Lawless Heart - Lucy Lawless takes on the pop world
She's played an Amazon, a greaser's girl, a Valkyrie, and a goddess.
Now she faces her biggest challenge to date – THE FICKLE WORLD OF POP.
Lucy Lawless chats with BRYONY WEAVER
'Do I miss Xena?' There's a pause at the other end of the line from
LA. 'I'd say no, I don't. That was then.'
Lucy Lawless is in a mellow mood. We've just swapped pleasantries
about each other's Christmases, and it sounds like much of her big
family holiday – she has five brothers, one sister, a hubby and three
kids – was spent outdoors.
'That's the problem with your Northern Hemisphere holidays,' she quips
in a soft Kiwi twang. 'You're stuck indoors, huddled over a single
radiator – you can't get away from each other. In NZ, we're out, on
the beach… it's so easy there, I'm telling ya!'
We get back to Xena, and while it's clear that Lawless is over the
leathers, she's polite about it. 'I don't hang around. I loved the
variety, the fact that I got to fight, to sing… but it was a hard job.
Everyday I had to do incredibly physical things–'
A bit like an assault course, I suggest. 'Yeah!' There's a bark of
laughter. 'It was!' She thinks for a moment. 'I miss the character,
though. She was such a challenge. Everything else has been incredibly
down-to-earth since then.'
Xena Warrior Princess (XWP to the HCNBs [Hard Case Nut Balls],
Lawless' nickname for Xena obsessives) was the answer to a lesbian
subtext hunter's dreams back in the day. At the height of its fame
(1998-2001 in the UK) there were few designated lesbian couples of
note on TV. Sure, Helen was making eyes at Nikki in Bad Girls, but
there was no over-the-prison-clothes action between them. Lesbian
sci-fi babe Original Cindy hadn't turned up in Dark Angel yet, Buffy's
Willow was still into boys with severe shaving problems at full moon,
and Babylon 5's Commander Susan Ivanova was bisexual.
Renaissance Pictures, the company that made XWP for Universal Studios,
realised it had an avid lesbian audience late in Series One, and, with
openly-gay co-executive producer Liz Friedman having input, it began
making occasional oblique reference to a possible closer-than-close
relationship between its leading characters.
In the Series Two episode The Quest, the scriptwriters had Xena give
sidekick Gabrielle a long, loving kiss – though, to keep younger
viewers and parents happy, she had to do it while inhabiting the body
of a semi-regular male character. References to Xena and Gabby's
soulmate status were peppered throughout the show's six series, in
acknowledgement that we were watching. XWP's hints at a possible-maybe
kept many fans hanging on for 'the big revelation scene' they hoped
was coming.
Gareth McLean, The Guardian's TV critic since 1999, and TV editor
since 2003, believes he knows why we thought we had a live one. 'Xena
was a strong female lead in the essentially male-dominated sci fi/
fantasy genre. While Xena was eye candy, she was also feisty, capable
and well equipped to deal with physical challenges. She rarely needed
saving and when she did, it was more often than not Gabrielle who came
to her rescue, confounding another stereotype. And, of course, that
signature yell – she could do amazing things with her tongue...'
Lawless, however, isn't convinced that Renaissance deliberately played
to the gay gallery. 'I don't think episodes were aimed at any sector
of the audience. That would be rather cynical, and I don't see there's
particular gain to be had through that,' she says thoughtfully, then
continues with a smile in her voice: 'They might have been simply
doffing their caps at certain people…'
Whatever the intention was, Lawless has had queer appeal ever since.
She appeared on a parade float with Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle) at
Sydney's Mardi Gras in 1999. In the US, she was in The Advocate twice
in 1999, and on the cover of Lesbian News magazine in 2003 – more than
a 'doffing' of the cap; more like an open thank you for the fact that
we'd been along for the ride in our thousands, worldwide.
But as Lawless says, that was then, this is now. Gone is the black
hair dye, and she's back to a natural mid-blonde, with far more curls
than Xena (or Gabrielle, come to that) had time for, and a penchant
for outfits that wouldn't have lasted two minutes in pre-Mycenaean
Greece.
Post-Xena, further tough girl roles were offered, and Lawless had a
blink-and-you-miss-her moment as a punk in Spiderman, dropped into one
ep of The X-Files as an indestructible super-soldier, and most
recently joined Series Three of the sexy, updated Battlestar
Galactica.
I'm addicted to live performances. It's like no other drug on Earth
What she has planned seems to be not to return to screen roles for a
good while. In 2005, she began to think seriously about linking into
her other love; singing. 'Singing's so scary, such a challenge, I'm
kind of drawn to it… and I've become addicted to live performances. I
just can't help myself. It's like no other drug on Earth.' So, in
another nod to her queer fans, she got her agent to land her a slot at
LA's Girl Bar.
'Lucy performed at Girl Bar in LA for our 15th Anniversary and she
absolutely packed the place. She has some very loyal fans,' explains
Dr Robin Gans, co-owner of the Girl Bar franchise and co-producer of
one of the US' biggest lesbian circuit parties, the Dinah Shore
Weekend – extended to the Girl Bar Dinah Shore Week, thanks to its
popularity.
'It was a riot,' Lawless agrees. 'There were go-go dancers shakin' it
and the place just went off! So Robin and Sandy asked me to sing at
the GBDSW, which I couldn't that year but this year it fits with
commitments. It's a midnight gig, so the place should already be
hopping!'