WOMEN WHO KICK ASS - LUCY LAWLESS

This is the start of a new series entitles Women Who Kick Ass. Subtle, right? Actresses who specialize in roles where they get to show their male counterparts that they can be just as hardcore as them. I got the idea after reading about Comic Con's panel they had dedicated solely to women who kick ass in film and TV. Let's begin with Lucy Lawless, a recurring theme on Hero Worship. Having played Xena, Warrior Princess for six years back in the mid to late 90's, she more than earned her stripes for kicking much ass on a regular basis. From her excellent sword fighting skills to her hand to hand combat to that fabulous war cry, Xena was amazing. Lucy would then pop up in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series in the mid 2000's as the ruthless and conniving D'Anna Biers. Which was quite the departure from Xena. But was still another strong female character to contend with. Of late she has appeared on the series Spartacus as the manipulative Lucretia, a woman who you would not want to cross. And one more reason Lucy Lawless is a woman not to be trifled with...the name itself. Lucy Lawless...what a great name!

 as Xena

as D'Anna

as Lucretia

Lucy Lawless makes XENA one of the best fictional characters ever created

I am a huge Lucy Lawless fan and think that her Xena character is one of the best ever created. I remember when I first saw Xena back in the mid 90's as a character introduced on the Hercules TV series. She proved so popular that Lucy was granted her own series. Now what makes Xena such an amazing character is her history. She began as a villainess, an adversary for Hercules. A ruthless, despicable woman, who had an army at her command. And marched over the world, conquering towns and killing people by the scores. But all that changed once she met the young and innocent Gabrielle and the two embarked on a journey to battle for justice and save as many people as they could. Xena was in constant turmoil as several times over the course of the series run, she would run into her past in the survivors of her past massacres as she would try to continue to do good. That what makes her such an intriguing character. Who better to know how a villain thinks and acts than one who used to be a villain themselves. And of course she was badass. There was no better warrior than Xena. And she wasn't always serious. Every now and then she would show here lighter side and proved to be quite humorous. As she took on warlords, demons, monsters and even Ares, the war god himself. Xena ran from 1995-2001 with 134 episodes and I enjoyed every delicious moment. I own several of the DVDs as I partake in Xena marathons from time to time. Most recently last night, in honor of Lucy's birthday.

I would love to see Xena make a return in a new series or at least a movie. It would be awesome indeed!

Some facts and trivia about Lucy Lawless

Here are some facts and trivia about Lucy Lawless, my star of the month. Facts provided by IMDB.

Born: Lucille Francis Ryan

March 29, 1968 (2 days and 2 years before me..sweet) in Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand

Married to producer Robert Tapert since 1998.

First marriage was to Garth Lawless (1988-1995) 

Has three children: two sons - Julius and Judah; one daughter - Daisy

 Lucy as Xena

Most known roles: Xena; Battlestar Galactica; Spartacus
 
Speaks German, French, some Italian.

 Is a natural ash blonde before coloring her hair black for the role of "Xena".

Awarded the New Zealand Order Of Merit (NZOM), Queen's Birthday Honours 2004, for services to NZ entertainment and the community.

 Lucy as D'Anna Biers (Battlestar Galactica)

Member of the Starship Foundation board of trustees since 2000. Starship is NZ's main children's hospital.

2006 saw Lucy make her singing debut on the TV Show Celebrity Duets and followed that up with sold out concerts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and London during 2007-2009. She has also performed at various benefits and most recently at the 2009 Planet A Concert in her native New Zealand.

A vocal supporter of gay rights, Lawless is considered something of a gay icon. After the cancellation of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), Lawless has said she considered her character a lesbian. Since that time the actress has also worked to support equal protections for gay and lesbian couples including protesting Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian couples of the right to wed in California.

