FHM Magazine
November 1999

Reneé O'Connor

Click here to ROC Promo shot

Click here to view the full size scans from the photoshoot

It's your typical Sydney winter's day: blue sky with a westerly wind cold enough to make your kidneys ache. And Renee O'Connor, who plays sexy sidekick Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess, is facing it in her underwear. Too bad for her. Looking to damn good means she's going to have to stay bare to the breeze for quite some time. Agreed, gentlemen?

The Texan-born actress, that's Houston not Dallas, and suburb not ranch "Just like any other normal house, the most outrageous animal I had was probably a goat," has flown in from her current home-base of Auckland for the exclusive shoot, a week after FHM scouted her on the set of Xena.

Offered the chance, Renee was on the plane to Oz quicker than the Mongrel Mob on dole day where we bunked her down in Kings Cross rock-star haven, The Sebel Townhouse. "I think it's great," she said of her surroundings.

"A red-light district is part of the city's culture. You get all walks of life and that's more interesting than cruising the business district. I like to watch what the girls are wearing and how they're holding themselves up." It should be noted that Renee, obviously a keen student of anthropology, has been to Sydney before. With Lucy .. for Mardi Gras.. where the pair enjoyed the freewheeling flow of the infamously fleshy and somewhat sordid "After Party" at the Horden Pavilion.

"It was wild! I was quite surprised that there were so many naked bodies, but it was fascinating to see the crowd undulating to the music. It drew you in and you just wanted to dance with everyone and have no inhibitions."

Yes, but did she join in?

"Mmm, well, my clothes were still on..."

Network Ten is screening Xena Series Four at present and Gabrielle is in the midst of a "non-violent" period as she searches for spiritual enlightenment. Luckily, all that changes in Series Five is when she gets serious and picks up some new baddie-basing weapons. There's the sai (those barbecue-rotisserie forks made famous by Raphael, of Mutant Ninja Turtle fame); her new short haircut (revealed here); and an even shorter (yet, well designed) costume. Like any self-respecting superhero, Renee confirms that a piece of well placed chamois is a winner in the sexy stakes.

"I don't believe in showing it all to everyone, a bit of mystery, and that's much more sexy. I was expecting a rack of coloured G-strings when you turned up, so I was quite relieved to see the clothes. I would have just rolled around laughing for about half-an-hour if you had. I was going to place my big toe strategically in front of the camera to block the view. Now that's sexy! Ha!  I think there's a fine line to creating art and exploiting yourself so we'll see how far I'll go when the pictures come out." Yes, indeed...

They nicknamed you "Daisy Duke" at school after Caterine Bach on The Dukes of Hazzard. Were you into bum-hugging cut-off jeans too?

"My mother was always very sexy as a young woman. Men would walk down the supermarket aisle and turn around and stare at her, and I think that just rubbed off onto me. I would wear little shorts and little tank-tops. I remember getting so angry as a child about men looking at Mom. Now I can fully understand that it's flattering. You don't want anyone tackling you, but it makes a woman feel confident when there's acknowledgement in some way."

Australian audiences are nuts for TV's Funniest Bloopers programs. What blooper might we see of you from Xena: Warrior Princess?

"I was doing a scene where we were discussing an election and I was supposed to walk up to the bad guy and say "Well, it looks like now you'll have a real election!" But I walked up to him and said "Well, it looks like now you'll have a real erection!" I don't know what I was thinking at the time, it was just shocking."

Are women more fanatical about the way things are done or how they look in the bedroom?

"How things are done! I think women are much more adventurous than most men believe. Men are a little more hesitant to step over the comfort zone and into advernturous sex from my perspective."

So your adventurous sex advice would be?

"If you're in a comfortable relationship and you want to try new things then you should open up the lines of communication. The woman is going to think you're totally bizarre if you just try something suddenly."

Are you more interested in sex as you get older?

"I think so. I think you're more in tune with what feels pleasurable and you want to have more of it."

What will sex be like when you're 50?

"I think it will be fantastic. It's one of the great aspects of growing older. I hope! I'm with someone who is quite sensual so I can't imagine us not having an exciting time up until we're 70."

Lucy Lawless said "Stunt people won't hurt you in fights." She also said "Renee will hurt you!"

"Cheeky! Obviously stuntmen are much bigger than I am and I use a rubber weapon on them so I go by the sound of how big their groans are. I have a trampoline where I do my backflips and twists and stuff too so I have the safety of bouncing right back with that. You end up hurting stuntment in places they don't even want to be touched. But they're good sports. Lucy and I get our share of bruises as well. We had a pie fight on the set the other day and I had a bloody lip from it because the crust was quicte hard and we were throwing them across the room."

Would you still wear lingerie if there were no men left on earth?

"Yes. It makes me feel good. It's much more pleasurable for me to wear something that I feel sensual in than something I put on after I get out of the shower. I think women like to see the curves and contours of their bodies."

How about bad grooming in men?

"Actually, I like the solidarity of a clean, fresh body. A person's arome is their essence. I like that sort of attractive quality. I like a man who takes care of himself."

Is reliability a big thing in a man?

"It's important for men to provide and be the head of the household. I like a man to be the man"

What is good for sex drive?

"Chocolate sauce."

Do you believe in god?

"What do you think? That you can't have a goat for a pet and not believe. Evolution couldn't mess up that much. I believe in a spiritual being. I don't believe in organised religion so much."

Has there ever been a bad kissing scene?

"I once had a scene with a man who was new to the whole idea of kissing on camera and he though in order for it to be sexy there had to be horrid moans and sounds during the kiss."

A stranger making moaning sounds in your mouth, that's some occupational hazard?

"You lose the sense of intimacy pretty quickly!"

Are you aware that there are guys everywhere who go: Stop, everything, Xena's on! Wooo!
"We know there's a bit of titillation on what we wear. I encourage them to put me in sexy outfits, I think it's important for the show. As long as you feel comfortable in what you're wearing and what you're doing. We're storytellers and costume helps the story."

Have you been influenced by appearing in Xena?

"I don't think I knew my own sexuality at all until I was cast on Xena and worked around Lucy Lawless who is an amazing woman with sex appeal written all over her. She has such confidence in who she is and she doesn't apologise for anything. She's a good person and that's all there is to it. I've learnt from that."

Do you remember your dreams in the morning?

"Mine usually revolve around the ocean in some way. I don't know why. Friends being attacked by sharks and I'm saving them."

Ironically you're from the muddy old Gulf of Texas which is no ocean in anybody's books.

"I tried to avoid it as I was going up. We would go camping to the fresh water lakes around Houston and I learnt how to waterski. That's an easier sport that surfing because at least I had some control over what I was doing in the water."

Were you good enough to do jumps?

"No, but remember skiing through the canyons of Texas near a place called Hippy Hollow and the people would just lay out in their "bare essentials" and sun bake nude all day. I remember being 12-years-old and I kept falling because I was trying to see what all these people were doing or undoing!"

Was there any naked waterskiing going on there?

"No. That would be quite painful wouldn't it? Sort of like bare footing on your bare bum."

Click here to go to the Lucy interview and pics in
November's issue of FHM

Return to The XIP News Archive