Lucy Lawless on AOL December 6, 1996

OnlineHost:

Since the September 1995 series debut of "Xena: Warrior Princess," New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless has thrilled American audiences in her starring role as the fierce and fearless Xena. Never before has television seen anyone quite like her -- a woman as smart, strong, courageous and confident as any male hero. Welcome!

LawlessL:

Thank you very much for having me.

AOLiveMC11:

Welcome to the Celebrity Circle, Lucy Lawless!

LawlessL:

Thank you.

AOLiveMC11:

WGTH wonders:

Question:

Lucy, I think you have a beautiful singing voice. Do you have any plans to perform live, like in a musical or stage play on Broadway?

LawlessL:

I have no plans for that at the moment. It was something I was only asked recently and I'm intrigued by the notion of it but I am working so hard and I'm not really looking at other options at the moment.

AOLiveMC11:

PenandSwrd would like to know:

Question:

I have a question for Lucy when she gets here -- what direction would she like to see her character go this season and beyond?

LawlessL:

I thought that at the beginning of this season, I would like to see Xena go a little harder. About half way through the season I though "Wow, Am I going a little to soft here" But, iin fact, the character seemed to evolve into a life of its own, due to the input of so many people. ie, the producers, the writers, and , of course, we actors. Every character on a television show is an amalgam of influences. The character has a life of its own.

AOLiveMC11:

FRasmus48 wonders:

Question:

how does it feel being able to beat up guys?

LawlessL:

(laughs)
It's make-believe, nitwit! ;)
I, personally, do not derive any great joy from violence inflicted upon other human beings, but the show sure is fun, isn't it?

AOLiveMC11:

Raccoonaj wonders if you want to branch out: Have you considered doing any writing for the series?

LawlessL:

No, I haven't. Nor do I have any desire to, though people ask me. I want to be a fine actress one day, so I just work to that end. I do not see myself writing or directing any time soon. And, believe it or not, this would not be my medium were I to write, direct, or work in any other capacity than acting.

AOLiveMC11:

Alastaria wants to know:

Question:

Would you like to do a Xena:Warrior Princess movie? Is there one in the works?

LawlessL:

I have been asked about that, but, frankly, we work so hard to make this show that if I star in anything during the hiatus, I would not be able to give Xena, the television show, my all, because I would be completely burned out. And I love it so much that I want to support the series in every way, even though I could probably make a lot of money working on a movie. I also have a family, and they are more important than anything, and they need my time.

Since I was a child, I was very aware of my mortality. It's something about growing up Catholic. There is a prayer called the "Hail Mary" and in it you pray "Pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death", and every 6 year old was saying "Death, what do you mean, death? Oh My God, I'm gonna die!" So I have always been aware that, any minute, I am going to wake up and be 80 years old.So my ambition is to be a happy and mobile old lady, and I know that if I work year round and make a lot of money, that would not make me a happy old lady,if I had lost my family and my partner in the process. Work is the second most important thing to me.

AOLiveMC11:

Hicamel is curious:

Question:

Do you like doing your own stunts?

LawlessL:

I do like to. When I began the series, I *hated* and feared doing the stunt sequences, because I had never been a very physically agile, or particularly coordinated person prior to doing this show but nowadays my body just loves them, I get some sort of high from doing them. I suppose I'm much better coordinated now, so it's not so much of a drag. But I promise you, there will never be a "Xena" workout video. :)

AOLiveMC11:

NEWSCAT asks:

Question:

How much imput do you and Renee get to make into the writers' development of your characters?

LawlessL:

Directly, none. I don't even read a script until four days before we being to shoot. None. But the interpretation is all ours, and we are tweaked by the director, which sounds more exciting than it actually is!
To be tweaked.
But there are a million ways to spin a line, and you have to make the strongest choice. That is our importance.

AOLiveMC11:

Mythcelan asks:

Question:

As an actress,who do you consider to be your mentors?

LawlessL:

Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, DeNiro, and, otherwise, people that have had huge influence on me have been Bill Davis, he was my drama teacher in Vancouver, and he is actually the "Smoking Man" or "The Cancer Man" on X Files. He had a profound influence on me. All my real heroes are real people: My mum, mum and dad. I really never went for heroes, as a teenager I never put posters up of anyone...I wasn't particularly interested in pop culture. There was no shortage of people to look up to in my real life.

AOLiveMC11:

JabberTjS asks:

Question:

Lucy How did you like working with Kevin Sorbo??

LawlessL:

Kevin's fabulous. He's extremely professional. Always learns his lines and never bumps into the furniture. And he looks good too! (laughs)
No, he's a good guy.

AOLiveMC11:

LawlessFan asks:

Question:

Lucy, do some of your own personality traits carry over into your portrayal of Xena?

