LUCY LAWLESS ‘I’D LOVE XENA TO RETURN!’
The Xena: Warrior Princess star dishes on the latest season of My Life Is Murder and addresses those reboot rumours!
Most Australians remember Lucy Lawless as the raven-haired, chakram-throwing hero Xena who dominated our screens in the mid’90s. But now, the New Zealand-born star, 54, is back fighting a different type of villain in the third season of comedy drama My Life Is Murder.
My Life Is Murder seems the complete opposite of a dark murder mystery. Was this a deliberate choice?
The world was really dark when we started the show, and we didn’t want to contribute to that, so it became more of a reason to have a show that has a lovely element of justice in an unjust world.
You’re now three seasons into playing the detective. Was it easier to prep for the role this time around?
This job is so dialogue-heavy that it’s an absolute marathon all the time. Filming has been much harder than ever before. This role, by its very nature, is not one where I can put my feet up at all.
How do you think you’d be as a detective in real life?
I would bloody love it! I don’t know how good I’d be – I wouldn’t be good at first, it’s a real craft – but I’d love hunting the truth.
Do you like watching true crime shows?
I’ve always been into true crime… to the point of going and sitting in trials and if I find myself without work, I’ll go sit at the High Court and watch murder trials. I know how to find them in every country – I saw Jeffrey Epstein’s bail hearing! I was like 12 feet from the guy – I just wanted to see what a monster looks like in real life.
Why do you think we are so obsessed with true crime stories?
I think it’s if we think we can understand evil then we can control it, it’s nothing to do with us. As human beings, it’s how we learn lessons. Thousands of years ago, we’d tell these tales around the campfire to keep each other safe. We tell our children there’s a big bad wolf in the forest so they won’t go running off. That’s where the fascination lies.
There are a lot of reboots being made at the moment. Do you think you’d ever revisit your role as Xena?
It’s not up to me and so many people have tried to write it and they just keep failing. There’s somebody at the moment who’s trying to pull off a pitch and they never get it to the point of being made. I don’t know why that is – it’s such a shame.
What’s next for you?
I’m going to be directing my first film. It’s something I never thought I’d do but someone approached me with an idea. It scares me but I’m on this amazing learning curve and it’s thrilling when you find yourself swimming up the curve. It’s the most exciting time of my life!