experience all by itself.

How'd that come about?

Stunt fight. I was over-tired. Just collected one. I flicked my head the wrong way and came back to look at [the stuntman]. And connected with a fist traveling in the other direction. Poor guy. He was overcome. Stunties do not like hurting people.

Is that scream all you too?

Yeah.

Does it hurt your vocal cords?

No. I don't do it a lot.

How do you keep in shape? Is that the hardest part?

No. There are times when they bind you up nice and tight, so I guess that keeps you in shape. The job is very physical so I don't have too much outside work anymore. I worked really hard at it in the beginning, but happily I'm on holiday now.

How about that suit? It looks uncomfortable.

It is. I don't think about it so much anymore. But some days it's the last thing I want to see.

Is it cold?

It is really cold. That metal breast plate keeps air between any covering and your body, so it just kind of whistles around your back. You just got to stay healthy. The camera rolls and you don't feel a thing. You just go for it. You don't feel the cold. You don't feel the rain. You don't feel pain. Yeah, you don't feel any pain. Like if you get hurt, it's just an acting phenomenon. Those are the moments you live for. When you're actually . . . when the camera rolls you're in the scene. You're not awake to the outside. You feel it doesn't exist in the scene. It doesn't exist for a few seconds.

Are you worried about being typecast?

I get to do wacky comedy. I also get to play other characters. No, it's not a huge concern. I'm so stretched. It's the most amazing grounding I could ever have for my career. It's the most amazing training. When you do something every day it most simply must improve. Unless you're an iiiii-diot. We've all come a long way. I learned an awful lot in the past year. This season I hope will bear that out and the people will enjoy it.

Is your daughter enjoying this?

It's sort of a mixed bag for her. She's been followed by tabloids, believe or not. Her dad was offered money to, you know, dump on me and he just wouldn't. He's a good guy. So that was a rude awakening about what it meant for her mummy to be a star. And while she's really proud of me--she really likes Xena and all that stuff--her joy is tempered by this kind of threat of the [photographers] coming back or an invasion of her privacy.

They've followed her to school and the like?

Yeah. There was this lone cameraman for American Journal who found out where her dad lived and waited outside for his car to drive out and stuck the camera right in her face, right onto the car. That freaked her out.

What's the biggest problem balancing your job and being a mom?

Guilt. A lot of guilt. That would be far and away the biggest problem. And you're afraid of what your kid is going to say to you when they're a teenager, because they will. For every child, that's your rite of passage to adulthood, getting over what your parents did or didn't do for you. And I hope it won't be too [laughs] difficult to get over that, because I struggle with being a good parent all the time. Well, I strive to be a good parent all the time. And it's not easy.

Any other projects coming up?

No. Don't want any. I'm going to Turkey for a holiday. It's been a really huge push for me. It's time to kick back. I'll be off the coast, boating. [Turkey] seems to be the place to go these days. If I stumble on 'em, I'll buy some cool instruments for the show, for the composer John LaDuca. He's just a genius. There's this one episode called "Doctor in the House," which is my favorite, that and a comedy one so far. That was a really heavy one. It just aired not so long ago. It was kind of an ER ripoff.

The one in the temple? Kind of like M*A*S*H?

Yeah. And it was a five-day shoot, really intense. And a lot of stuff had to be cut because the advertisers were scared of all the blood. It was kind of a payoff for all the operations, you could see all the stuff happening. It was cool effects. So these bits had to be excised during the edit and I was heartbroken about a lot of the things because, just a lot of it wasn't shown and we had gone to a lot of trouble to shoot it. There was a lot of heart put into the episode. And then I saw the final dub with the composing and he just pulled it all together and he really made up for it, because the music just subconsciously really works on an audience. And it gets such poignancy and urgency. I feel like he saved it.

How do you feel about being an action figure now?

[laughs] It's cool. I just saw the ten-inch doll today on Rosie. And it was cool. Makes me think of what they want to see, actually.

If Xena and Herc got into a fight, who would win?

We'll just have to see this season, won't we? It's probable that Xena will cross over into Hercules. They've always got this kind of love going on, there's a competition there, they're attracted to one another but it's a pretty volatile mix. Kevin always says I'd whip his butt, not Xena. He's a good guy.