LawlessL:

I'm about to do it again, Xena crossing over into Hercules... I film that next week.

You can't produce a character that makes people `feel' if it is not rooted in your own history. So, yes, of course, Xena must come out of me...but she's not the whole enchilada. People rarely see Xena in me when they first meet me. But she's in there! That's for sure!
(laughs)
And part of that, I realize, is the costume. When I put that costume on I become her. But this week, we are shooting a scene where Xena goes "undercover" as a beauty contestant, and flounces about looking *gorgeous* at every opportunity. I felt quite a different sort of person, and I realize that "clothes maketh the man" in some shallow sense.

AOLiveMC11:

RandarTom asks:

Question:

Lucy, do you ever get on-line, and have you seen any of the major Xena pages? Are there any you like?

LawlessL:

I once went online when I was sick and really bored. I went into a chat room and they *froze* me out, because I made some smart-ass comment about Xena not being real, and Herc is really cool because he *is* real, and they got very snotty and froze me out. And it was very funny because the *very next day* I received a card in hospital from the very girl who told me to piss off. So I found that very funny. I laughed a lot about that!

AOLiveMC11:

Trbl007 would like to know:

Question:

Lucy, what would you like to do theatrically in the future?

LawlessL:

Film, a little bit of stage, but, I suspect that after Xena, I won't want to go into a long-range part, a long series, for quite some time. Having said that, I hope Xena goes a few years.

AOLiveMC11:

XenaCruz wonders:

Question:

Lucy: Did you audition for Xena or did they take one look and say "You're the one!"

LawlessL:

No, I got the part through opportunity provided by somebody else's misfortune or bad management. I had starred in Hercules in one episode as a centaur's girlfriend, and they had already cast Xena, and that girl got sick she had been training for one month. She fell ill, and then the studio tried to get one of a list of five other American actresses who all turned it down for reasons best known to themselves. I suspect they didn't want to leave America during pilot season for three measly episodes in an unknown series called "Hercules" filming God-knows-where at the bottom'of the earth.

And to them I say...THANK YOU.
So it fell to me because I was in New Zealand; they liked me, and although I wasn't a name in America, I would just have to do. And the rest is history!

And that is the last time I am *ever* going to tell that story!
(laughs)

AOLiveMC11:

Mad Buzz asks:

Question:

What does Daisy think of her mom being a "Warrior Princess"?

LawlessL:

She's more comfortable with it these days. For a long time, she would hate me coming to her school because kids would flock around me and yell out, and bug her about her mother all day long. These days she's much cooler about it, and is proud of her mum, rather than being embarrassed. In fact, today I was *graciously* allowed to go to the school concert.

AOLiveMC11:

LDCorrea wonders:

Question:

What aspect of your "new found" fame could you do without? That you don't enjoy? (Lucia Correa)

LawlessL:

Anything that I don't enjoy about it, ie, the invasion of privacy, etc., I am now able to ignore.

*Except* when it comes into my home.

I will not have anybody invade the four walls of my home: not phone calls, not faxes, not email. Anybody who is not invited, is not welcome. But, I have to say that people are pretty, bloody wonderful. I don't get too much unwarranted attention.

AOLiveMC11:

CRISEEE wonders:

Question:

How do I become a member of your fan club?

LawlessL:

Write to the Lucy Lawless Fan Club at
P.O. Box 279
Pendleton, Il 46064

Thank you for inquiring

AOLiveMC11:

MysticLad asks:

Question:

"Did you compose 'Burial' with Xena in mind...or did you do it before you knew about the Xena character".

LawlessL:

No, it's a love song.

I can't tell you anymore, or I'd have to kill you.

AOLiveMC11:

ASpenillo wonders:

Question:

Lucy, Where did you learn to do all the fancy sword tricks for your Xena role?

LawlessL:

My Kung Fu master in L.A., Doug Wong, showed me.

AOLiveMC11:

PAllen585 asks:

Question:

Are you going to share your wonderful singing voice with us on the show this year?

LawlessL:

As a matter of fact, I do sing in the animated feature due out around October or November next year. Xena does sing in that, about the loss of her best friend, Gabrielle.

AOLiveMC11:

NeufTGoof asks:

LawlessL:

But the only thing I really want to sing, is the national anthem at a Redwings game. That would give me immense pleasure...as long as I'm good at it! As long as I don't crap out! That would be a real highlight, in my entire life.

AOLiveMC11:

NeufTGoof asks:

Question:

Will you be at the convention?

LawlessL:

What convention? I will be at two conventions in Mid-January: one in L.A., and one in New Orleans. The one in L.A. is for the general public, I believe.

AOLiveMC11:

PWMSN asks:

Question:

On the Leno Show, you said some good things had happened as a result of your accident. Can you tell us what they are?

