Lucy Lawless on WGN August 14, 1996

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Well we got better than Don Johnson. You can feel the presence [laugh] everyone's been calling. A little disappointed about the outfit...

I'm wearing it under this... show you later

Really cool. Oh Lucy you don't know what you're talking about. It's getting hot in here... Lucy Lawless, we'll be right back...

Wow. That hurt. There she is in action. Lucy Lawless who plays Xena. What do you think? Are you impressed?

I'm very impressed. With you, with you guys? You're stunning. You're stunning.

What's it like watching this, because really this is your first big role. You've got your own show here. Has it changed things for you?

It's changed everything. I don't live in the same house (Bigger one?) Yeah, it is bigger. (Click on the picture for an animated gif of Lucy)

Did you get as many strange phone calls about Xena as we have the past few days?

My parents do. My parents get people-- don't ring my parents, leave them alone! People from New York saying, "We really need to get a hold of Lucy, some important business from the states." And my dad's just going, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Do they get the show in your native New Zealand?

They've just started getting it. Up until then it was total anonymity and it was the perfect working enviroment really (Oh you liked it like that?) Yeah, oh yeah, but it's all over now, baby blue

Someone might think that you were a tomboy growing up, doing these dangerous games on TV.

I was. My mother said that I didn't know that I was a girl until I was 8. Nobody told me! (What would you refuse to do?) Something's missing! Something's missing!

But you have four older brothers though so it kind of came natural.

There was a lot of squabbling, it was a really good, loving home but you had to be kind of tough to survive.

And is there home videos back from New Zealand some of your brothers there? How much work goes into the stunts there? Obviously there's a lot of, you know, you gotta be precise when you're swinging those swords around.

Uh, well I don't want to give away too many secrets and say that really you could be a foot away and nobody would know

You've just ruined it for America. (Yeah, uh sorry),

I've been hit a couple of times (Have you?) Oh, quite a few times. I got a beautiful black eye. And Michael Hurst who plays Iolaus broke his arm. Kevin got 10 stitches on the back of his head from a metal sword. (And he told us that. You know, Kevin was here, he told us that) Oh Kevin will get that one out at every opportunity!

No it was a really nasty hit actually I saw it on video, and the next week I did it to him myself and I just felt terrible! (Of course you weren't filming at the time... out at dinner?), It was just fun

I was going to ask if she could show you a couple tips... So I could be a warrior princess too? 'Cause you were whipping that thing around during the commericial break.... She was not me...

Yeah, well these don't have any weight. (I know that's not up to your normal standard) Oh no, this is about it. This is about the size of it. Uh, see I can't even do it. (I'm going to sit over here) Oh you don't have to go far (Oh that was pretty cool) You can run but you can't hide.

I don't know if I can, it's kind of difficult... (You just stick it in?) You just stick it in. Give it a little kikokiko.

Hey that's pretty good... Sonya Warrior Anchor... I like the title. You know what Lucy, you had an interesting past. You were a gold miner? (Yeah I was) Grape-picker?

That was a fantasy, that was a fantasy. I got this idea in seventh form French once that I was going to Europe and pick grapes on the vine 'cause it sounded so romantic, you know. And I got there and just sat in the city and hung out with insolubriate company. They were good days but I'm glad they're over.

I have no idea what it would be like in a gold mine digging gold and there weren't, I can't imagine that there were many women down in the gold mines.

There were not. And again you have this romantic idea that I'm down underground with a light on my head picking chunks of gold out the soil, but uh, in fact they detonate just miles of Australian landscape and smash it to smithereens. It's open cast mining.

So you through with a sifter or something? (Yeah, a very fine sieve) And somebody watching you to make sure you don't go home with free samples?

That's right, that's right we walk home laden down with nuggets. But I'm glad those days are over, too.

These days are much better I'm sure

These are the best days of my life to date.

I didn't know we had that kind of influence.

Yeah, this is the best day of my life Larry. (It all goes downhill from here) Yeah [laughs].

Well Xena airs on WGN on Saturdays from 3 to 4 in the fall. It's moved around a little bit because of baseball in the summer but that's when you can look for it from 3 to 4.

(Thank you so much for being here) Thanks for having me. (Maybe we can work on this in the break, ok?) Ok.

Stay with us everybody we'll be right back

Here's the two animated gifs I made from this interview:

Lucy waving her hands about 58 KB
Lucy spinning the plastic sword 136 KB

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