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New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless has enthralled
audiences around the world in her starring role as the fierce and
fearless Xena. Never before has television seen anyone quite like
her -- a woman as smart, strong, courageous and committed as any male
hero.
Lawless describes her character as "a woman with the devil on
her shoulder, who is constantly fighting the darker side of her own
nature." Devil or angel, Xena has emerged as a pop culture hero
and a feminist icon for the '90s.
Proving she can carry a tune as gracefully as a sword, Lawless also
starred last fall as Rizzo in the Broadway production of Grease. Her
dizzying climb to international stardom has been swift and steep.
Last year, she was named by People one of the "50 Most Beautiful
People in the World," one of "TV's 40 Most Fascinating Stars"
and one of the "25 Most Intriguing People of the Year."
A native of Mt. Albert, Auckland, New Zealand, Lucy first caught
the imagination of television viewers with her portrayal of the statuesque,
leather-clad Xena in a three-episode arc of the hit series Hercules:
The Legendary Journeys. Prior to that, she had guest-starred on Hercules
as Lyla, Deric the Centaur's courageous young bride, and appeared
as the menacing Amazon enforcer Lysia in the two-hour Action Pack
telefilm Hercules and the Amazon Women.
Almost six feet tall, with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes,
Lawless is the fifth of seven children and the oldest of two girls
in her family. Until the age of eight, she was very much a tomboy,
following in the footsteps of her four older brothers. She was educated
primarily in convent schools, where she developed an early interest
in acting and began appearing in numerous musicals and plays.
Following high school graduation at 17, Lucy attended Auckland University
for a short time before her passion for adventure took her to Europe.
She began traveling through Germany and
Switzerland and when money ran out, headed for Australia and signed
on with a gold-mining company in Kalgoorlie, a small town in the outback
about 500 miles from Perth. She was then relocated to a tiny mining
camp two hours further away from civilization. One of the very few
women miners, she did the same grueling work as the men -- digging,
mapping and driving trucks.
Lucy married her first husband in Australia and returned to Auckland
shortly thereafter, where her 10-year-old daughter, Daisy, was born.
With renewed determination to pursue a career in acting, she began
doing television commercials before landing her first real acting
job at age 20 with a comedy troupe on television called Funny Business.
After a variety of guest-starring roles in episodic TV, she moved
to Vancouver, Canada, for eight months to study drama at the William
Davis Center for Actors Study. When she returned to New Zealand in
early 1992, she accepted a job as the co-host for Air New Zealand
Holiday, a travel magazine show broadcast in New Zealand and throughout
Asia, which took her around the world. She went on to co-host a second
season of the show before being cast in Hercules and the Amazon Women.
Though she had practiced yoga for some time, Lawless had no special
training in martial arts, sword play or stunt work when she landed
the role of Xena. But she did have some experience with horses, having
ridden a great deal in her teens. Blessed with a natural aptitude
for the difficult physical challenges the role demands, she has since
trained with martial arts master Douglas Wong (Dragon: The Bruce Lee
Story) to learn basic kung fu moves and fighting techniques with swords
and staffs.
Lawless also has an aptitude for languages, accents and music. She
speaks German, French and some Italian, and shifts effortlessly from
her native Kiwi accent into the mid-American dialect she uses in the
series. A highly trained singer, she studied opera for several years
but her real passion is jazz.
Lucy recently married Rob Tapert, executive producer of Xena, Hercules
and the new Young Hercules. The couple spend most of their time in
Auckland, where all three series are filmed. Lucy
Lawless Personal videos and photos - Click here!
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