Here's the scans and the transcript of the sizzling photoshoot with Lucy to promote the upcoming Chicago the Musical in Auckland - for more info about Lucy's role as Velma Kelly in the Auckland Theatre Company production of Chicago, check out the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Chicago Subsite
Many thanks to Jo for the scans and transcript by MaryD.
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We Love Lucy!
Dancing, Diets & All That Jazz!
Woman's Day (New Zealand)
14 October 2013 Issue
Our Warrior Princess is set to knock 'em dead in a raunchy new role
Wearing sexy see-through lingerie, Suspenders and some seriously kinky boots, Lucy Lawless strikes fierce pose after fierce pose for our Woman's Day photo shoot. Her hair teased into a wild mane, the statuesque seductress fixes us with a ferocious stare that's more man-eating lion than sex kitten and purrs, "See anything you like?"
Speechless, We're about to mumble some sign of approval when the actress throws back her head and lets out a playful cackle. Despite becoming a global sex symbol as the star of Xena. Warrior Princess and more recently playing an extremely risqué role in graphic swords-and-sandals series Spartacus, it's clear this is all just an act for the down-to-earth mum-of-three from Auckland.
"This sex-bomb stuff is like a character I pull out," laughs Lucy, 45. "It's amusing to me. It's something might have used at some time in my life and it can feel a little bit cheesecake, but if you're doing it for a photo shoot or a play, where you can't have any self-consciousness about you, all the fun of the circus." So if Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce, what does Lucy call her alter ego? "This is, er, Aragula Roquette,"
Showstopper!
Lucy's "Aragula" will next make an appearance in the Auckland Theatre Company's production of Chicago, in which she sings and dances as murderous showgirl Velma Kelly, opening in November. Starring alongside "powerful actors" Amanda Billing and Shane Cortese, plus working with long time friend and director Michael Hurst, were tempting reasons to accept the role, but for Lucy, the biggest motivation was the opportunity to get out of her comfort zone by dancing around on stage in racy, barely-there costumes.
"This scares the bejesus out of you," Lucy confesses. "I'm going to be half-naked in front of a home crowd - which is the hardest crowd to play to - and dancing, which is not just my forte. But just because you're 45 doesn't mean you shouldn't do something really challenging, terrifying and scary.
"I'm never going to be younger than I am today and there's only one thing I fear more than a challenge and that's getting old and thinking, "I chickened out,"
We mostly fear what other people might think of us, but guess what? Time's ticking. That's what drives me.
"Sometimes I feel over the hill or that I'm past my sell-by date, but that's what I think of that woman who failed to swim from Cuba to Florida four times, then on her fifth attempt, at 62, she triumphed. She's my hero. I'm taking a bit of her spirit and getting back on that horse."
The phrase "over the hill" won't be used by anyone who has seen our pictures, but Lucy insists, "You get your arse kicked in Hollywood. In my business, there's always someone younger or prettier. I can feel terribly sorry for myself, but it's really important not to let yourself go."
To maintain her enviable figure, Lucy hadn't touched a drop of wine for 20 years, but in recent years, she's rediscovered it and decided she quite likes the taste.
"Then before you know it, you're having half a bottle or more a night," she says. "It's awfully easy, right? Then it's midnight and you start eating pizza, potato chips, ice-cream or whatever's around. Initially, I thought it was just the way it was - that in your 40's, you get a little chin and a little tummy but I wasn't ready to hang up my skinny jeans. I had to do something about it."
What did Lucy do? "I just put the pizza down, man," she grins. "I knew I was over-indulging and, unfortunately, you just don't need as much when you get older. It's calories in and calories out - it's so easy that it's hard! I think I was sometimes in denial about what it takes. I've just got to put more work into it, do some damn exercise and try not to eat the incredible catering."
"Dancing is a real difficulty for me because, as a tall girl from a family full of boys, the mechanics of grace was never a talent I discovered," explains Lucy. "It was never something that interested me because, in New Zealand, you feel a bit of a show-off if you walk properly. Having your shoulders back makes your boobs stick out and then you're just a tart - who do you think you are?
"There are all these messages about having to be modest, which have been a thorn in my side for 40 years, so I've gone to reclaim some of these things and try to myself. I'm trying to develop musculature for dancing instead of walking like a farmhand, which l do because I spent all my teen years on a farm!"
Lucy no longer lives on the farm, but she's still based in New Zealand, living in Auckland with her US-born husband of 15 years, filmmaker and Spartacus executive producer Robert Tapert, 58, and their two sons Julius, 13, and Judah, 11. She also has a 25-year-o1d daughter, Daisy, from a previous marriage, who has worked as an assistant editor on Spartacus.
Kiwi girl at heart
While Lucy has to spend some time in the US for work she has a recurring guest role on Four's Comedy Parks and Recreation - Aotearoa is very much home for the family.
"You won't see me in the clubs, but I am here," she laughs. "We live Very quietly. My kids just want to be here and enjoy summer on the beach. Fm friends with the mums from my kids' school and we all hang out. We don't own a bach, but our best mates have a beach house and we spend time with them in the Coromandel.
"I don't know that my kids ever want to leave here. They've been to school in other countries and we've just found New Zealand is such a great place to be a kid still- the barefooted-ness of it all! The lack of nannies and security gates, and because nobody's suing everybody else, it means people aren't needlessly risk averse. There's less neurosis.
"In LA, so tense and regimented. If you have three children in your car, you have to drop them at school in a certain 15-mínute time slot and, by God, you'd better have the right sticker displayed in your window. Then the traffic's so horrendous, you're lucky to get two things done - the dry-cleaning and a meeting - before you have to head back to pick the kids up. It's really tricky for families."
Lucy confirms there has been talk of a Xena revival and although very little has been worked out so far, she will definitely be "part of The process". She says, "I feel like it'd be good for the fans to resurrect her and hand it over to a new generation."
Unfortunately, because New Zealand has been losing a number of films to overseas locations, Lucy and the family will be spending more time in the US after Chicago comes to an end.
"It's a dire situation," admits Lucy, "but I want to live my life. In darker moments, I try to remind myself that my career is not my life - I should make my life my career. I'm excited about all the possibilities, no matter what they are."