 Lucy as Lucretia (Spartacus)

The dwarf planet Eris was originally informally named Xena, with its moon nicknamed Gabrielle (after Xena's sidekick). The official names, Eris and Dysnomia, refer to Greek goddesses associated with lawlessness, another wink to Lucy Lawless.

Happy Birthday to Lucy Lawless (XENA, Warrior Princess)

I share a birthday month with some cool people. None more so than Xena herself. Happy Birthday to Lucy Lawless, the New Zealand actress best known as Xena, Warrior Princess.

Favorite Xena Episodes #2 - The Greater Good

This powerful episode actually takes place one week before the Callisto episode. In this one Gabrielle takes center stage as Xena is poisoned by an unknown assailant and leaves Gabrielle to defend a village from a rampaging warlord named Talmadeus. After rallying the townspeople to defend their village, Xena goes from bad to worse and seemingly dies. Gabrielle is devasted put assumes her best friend's identity to battle the warlord and his army. She holds off the bad guys for a while but is soon outnumbered. And when the warlord prepares to have Xena's body drawn and quartered, things look bleak. But lo and behold, Xena rises from near death and comes out kicking much ass. And her and Gabrielle end up driving the marauders away. The Greater Good is excellent and like I said more of a showcase for Gabrielle, since Xena is laid out by the poison for an extended time. Renee O'Connor  is simply amazing as the loyal friend who must rise to the challenge. Her friendship with Xena really shines in this episode as her love for Xena brings out the warrior in her. A must see.

Favorite Xena Episodes #1 - Callisto

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Since Lucy is my star of the month, I decided to post mini reviews of her Xena episodes which I thought were the very best ones. I believe Callisto from season one is one of the best the series ever produced, and is definitely a personal favorite of mine. It is said that you measure the hero by the villian they battle with, and if that is the case then Xena's counterpart is one awesome villian. Years ago when Xena was still a bad person, wreaking havoc all over the countryside, she came to this town called Cirra. And had her amry lay waste to the entire village. A young girl named Callisto survived and swore vengeance on Xena. She blames the death of her mother and sister on Xena and seeks retribution. Flash forward a few years and Callisto, a lithe blonde compared to the muscular dark haired Xena (played by the impressive Hudson Leick) is roaming the country and ransacking villages and claiming it in the name of Xena. Well Xena and her trusty sidekick Gabrielle get wind of this and begins to track down Callisto. Their initial meeting is classic as Callisto more than holds her own with the warrior princess and lets her know that Xena's past has finally caught up with her. The two will meet again, in fact Callisto has Gabrielle held captive and will kill the girl if Xena doesn't battle with her to the death. This is the episode where everything clicked for the series. Finally a true adversary for Xena. Yes Aries was first and he is awesome character, but by him being a god of unlimitless power made him always seem unbeatable. Here with Callisto, Xena is perfectly matched. She is the ying to Callisto's yang. And Hudson Leick delivers a powerhouse performance as the revenge seeking woman who is a tad insane. Her performance actually brings out Lucy Lawless own game as she takes her acting ability to a new level.  Callisto would re-appear several more times over the course of the series, constantly tormenting our hero and Gabrielle as well. Callisto's acts of violence and depravity are without remorse and she doesn't hestitate for a second on her plan of revenge. If this is not the best episode in the series, then it's pretty damn close. Check out some of the choice quotes from this entertaining episode.

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 Callisto: The sight, just the *sight*, of Xena, Warrior Princess arguing on *my* behalf amuses me, so let me tell you. Let me answer your question about what I'd do if you let me go. You let me go, and I'll dedicate my life to killing everything you love. Your friends, your family, your reputation - even your horse. I'm being so honest with you, because the idea of your pity is worse than death for me. You see, you created a monster with integrity, Xena. Scary, isn't it
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Xena: Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you without a fair trial.
Callisto: You know, there used to be a little respect mixed up in my hatred for you... but not anymore. Your petty scruples are embarrassing. As a villian, you were awesome. As a hero, you're a sentimental fool.

