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Lucy Lawless

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Lucy Lawless
Lawless at a convention in 2007
Born
Lucille Frances Ryan
Other namesLucy Tapert
Occupation(s)Actress, Singer
Years active1989–present
Spouse(s)Garth Lawless (1988–1995)
Robert Tapert
(1998–present)

Lucy Lawless (born Lucille Frances Ryan; March 29, 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess and for her role as Number Three on the series Battlestar Galactica.

Early life

Lawless, the fifth of seven children (five brothers and one sister), was born in Mount Albert, New Zealand. She is the daughter of Julie and Frank Ryan, who was a banker and Mount Albert mayor.[1] Lawless began acting in secondary school. At Auckland University, she studied foreign languages for a year. She dropped out and left for Europe with her boyfriend, Garth Lawless, to travel to Germany and Switzerland. The couple then moved to Australia, where she worked briefly as a gold miner.

Personal life

At 19, Lawless became pregnant with Garth's child. In 1988, they married in Kalgoorlie, Australia. They returned to New Zealand and had a daughter, Daisy Lawless (born July 15, 1988). The couple divorced in 1995. Lawless married Xena executive producer, Robert Tapert, on March 28, 1998. Lawless and Tapert have two sons: Julius Robert Bay Tapert (born October 16, 1999) and Judah Miro Tapert (born May 7, 2002), both born in Auckland, New Zealand.

Acting career

In 1994, Lawless appeared in "Hercules and the Amazon Women," the television pilot for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In that episode, she played a man-hating Amazon named Lysia. She went on to play another character, Lyla, in the first season episode "As Darkness Falls," but her key role was given to her when she was asked to play a villainous warrior woman named Xena in the episode "The Warrior Princess" – aired in March 1995. Vanessa Angel had originally been cast in the role, but fell ill and was unable to travel to New Zealand for shooting. To differentiate between Xena and the similar Lysia, Lawless' hair, naturally ash blond, was dyed black. Xena subsequently returned in two more episodes of the first season of Hercules.

The character was popular enough that a spin-off series was created for her. Xena: Warrior Princess debuted on 4 September, 1995 (although Lawless appeared as Lyla once again, in the second season Hercules episode "Outcast" – aired in October 1995). Xena: Warrior Princess, like its parent program, was a hit, lasting six seasons, and Lawless became an international celebrity.

While taping an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in October 1996, Lawless suffered a fractured pelvis when the horse she was riding lost its footing in the studio parking lot. She made a complete recovery, and her absence from the Xena set ultimately had minimal impact on the show.

In 1997, Lawless was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine. Days earlier on 6 May 1997, Lawless inadvertently exposed a breast as she concluded a performance of the US national anthem at an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, California between the Mighty Ducks and Detroit Red Wings. Lawless was quoted in Newsweek as saying, "Obviously, I was mortified....It was quite a bit more exposure than I want".[2]

Lawless first appeared on Broadway in September 1997 in the Grease play remake, as the "bad girl" Rizzo character. She had wanted to play the lead role of Sandy, and later stated her belief that the producers had typecast her to play "bad girls" following her success as Xena. She said the Sandy character was very similar to her sheltered childhood, growing up in New Zealand with many protective older brothers.[3]

Lawless has since appeared onstage in the Vagina Monologues and as a television guest star in episodes of The Simpsons, The X-Files, Just Shoot Me!, Veronica Mars, Burn Notice, Less Than Perfect, Two and a half men, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She was also featured in the short-lived television series Tarzan. Lawless has made cameo appearances in the movies EuroTrip, Spider-Man and Boogeyman (2005). She returned to television in the TV movie Locusts! and its sequel Vampire Bats.

Lawless became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List, and therefore is entitled to use the postnominal letters, MNZM.

From 2005 to 2009, Lawless has had a recurring role in the television series Battlestar Galactica. She portrays D'Anna Biers, a reporter with the Fleet News Service who works on a critical documentary about the crew of the Galactica and is later revealed to be a Cylon (Number Three).

Lawless appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, in season 6 as herself. She goes on a date with Larry David, only to finally walk away after Larry makes an inappropriate suggestion about his underwear and the potential for sex between them.

Lawless competed as one of the celebrity singers on the reality TV show Celebrity Duets in 2006, finishing as the runner-up to winner Alfonso Ribeiro. She has also performed as a voice actor in several animated features.

In concert at the Roxy, 2007.
Photo by Amber Hewitt.

