Chicago Tribune

11 March 1997

XENA USUALLY HAS A FIGHT ON HER HANDS

Try to imagine television's sword-swinging, leg-kicking, horseback-riding Xena daintily dabbing some nail polish on a finger

That's what we saw on Lucy Lawless, who plays TV's warrior princess. We met Lucy when she was in town from her native New Zealand pumping up the show. And we noticed she had silver nail polish on a finger.

She said she had tried the stuff out in a store, but didn't have any nail polish remover, so it had to stay. It sounded weird to hear Lucy worrying about her nails, when her character
fights soldiers, monsters or any other bad types on "Xena: Warrior Princess" (3 p.m. Central Time Saturdays on WGN). But Lucy and Xena aren't exactly clones.

Xena wouldn't be caught dead doing some of the stuff Lucy loves. Like, Lucy loves to laugh. And she's into flowers and being a homemaker. "Xena's not into that frou-frou stuff," Lucy
said.

Lucy, 29, said she especially loves children. "If there are kids (around), I always feel at home."

Lucy has an 8-year-old daughter, Daisy. (Think Xena would name a kid Daisy?) Daisy has seen her mom taking on bad guys on TV, but Lucy says "she doesn't talk about it that much." Still, "I know she's proud of me."

But Daisy doesn't consider Xena to be her fave hero. Lucy said: "She is more interested in Hercules!"