Many thanks to Kym Taborn from XMR for the transcript
MediaWeek
May 8, 2000
The Media Elite
Edited by Anne Torpey-Kemph
Small Loses It Over Lucy
Rule No. 1 when you're trying to impress a chick: Don't throw up in front of her.
Stuff executive editor Jonathan Small almost violated that one recently when he escorted Lucy Lawless, star of TV's Zena: Warrior Princess, to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., for a June/July cover feature.
The idea was for Lawless, a married mother of two on whom Small nevertheless says he has "the hugest crush," to experience a "day of terror" on the amusement park's extreme rides. But what Small didn't bargain for was being scared-and extremely nauseous-himself.
On the park's monstrous Goliath rollercoaster, while Small was hanging on for dear life, Lawless leaned over and said "Embrace death, darling."
As if motion sickness and white-knuckle fear weren't embarrassing enough, Small's camera, tape recorder, and other belongings fell out of his pockets during their ride on Superman, a "freefall" roller-coaster that reaches speeds of 100 miles an hour.
"It was a reporter's worst nightmare," Small says of having to ask park security to shut down the ride so he could search (in vain) for his interview tape and photos.
Lucky for Small, he had a back-up tape recorder in the car, so he was able to get enough for the feature. Still, by the end of the day, his ego was extremely bruised and all he wanted to do was go home.
"It was like a date: I'm getting out of the car, and in a nervous voice, I say, 'So I'll call you,'" recalls Small. "And she is just like, 'Yeah, see ya.'" -LL