That was an awesome night last night when it was officially announced that Renee was going to join Lucy in a guest role on My Life is Murder. Added to all that excitement, Michael Hurst is directing their episode! Below the pics are spoilers so if you don't want to read them, just look at the gorgeous pics!
There was an interview on NZTV last night and also an interview in EW (contains spoilers) First the amazing pics!
From EW Interview with Lucy & Renee -
Renee, who are you playing in My Life Is Murder?
O'CONNOR: I play this woman who is in charge of a self-help group, and she's like a guru, so she has a very strong ego...
LAWLESS: [Interrupting] She's a cult leader!
O'CONNOR: Okay, she's a cult leader. It's funny because I didn't really know who I was playing until I was in quarantine. I had an idea, but I didn't know what was in store for me until there was a meeting on Zoom with the producers, and that's when I started really doing some more research [into cults].
LAWLESS: But also, Dom, we've reunited with Michael Hurst [who starred as Iolaus, the sidekick on Xena spin-off Hercules: The Legendary Journeys] as the director of our episode. He played Renee's love interest on the Herc and Xena series and he's a very dear friend of ours from way back in the day so it was just a great reunion. And with Mark Beesley, who was one of our [Xena] directors as well, he is producing My Life Is Murder. It was a lovely homecoming, aye Ren?
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O'CONNOR: Yeah, and Michael Hurst has the most enthusiasm of anyone that I know. He can easily pull together three or four different projects at the same time and make it look so easy. So again, I couldn't have been more excited to have a director who just kind of infuses inspiration and passion to play. Between Lucy and Michael [who also appears in the episode], it was just the most wonderful way to kind of reset into feeling around friends and being on a television set.
What's the dynamic between your characters in the episode?
O'CONNOR: We meet for the first time in the show, and I am leading a seminar, taking people to the most extreme elements of their highest existence possible with Michael Hurst playing the guru husband coleader [of the cult].
LAWLESS: And you can imagine that Alexa is taking this with many pinches of salt. She's there on a mission, she's not there to improve herself. [There's] lots of snark. Also, the person who plays Renee's son in the episode is Renee's [actual] son. It was so thrilling, the stars aligned just right. He's a fine young actor and we managed to get him into the show.
O'CONNOR: He auditioned for The Actors' Program, which is a one-year... acting program in New Zealand, and he has been down there studying since January. As it turned out, when I arrived and heard little whispers that there was a role that he might be right for, again, I just thought, yeah, sure. I didn't really think...
LAWLESS: Renee would never ask for anything. Her family, they don't expect any favors. [Laughs]. And he was just great in the role and we needed the American accent, and he's just a fine young actor so it was perfect. It was really lovely for me. I was pretty burnt out by the end of the season, and to have that homecoming, that sense of reward every day that you get up to go and work with those guys. Just lovely.