LawlessL:

No, I can't tell you what they are, but I have managed to get my life sorted out in an awful lot of ways, and I am a much, much happier person as a result. It was meant to be.

AOLiveMC11:

Hicamel wants to know:

Question:

Hi Lucy, have you been in any movies, or just TV series?

LawlessL:

No, I haven't. How boring, sorry!

AOLiveMC11:

ICRITTERI asks:

Question:

If you could have one super power...what would it be?

LawlessL:

I wouldn't want any! I know this sounds like philisophical mumbo jumbo but I just believe we are made the way we are for a purpose, and to have anything other than what I am given would defeat my purpose...I don't even know what that is, but....even three days ago I was lying in bed and thinking about what it would be like being immortal (because it was in the script) but it made me shudder. It would be a nightmare, to see all your friends grow old, and pass away. That put me off all notions of supernatural power.

AOLiveMC11:

LAMPMENDER asks:

Question:

What role has your yoga training played in your life?

LawlessL:

Yoga simply taught me the value of simplicity.

When you are doing yoga, you think about nothing other than your breath, and the simple nature of what you are doing, of the pose you are in. That is very meditative....which seems to straighten you out in a lot of ways.

*However* I haven't done much yoga in the last year and a half, though it stays with you in all sorts of ways. That value of simplicity has stayed with me.

AOLiveMC11:

CRISEEE would like to know:

Question:

What is your favorite episode?

LawlessL:

"Doctor in the House" and "Warrior Princes/ Tramp" because I was so busy in them, it was a really intensive working atmosphere, and the more pressure I am under, the better I like it. I don't like episodes where I sit around on my backside all week.

AOLiveMC11:

TJHODG789 has a related question:

Question:

What was you're toughest ep to do, either emotionally or physically?

LawlessL:

Those two episodes. "Doctor in the House", etc. Physically, the most difficult was "Chariots of War" because of the bitter coldness. It was the worst winter I can ever remember, and it was only the second episode we ever shot, and I was wearing wet leather, it was sleeting, we were driving chariots on a beach in the wind, and I would cower down in the chariot in between takes and just repeat the mantra "This too shall pass. This too shall pass!" The bleakest day of my life.

AOLiveMC11:

Cymberlea asks:

Question:

Ms. Lawless, thanks for joining us tonight. We genuinely appreciate it. In a recent interview, you mentioned Mary Karr's work. I was wondering what other authors appeal to you.

LawlessL:

Thank you very much!

Dr. Scott Peck. At the moment I am reading a Frederick Forsyth book, and I like him. Hmm, let me see what's by my bedside...

"Cowboys Are My Weakness" by Pam Houston,
"Voltaire Bastards" by John Ralston Saul.
"Voltaire's Bastards"
That's what by my bedside, as we speak.

And in my hand is a glass of New Zealand's most excellent Chardonnay....I'm lying, it's the most excellent Sauvignon Blanc. It's a sunny afternoon here in New Zealand. We have Christmas without snow. But it's a very hot, dry summer.

AOLiveMC11:

ASpenillo wonders:

Question:

Lucy, Was dyeing your hair black something that you had to do for the Xena role & do you miss being a blonde?

LawlessL:

It's something I suggested. They wanted to go blonde, and I said "Whoa there, big fella! How 'bout if she was more like an Argentinian or Amazon princess" like Sabatini, except with brains. Bronzed, with a mane of dark hair" And they agreed, because to blonde my hair would be unhealthy for it. And let's have an atypical female image to look at, for once.

AOLiveMC11:

Astronomr has our last question of the evening with this:

Question:

In your opinion, how are New Zealanders different from Americans?

LawlessL:

New Zealanders still retain manners and mannerisms as a hangover from Mother England, whereas America broke with England in a concerted fashion. In fact, even things as simple as your table manners are decidedly different to England's, and it was a way of thumbing one's nose at the English. New Zealanders are more reserved.

But I have to say, I do enjoy the big-spiritedness of Americans, and that I have enjoyed more hospitality at the hands of Americans than from any other country, and I've travelled quite extensively.

AOLiveMC11:

Thank you for a fascinating evening, Lucy Lawless! Do you have any closing words for us?

LawlessL:

Thank you for taking the trouble of logging on! I'm working hard to do my job as well as possible, for the fans who have made our show such a success. On behalf of Renee, the producers, writers, and crew, I say "thank you very much, everybody" and have a merry, merry...uh...Christmas? Is that acceptable? Happy Holidays! And a wonderful New Year.

AOLiveMC11:

Our thanks to our audience members who helped us out this evening! We couldn't do this without your help! Lucy, thanks again for joining us. I hope we will see you back soon!

LawlessL:

Thank you.

AOLiveMC11:

Good night everyone!

OnlineHost:

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