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Gabrielle: You know, she'll do anything for revenge.
Xena: I don't blame her.
Gabrielle: Uh, I do. When will this end? Look at Melas. I know that he's a good man, but, this hate is making him an obsessed killer. Somebody has to say no to this lust for revenge.
Xena: That is so hard to do.
Gabrielle: You did it! When your village was destroyed, you were infected with bloodlust. But you overcame it!
Xena: I was lucky. I saw what I'd become, and I was able to turn around. But if something happened to Mother, or Hercules, or you, I might do just the same.
Gabrielle: No... No, look, you promise me. If something happens to me, you will not become a monster. There's only one way to end this cycle of hatred, and it's through love, and forgiveness.
Xena: Don't you go changing, Gabrielle. I like you just the way you are. Go get some sleep.
Gabrielle: No, no, you promise me.
Xena: I promise. Go, go on.

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Lucy Lawless is awesome as XENA!

When the character of Xena was introduced on the TV series, Hercules, I was immediately impressed with the actress portraying her...Lucy Lawless. After that 3 episode arc on Hercules, the producers had the super smart idea to greenlight a series all about Xena. And it was a brilliant idea. I made it my priority to watch Xena every Saturday night at 7pm on the local channel it was playing on. This was around the mid 90's, which for me was pure heaven for TV watching. Along with Xena, there was Buffy and The X-Files going on. But back to Xena, Lucy Lawless was sensational in the part. She showed tremendous range in comedy and drama going from serious to light-hearted with ease. She handled all the action scenes like a pro. And developed one of the best on screen partnerships with actress Renee O'Connor, who played Xena's friend Gabrielle. And Lucy even managed to show off her considerable singing voice on several occasions. Which would bode well for her future after Xena would end it's six year run. Lucy is currently wowing audiences with her fantastic concerts. Lucy is one of my favorite actresses and Xena is what introduced her to me. I found Xena to be far more interesting than Hercules, mainly because while Hercules had super strength and was basically a god, Xena was just a woman, who faced impossible odds, but always came out on top. Her fighting ability and never say die attitude got her through several events. And her backstory of her being this ruthless killer fueled her desire to make up for that past life and doing good for others. Her past always was an issue and Lucy handled all those scenes with strong dramatic portrayals. I'm planning on writing my top 25 favorite actresses and I can tell you Lucy will be ranked very high.

Happy Birthday Lucy Lawless - Monday, March 29th

Lucy Lawless Photos
I'm a huge Xena fan and I've loved Lucy Lawless ever since that series premiered. Monday March 29th marks her birthday.


New Zealand icon Lucy Lawless, is most famously known for her role as Xena the Warrior Princess but her talent has exceeded that as you can see in her other roles.


Born on the 29th of March in 1968, the New Zealand superstar has most recently starred in the hit TV show Battlestar Gallactica. Lucy was also in several made-for-TV movies including: Locusts, Vampire Bats and Footballers Wives.

Lucy also lent her voice to the straight-to-video movies: Justice League: The New Frontier and Dragonlance: Dragons of the Autumn Twilight.


Currently, in 2008 she is living in the USA and is married to Robert Tapert, with 3 children.


In 2010, she now stars in the cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand on the Starz channel.
Lucy's co-star on Xena, Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle) recently celebrated her birthday last month.
And Lucy is also a talented singer as she has been recording albums and touring around the world for several years now.


Lucy will be my star of the month here at Hero Worship in April.



Lucy Lawless Photos

A Belated Happy Birthday To Renee O'Connor

Somehow I missed it being Renee O'Connor's birthday on yesterday. Thanks to Disneyprincess for posting a blog about it or it would have been days or weeks before I realized she had a birthday. I love Xena and I thought she made a great character of Gabbi. So here's a belated Happy Birthday to Renee who turned 39 on Monday February 15th. Here is a pic of her and Lucy Lawless having a good time singing.