AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Files - Flawless Print - Lucy Articles
A star on the strength of 'Xena'
Daily News
19 August 1996
By
CHRISTY SLEWINSKI
Daily News Staff Writer
' XENA' star Lucy Lawless walks through the door, and you can't help but
look behind her to see if the Warrior Princess has, by some mistake, been
left behind in the lobby. Yes, Lawless is nearly 6 feet tall. But having
exchanged her trademark leather-and-metal armor for an ultra-feminine
lavender lace shirt and black miniskirt, the TV action hero puts even the
most popular catwalk striders to shame with her graceful presence.
Just goes to show that Lawless, star of the hit syndicated series "Xena:
Warrior Princess," didn't always make a living single-handedly battling
Cyclopes, centaurs and armies of grimy-looking marauders. Slim and
soft-spoken, the New Zealand native has settled into her one-in-a-million
role. Xena was successfully spun off into her own series last year after
audiences took note of the fearsome female character in a three-episode
story arc of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys."
Now, "Xena" trades off and on with "Hercules" and "Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine" for the top spot in the weekly syndie drama ratings. "Xena," which
follows "Hercules," airs locally Saturday nights at 9 on WPIX/ Ch. 11, and
repeats Sunday afternoons at 2.
The show, and its runaway success, "was a complete surprise," says Lawless,
28, who swung by New York as part of a whirlwind American press tour. "I
never in my wildest dreams thought I would be an action star." And the work.
Lawless adds, is fun — but grueling.
"I'm constantly stretched, because the writers go, 'Wow, if she can do this,
then let's try this.' We all let our imaginations run wild."
Even the knowledge that she's become a popular role model doesn't bother her
nearly as much as it used to.
"I used to be terrified, just terrified," she admits. "Up until I came here
this week, and I met so many women and young girls who feel, to use their
word — and I'm a bit embarrassed, but it's a good word — empowered, by
watching. I realized this isn't a burden, this is an honor."
Of course, the one little girl whom Lawless wants to inspire the most is her
8-year-old daughter, Daisy, who's still adjusting to having a TV-star mom.
"She's not entirely sure that she likes Mommy being the focus of everybody's
attention," says Lawless, who divorced shortly before she landed the Xena
role. "She doesn't like to share me too much." After all, Daisy not only has
to answer questions like "Is your mom Xena?" but, Lawless explains with a
laugh, she's forced to respond to other, more ridiculous queries, like: "Is
your dad Hercules?"
"She pretends that she doesn't like it," says Lawless. "But I think in her
heart she does."
