May 08 - G3 Magazine

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Lucy Lawless
from armour-clad amazon
to mic-wielding songstress
She captured our hearts as a
swashbuckling warrior princess
and now she’s taking to the stage.
g3’s Charlotte Dingle talks to the
irrepressible Lucy Lawless to find
out about life after Xena.
It’s been seven years since audiences
last tuned in to the adventures of Xena
and her special friend Gabrielle as they
went on their eventful odyssey through
space and time. Despite this, the fans
remain as ardent as ever, and Lawless is in
London this month as the guest of
honour at a Xena: Warrior Princess
convention.
The actress seems enthusiastic at the
prospect of another chance to interact
with her fans. “Really, I’m going along to
thank those fans just for being so
incredible” she says. “They’re not so much
about re-living the show as honouring the
spirit of the show, which is very much
about helping out the underdog, and
being your own champion.” Asked about
the considerable amount of lesbian
interest that Xena’s ambiguous
relationship with Gabrielle seemed to
provoke, Lucy exclaims “I pity anyone
who doesn’t have a lesbian fanbase!
They’re the most loyal fans in the world.”
The Xena convention is not, however,
the main reason for Lucy’s planned trip to
London. After appearing on Celebrity
Duets, Lucy decided the time was ripe to
pursue a long-harboured dream and
embark on a singing career. She is coming
to England to play two concerts at the
Carling Academy on the 3 and 4 May.
“It was scary, the idea that I could try
something and fail in front of millions of
American viewers” says Lucy. “But it was
the thought of being 80 years old and
never having pursued the singing thing
that made me do it. I just knew I’d be
really cross with myself in years to come
if I chickened out.”
The concerts will involve Lucy
performing covers of a range of songs
Renée O’Connor as
Gabrielle (left) and Lucy
Lawless as Xena in
Xena: Warrior Princess
that have inspired her over the years.
She describes the show as being “the
soundtrack of my life. I’ll be doing songs
like Losing My Religion by REM and Broken
English by Marianne Faithful”, she says,
“I feel these songs reflect the real
disillusionment with authority going on at
the moment, and the changing attitude
we’re seeing towards politicians and
religion in America.” There will also
light-hearted side to the show, however.
Lucy tells Charlotte “I also wanna do
some fun, stupid stuff – for instance, I will
be singing I Touch Myself by The Divinyls!”
The ex- warrior princess is also
currently working on the film Bedtime
Stories with Adam Sandler. “The movie
will be out at Christmas” she tells
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Interview
Charlotte, “And I’m playing Guy Pearce’s
very wicked, very twisted girlfriend in it.
I’m going to be his ally against poor old
Adam Sandler!” Asked about her
repeated appearance in ‘bad girl’ roles, the
actress laughs and says “Yeah, a lot of bad
girls! Bad girls with a heart, bad girls with
no soul… I love to be bad!”
As if that weren’t enough, the actresscome-singer
is also a trustee on the
fundraising board of a children’s hospital
in New Zealand, commonly known as
the Starship Foundation. “They’re an
amazing bunch” she says, “I wanted to give
something back after having my broken
arms fixed when I was a kid and fell off
skateboards and out of trees and stuff!”
“Anyway, I’m longing to come to
London” she concludes, “And say hi
to new and old friends.” London is
undoubtedly home to a great number
of women who await her trip with the
same level of anticipation.
The Xena: Warrior Princess convention and Lucy
Lawless conference at Hilton Metropole Hotel,
London. 2-4 May. Tickets: premium seating
£96.50 /general tickets £42.21. For more
information: www.creationent.com
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH BY LIDA M. VERNER
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