Lawless has a cult following in the lesbian community, largely because of Xena's ambiguous relationship with traveling companion Gabrielle.[4] Although Lawless is heterosexual, she has appeared at gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.[5] In a 2003 interview with Lesbian News magazine, she said that she had come to see Xena and Gabrielle's relationship as gay after viewing the series finale, though she has also stated on several occasions that she was undecided on the nature of the relationship while playing the role.[6]

Lawless returned to television on Nov. 10, 2008 in a guest-starring role on the hit CBS television series, CSI: Miami playing a madame with connections to a murder. She is also set to guest star in the show, The L Word, and also had a role in the Adam Sandler movie, Bedtime Stories, released Christmas 2008. Also in 2008, Lucy stars with her former Xena stuntwoman Zoe Bell in Sony (Crackle)'s new web series Angel of Death written by Ed Brubaker set to debut online in early 2009.[7]

In 2009 Lawless guest-starred on the hit HBO series, Flight of the Conchords as Paula, assistant to the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Lucy Lawless is set to co-star in the upcoming Starz original series, Spartacus. The show will be based on the life of the famous gladiator and the slave revolt he led. The show will be produced by long-time Xena producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert and is set to premiere in the early summer. Lucy Lawless will play the role of Lucretia, who owns a gladiator camp with her husband, Batiatus.

Lawless provided the voice of Goldmoon for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-DVD animated movie based on the novel of the same name, as well as Wonder Woman in the direct-to-video animated movie Justice League: The New Frontier.[8]

Charity

Lawless is a member of the board of trustees of the StarShip Foundation, the charity arm of the Starship Children's Health (hospital) which is part of the Auckland District Health Board.[9] It is set up to provide additional equipment, support and help to staff, patients and families.[10] She devotes much time and energy to fundraising for the organization. She recently sat for the New Zealand television series The Sitting [11], an arts series where celebrity portraits are produced during an interview session with the portraits later auctioned for charity (episode link)[12]. Lucy attended the auction where her portrait fetched the top price, with the whole event raising $39,000 for Starship. Lawless has often raised money for concerts and events, donates part of her salary in favor of the institution, and has sold some Xena costumes to contribute funds. Friday, 21 September is "Lucy Lawless Feel the Love Day".[13] The day is organised by the Official Lucy Lawless Fan Club and kicks off a week of charitable acts and donations by fans in honor and support of Lucy.

In May 2009 Lucy Lawless became a 'climate ambassador' for the Greenpeace 'Sign On' campaign. [14]

Moon

Lawless has also been referenced in astronomy. Astronomer Mike Brown nicknamed his newly discovered dwarf planet "Xena" - finding this name more convenient to use than the then-official designation, 2003 UB313]]. When this object was determined to be larger than Pluto, it gained international attention and forced a year-long debate among astronomers as to the definition of a planet.

The object's nickname "Xena" was widely used in the press. So popular did the name become that, when the New Scientist magazine polled the public on their preferred final name for the so-called tenth planet, "Xena" ranked no. 4.[15] Lawless rang Mike Brown in December 2005 to thank him for his "senseless act of beauty," and claimed that she "never dared hope [the name] would stick."[16] Eventually, both it and Pluto were deemed not to be planets, and were instead classified as dwarf planets.

Although "Xena" is now officially known as Eris Brown made an indirect tribute to Lawless by naming Eris's moon Dysnomia after the Greek goddess of lawlessness.[17]

Singing career

Since her role as Xena, Lawless has pursued a new career in singing after being a contestant on Celebrity Duets. She made her onstage debut at the Roxy in Hollywood on January 13, 2007. Lawless was welcomed by a sold out crowd for back-to-back concerts.

Concerts

  • January 13 - 14, 2007 - The Roxy Theater; Los Angeles
  • May 31 - June 1-2, 2007 - The Canal Room; New York City
  • October 5-6, 2007 - Buddy Guy's Legends; Chicago
  • January 25 - 26, 2008 - The Roxy Theater; Los Angeles
  • May 3-4, 2008 - Carling Academy Islington; London, England, UK

Albums

  • Come 2 Me
  • Come To Mama: Lucy Lawless In Concert: The Roxy Theater In Hollywood

Concert DVDs

  • Come To Mama: Lucy Lawless In Concert: The Roxy Theater In Hollywood
  • Gimme Some, Sugar: Lawless, NYC
  • Lucy Lawless Live In Chicago: Still Got The Blues

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Lucy Lawless Biography (1968-)
  2. ^ Lucy Lawless - Newsweek Magazine - Her Cup Runneth Over
  3. ^ http://www.lucylawless.info/grease/articles-photos.php
  4. ^ AfterEllen.com - Xena and Gabrielle: Lesbian Icons
  5. ^ Lucy and Renee in Sydney in 1999 - Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
  6. ^ Lesbian News
  7. ^ Hustvedt, Marc (2008-10-21). "Behind the Scenes with Crackle's 'Angel of Death' Zoe Bell". Tubefilter News. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  8. ^ Justice League: The New Frontier at IMDb
  9. ^ http://www.starship.org.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/1024
  10. ^ http://www.starship.org.nz/
  11. ^ http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/2098694
  12. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQxmz2bJv2Y
  13. ^ http://www.starship.org.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/1604
  14. ^ http://www.signon.org.nz
  15. ^ Your top 10 names for the tenth planet - space - 08 August 2005 - New Scientist
  16. ^ Messages from Lucy
  17. ^ SkyandTelescope.com - Homepage News - All Hail Eris and Dysnomia
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