Lucy Lawless on ‘Spartacus,’ Prop 8, and Kicking Wonder Woman’s Ass
By: John Chambrone
SAN DIEGO-For the past couple of years I have been able to report on San Diego Comic Con. Last year I was fortunate enough to score a few minutes with Lucy Lawless. The New Zealand born actress took the world by storm when she appeared on “Hercules, the Legendary Journeys,” opposite Kevin Sorbo, as “Xena, Warrior Princess.” That popular pairing led to her own spin off series of the same name. After ‘Xena,’ the actress has continued to keep busy, appearing in the revamped Sci fi hit “Battlestar Galactica,’ and more recently, “Spartacus.” While growing up, Lawless had a fondness for singing and decided she wanted to become an opera singer. That soon changed when she turned 16 and realized that to become an opera singer she would have to adhere to a strict diet and couldn’t stay out all night. In 1997, she was named one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people.
The former warrior princess was on hand to promote, ‘Spartacus,’ which recently began on the Starz Channel. The network was so impressed by the first thirteen week series, that a second series was green lighted a month before the first series small screen debut. I want to say it brings me great joy to begin an interview by stating, “Hello. This is John Chambrone reporting live from Comic Con.” That said, here we go with my interview with the lovely Lucy Lawless.
JC: Sitting here next to me is the beautiful Lucy Lawless. Lucy how are you doing today?
LL: Thank you John. I’m so good. I’m so happy to be here.
JC: You were here last year too. Is this your second Comic con?
LL:No, I’ve been here a few times. I want to say 7, but I don’t really think it’s been that many. It’s probably been like 4 or 5.
JC: What is your favorite part of Comic Con?
LL:I love that it is a chance to thank the fans. Show them a little love. Show them a little respect because they have given us everything. I think that’s really important. You stick with the fans, and the fans will stick with you.
JC: Speaking of fans, they are really looking forward to your new show ’Spartacus,’ on the Starz Channel. Can you tell us a little about that?
LL:I’ve never been this jazzed about promoting a show because I know how precious they are, I feel like this is a sure fire hit, it is just so bloody exciting there’s a lot of intrigue. There’s a lot of action, the stars are amazing… There is Andy Whitfield, he might be unknown to audiences, but this is completely going to make a big fat movie star out of him.
JC: When you first read the script, it sounds like you were really excited about it.
LL: I was! I was very entrenched in Los Angeles, I had wonderful friends, my kids were in school, and going to New Zealand was really a family decision that we made for the good of our family since my boys really needed their dad and he was working there. I came down nervously and it was one of the best things I ever did.
JC: Well you are obviously a fan of the action genre, being Xena Warrior Princess.’ When you first put on the dress as ‘Xena’ and started working with Kevin Sorbo in that episode, what was your initial reaction? Did you have any idea it was going to be such a world wide hit?
LL:Being a kid from New Zealand, I thought everything was just a hit. I thought it was a complete given that the show would be a hit. Isn’t that naive? It stupefies me how lucky and how hard working you have to be to create a hit. This has got great talent and right timing. The right network that is willing to embrace a new vision of Rome.
JC: Tell us about your character.
LL: My character is kind of like Lady MacBeth. She and her husband…she backs him to a fault, and maybe even eggs him on. They are two quite toxic people, but deeply in love with one another, and I really like the irony of that. My character ‘Lucrecia’ desperately wants to provide him an heir, a baby, but she can’t so she’s gladly taking sperm donations from a certain champion gladiator as well. She’s deeply religious, remember this is the Roman Pagan times and she believes ‘Spartacus’ is cursed and he is the reason for all the ill that falls the house of ‘Batiatus,’ that’s my husband’s name. She really wants to get rid of ‘Spartacus.’
JC: Now back to ‘Xena’ for a minute, I am sure you are sick of talking about her, but she was such a hugely iconic character, now ‘Xena’ versus ‘Wonder Woman?’
LL:Depends on which ‘Wonder Woman’ you are talking about. If it is the 1970’s ‘Wonder Woman’ I would have to go with ‘Xena’ every time. ‘Xena’ is one to bend the rules. She is a bad girl. She has a few tricks up her sleeve.
JC: I have to tell you that my friends Deanna and Nancy, who were huge ‘Xena’ fans, had a commitment ceremony a few years back, and they had ‘Xena’ and ‘Gabrielle’ action figures on their wedding cake. Since one has long black hair and the other one has short blonde hair, it only made sense.
LL: Much happiness to them.
JC: If they were here, they’d be saying hello. They are huge fans. I was wondering about your views on gay marriage.
LL:I protested Proposition 8. I have talked to people in New Zealand about this and I was really shocked when I was standing with my friends, we were at the overpasses downtown, and I could not believe that in Los Angeles, in this modern day and age, how much hatred was directed upwards from the people in the cars going by, and how for my gay friends it was like water off of a duck’s back. I was just gobsmacked by the cruelty and they were just so accustomed to that kind of nonsense that they were just like ‘ whatever.’ I think if citizens want something and it doesn’t hurt anybody else, give it to them. What is this bloody star belly sneech mentality? Gay people can’t join our game. I find it so perplexing what they think is so worth guarding. After all, I know plenty of sacred church based marriages where somebody is beating the bejeezus out of his wife, that gave me the feeling that marriage isn’t sacred. Conversely I am not sure why gay people want it so much, but if they do, and it doesn’t hurt anybody else, it happens in plenty of other countries. Get with the modern world. They say that 42 % of Americans believe that dinosaurs and human beings walked around at the same time, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.
JC: So how are gay rights in New Zealand?
LL:I think gay people can get married in New Zealand. We have a transgendered member of Parliament in a very rural area. Isn’t that interesting? If you even co-habitate for more that two years, it’s common law. No matter what. That two years comes up awful quick! Oh, um, I think we had better break up. Haha. One of the gladiators, ’Barka’ is in a gay relationship with a wonderful young man ‘Pietros.’ In ancient Rome there was no big stigma attached to being gay, straight, or whatever. We just let that be the reality of our show.
