Parade has an interview with Lucy about her show "My Life is Murder" and it veers into the upcoming 25th Anniversary of Xena in 2020...
Next year is the 25th anniversary of the release of Xena: Warrior Princess. What do you have planned?
I am planning to develop something with my very dear friends, Renée O’Connor and Tim Omundson. Hopefully, we can get Ted Raimi there. We’ll just see who’s available. That seems like a long way off, but certainly Renée and I have talked about doing something a little bit special for old time’s sake. This was the place where the fans first came together. So, just for one more time, we’ll get the band back together. Have a party.
It has been announced that there is a 25th Anniversary Xena Convention in Los Angeles.
I know. I talk to one of the organizers all the time. I’ve known them a really long time. They were the first ones to do a convention, so, it’s just a little promise that you make to the fans to honor them, really. They’re a force for good in the community, and I respect them.
When you first filmed, did you have any idea that it would have this life to it, that in 2019, people still love the show?
No. I couldn’t have imagined that. In fact, even today, people are saying things like that to me, and I do that sort of cartoon double take, like, “Really?” Because if you’re in the middle of it, and you’re part of the mechanism that makes the show, you’re not thinking about the way it’s received, or that the characters seem to be real to other people, which is kind of staggering.
And remember, I don’t live in fandom. I have three kids, and they’re superstars to me. So, they’re my heroes. I’m focused on that more than the fruits of my labor.
Are you going to have to get into Xena shape to get back in the outfit for this anniversary?
Oh, my God. I didn’t even think of that. Now, that’d be a great surprise wouldn’t it? I tell you, I work really, really hard to just be in shape at every time in my life. I go to yoga and try to keep my steps up above 6,000 or 10,000 a day. I find that it’s harder and harder to maintain your shape at 50, but I’m doing what I can, and I feel proud of myself. I started out doing yoga when I was about 20, and I thought, “One day when I’m an older woman, I’m going to be so glad that I started this,” and suddenly, I find I am that older woman, and I am so glad that 20-year-old me made that decision. You’ve got to play the long game.
I think of Xena as the precursor to all these wonderful, strong women characters we have now, like Wonder Woman.
She was the first in network television, even though we were syndicated, and because there was some high camp going on, she never quite got the respect of a lot of people, which is possibly why she doesn’t get credited, but the fans still love her as you said, and have given her great legs. So, huzzah. I’m delighted. Mustn’t grumble.