‘I WANT TO DO A XENA REBOOT’
LUCY LAWLESS ON REVIVING HER ICONIC CHARACTER
It has been 23 years since we first saw Lucy Lawless don her leather get-up as Xena: Warrior Princess, but the cult TV series of the same name still captures the hearts and imaginations of viewers today.
Following the recent release of the DVD box set Xena: The Ultimate Collection (out now), Lucy, 50, chats to New Idea about whether she’d step back into the role that made her famous.
Can you believe it’s been 23 years since began?
Xena Wow, is that correct? Stop it, that can’t be right! There you go. I had all these grown-up security guards at the airport and they are like, “Oh, I used to watch you when I was a kid,” and they’re like 40 years old. Time is going by in a most offensive manner.
Why is it still so popular?
I think for its universal themes of hope and triumph, desperation and love, and friendship. Everybody wants a friend, a soulmate; everybody wants to get the bully off their back and wants a problem solver.
Xena has become a feminist icon. Did you think that would happen?
No, growing up in New Zealand having a lot of brothers I never felt disadvantaged being a girl, so I didn’t realise the world was hungry for that because it wasn’t a reality for me. To be as tough as the boys was something I internalised at a young age. I had four older brothers and one younger, and when I look back at the teasing I got from my brothers, much of it was about my femininity, but I didn’t realise it at the time. It took me a long time to reclaim that.
Would you ever do a reboot?
Yes, but it depends on how it was written. I don’t know about a TV series – I just can’t get up and do a fight every day, but I might do it if it was a special movie or something comedic or something that advanced our story. I don’t know why they haven’t redone it, because it’s such a good #Metoo generation character. The world is crying out for a new kind of hero and I think it’ll be a woman. What could be more apt than Xena with where the world is at the moment?
Do your children watch
Xena? No! I think one of them has seen it but they would be embarrassed by their mother speaking in an American accent and wearing a short skirt.
What do you think about your sex symbol status as Xena?
I never gave any credence to [that]. I am no sex symbol in my house, let me tell you.
How do you feel about ageing?
You do notice as you get older, that you become less looked at as a woman. Every woman goes through that, but I am perfectly comfortable in anonymity.