May 29, 2007 (Metro.co.uk / Andrew Williams) -- Actress Lucy Lawless came to stardom in the late 1990s as the eponymous heroine in Xena: Warrior Princess, an all-action spin-off from the Hercules TV show that also made Lawless a lesbian icon. Since then, she has appeared in The X-Files and Battlestar Galactica. She is embarking on a singing career. Xena series one and two are now available in a DVD box set.
Did you expect Xena to last six years when you started? I was quite naive back then. I thought all pilots went to series and that series went on forever and that was your God-given right as an actor. Everything lined up just right for us. We caught a wave of consciousness in the 1990s, the woman warrior hadn't been seen since Wonder Woman and Xena was clearly a very different take on that.
Why was it such a big hit? Hercules was the hero without; he's the good guy who is going to come and save you. Xena was the hero within; she was perpetually on the horns of a dilemma, between going ahead and beating up people or doing the right thing. She was about the hero inside everyone.
What was the weirdest thing you did on the show? The vampire episode. Xena and Gabrielle got bitten and became vampires. I think she bit me, which was some crazy lesbian fantasy for a lot of the audience. It was like those Hammer horror/lesbian vampire films where there's always someone called Camilla biting people. That was a weird one. I grew up Catholic and so we thought we had the edge over vampires because there was always a crucifix handy.
Did you enjoy the experience of being a lesbian icon? It was fantastic and it still is. I have an enormous gay audience and they are extremely loyal fans. If you stick with your fans they'll stick with you and I always try to be supportive of gay rights.
Were any of your female fans disappointed to discover you were married? I don't know, I didn't ask them. If they were, they seemed to forgive me.
Do you go to the conventions? Yes, it keeps me in touch with the fans. They do this thing for my birthday, organised on one of the fan sites. They do volunteer work for the day. One man redecorated his neighbour's handicapped child's bedroom, another woman who was a plastic surgeon in Brazil did free reconstructive surgery on disfigured children. It's amazing. I'm baffled by it but grateful as I've often thought: 'What good is this performance lark doing for mankind?' I'm not a brain surgeon, I'm not a plumber. They've given meaning to my career.
Were you always bumping into the Hobbits while filming Xena? No, because they arrived in New Zealand [where Xena was filmed] towards the end of the series and they were down in Wellington. A lot of our crew went on to join their crew and we were very proud of that. It would have been tricky to find people with experience of moulding 1,000 swords to short order without Xena and Hercules.
You also appeared on X-Files. Have you had any supernatural experiences yourself? A girl read my coffee grounds in Turkey and told me a man with a big chin would hurt me very badly. I was like: 'What are you talking about? I don't know anyone like that.' Two weeks later, I'm lying in hospital after having a horse accident on the Jay Leno show. I broke my pelvis. So her prediction was bizarre. There's something to all that stuff.
Weren't you supposed to be playing Tanya Turner in the US version of Footballers' Wives? Yes but we called her Tanya Austin. We were supposed to follow Grey's Anatomy, which is a huge hit, on the autumn schedule. Then we were told that the show had been cancelled because the National Football League weren't happy about it. Our show was just entertainment, a spoof, but they were very concerned about keeping up appearances and pretending they aren't real people like the rest of us. I had so much Machiavellian stuff to do, I wanted to make her seem real - I was going to play her like Tony Soprano. I talked to a shrink to help me figure the character out. I wanted her to be rock-solid believable so I'm very disappointed it's not happening now.
Was it a relief to finish it? It was the right time - you start repeating yourself after five seasons. I was exhausted and had to be rehab-ed back into having a normal life. I'd spent so long being told when to get up, what to eat, where to go, you have to give away a lot of choice in your life when you're making a TV series with a schedule like that. The second you wake up you go to work, so after six years of that to have some choices back is a lot of fun.
Is singing a new career path for you? It is in a way. I'm becoming a stage junkie. I did a show called Celebrity Duets last year. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to sing with Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight. It was fantastic. It got me over my stage fright.
What was the best advice you were given? Dionne Warwick was the most instructive. She had the attitude: 'If you're not a diva, don't come on the stage with me.' I'm a self-deprecating Kiwi - she taught me the American way of thinking: 'If you're not a winner before you come on the stage, don't come on here.' I like singing songs by Chrissie Hynde, Nina Simone, Annie Lennox, Melissa Etheridge. I'm obsessed with a couple of Annie Lennox songs at the moment.
Vladimir: Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm heading outta town for a bit, but wanted to send greetings before I go. -- Sun, Dec 21 2:40pm.
Vladimir: How is it Dec. 19th already?!? Yikes. The current snowstorm isn't helping anyone in their quest to get ready for the holiday. -- Fri, Dec 19 8:42pm.
Kerion: well, I would be around more but public transport is awfull, it takes me 2 weeks to get home from work. -- Wed, Dec 10 7:56pm.
DEATH: I am never far, good to see you all, albeit randomly -- Tue, Dec 9 8:49am.
Did you expect Xena to last six years when you started?
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