Woman's Day
(Australia)
April 5th, 1999
page 23
*Many thanks to Kim for the transcript*
Xena's Secret Passion
Charles Wooley. the seasoned 60 Minutes pro, wanted nothing more than to bait his hook
with raven-haired Xena beauty Lucy Lawless. Or, in this case, float his fly across a
pristine New Zealand stream in the company of a TV icon.
"Lucy is a very keen fly fisher and I would've loved to have shared the experience with her but I wasn't allowed," Charles laments "Sadly the executive producer has decreed I mustn't fish in my stories. He just doesn't want it to look like I'm enjoying myself. It's a wonder I'm allowed to interview pretty women at all."
Charles wasn't immune to the charms of leather-clad Lucy when he ventured to New Zealand for a report on the industry behind the international phenomena of Xena and Hercules, starring Kevin Sorbo. "Lucy's a beautiful woman but she's really unaffected, a real down-to-earth Kiwi girl at heart - I guess because she's never lived in Hollywood and had the star treatment. Instead she lives in a house in Auckland, has a child and a husband and seems alarmingly normal, " Charles explains.
His one regret? Sacrificing his professional integrity. "I broke a golden rule and got autographs. Everybody's kids wanted them from Lucy. It's very uncool, but she's used to it. She's also used to people pretending it's for their kids. My daughter, Isabelle, wanted one and she's 20 years old!"