Lucy Lawless - Juice Magazine July 1998

Juice Magazine
July 1998

THE WARRIOR PRINCESS

Xena's the bravest babe on TV. Who would have ever thought she would be
such a cross-over hit? Young girls love the action scenes, dream of
dressing up in Xena costumes and fighting for the admiration of sexy young
men. The gay community has embraced her for the same reasons. Here's some
facts about Lucy Lawless that you might not know:

* She's from Mt Albert. Auckland.

* Lawless first portrayed Xena in three episodes of Hercules. She got such
a strong response they decided to make a spin-off series.

* Hercules fans may also recognise Lawless from her work in the series as
Lyla, the lovely and courageous young bride of Deric the Centaur.

* She's almost six feet tall, is the fifth of seven children and the
oldest girl in her family.

* Her father, who became mayor of Mt Albert the year Lucy was born, is
currently Chairman of Finance for Auckland City.

* Apart from a two-year public school stint, Lawless attended convent
schools. Following graduation at 17, she attended Auckland University for
a short time before leaving for Europe, "to go grapepicking on the Rhine."

* When she ran out of money, Lawless took off for Australia and signed on
with a gold mining company operating near Kalgoorlie. One of the very few
women miners, she did the same gruelling work as the men - digging,
driving trucks and pushing huge core samples of earth through a diamond
saw.

* Lawless landed her first real acting job at 20 with a comedy troupe on
television called "Funny Business." She then moved to Vancouver for eight
months to study drama at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study.
Returning to NZ in early 1992, she accepted a job as the co-host for Air
New Zealand Holiday, a travel magazine show broadcast in New Zealand and
throughout Asia.

* Lawless has spent years doing yoga and was a good horse rider before
taking on the show.

* During a brief visit to Los Angeles last summer, Lawless trained with
martial arts master Douglas Wong (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) to learn
basic kung fu moves, as well as fighting techniques with swords and
staffs.

*Lawless speaks English, German, French and some Italian, and has often
worked on US co-productions requiring a mid American accent.

SAMANTHA CLODE

JULY 1998 JUICE MAGAZINE

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