> Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 20:25:51 -0800
> Subject: [ausxip-update] Lucy Interview - NZ Herald
>
> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10550531
>
> Lucy's big adventure
>
> 4:00AM Monday Jan 05, 2009
>
> New Zealander Lucy Lawless became an international television icon in
> the 1990s as the apparently fearless star of cult hit Xena: Warrior
> Princess. The part seemed tailor-made for the athletic actress, who'd
> originally intended to be an opera singer (until she discovered that
> opera singers follow a strict diet and can't stay out all night). Yet
> after 134 episodes Lawless called it a day and has spent most of the
> last few years raising her three children: Daisy, 19; Julius, 9; and
> Judah, 6. "Now my kids are relinquishing me and I'm ready to go back
> to work," Lawless says with a laugh.
>
> The actress dipped her toe in the water with a guest-starring role in
> the last two seasons of yet another cult hit, the sci-fi series
> Battlestar Galactica (seen here on C4), and is now starring in her
> first major film role in recent years. Bedtime Stories - out in
> cinemas now - is a Disney family comedy starring Adam Sandler and,
> alongside Lawless, a cast that also includes Courteney Cox, Keri
> Russell, fast-rising British comic Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths
> and Australian actor Guy Pearce.
>
> Adam Sandler plays Skeeter, a downtrodden hotel handyman who tells his
> niece and nephew elaborate stories, full of knights in armour and
> damsels in distress, that suddenly start to come true.
>
> The likeable and witty Lawless, sporting a severe black bob that made
> her virtually unrecognisable, talked to View about her role in the
> film, why she loves wigs, and how she has become used to the Los
> Angeles smog.
>
> View: So Adam Sandler is the put-upon hotel handyman. Who do you play?
>
> Lawless: Guy Pearce is the hotel manager and I play his wicked and
> twisted girlfriend, who's also the hotel concierge. He's putty in her
> deviant hands of course! The original brief description of the
> character was that she was a "40-ish ex-model", which I changed to
> "bitter 40-ish ex-model" because she never saw herself as ending up as
> a concierge in a bloody hotel and her way of managing her
> disappointment is to sink her hooks into some eligible male, in this
> case Guy Pearce, who is wonderfully smooth and effete in the role.
>
> View: And how about the jet black hair? Was that your idea?
>
> Lawless: Well, it's all about the wig! And it evolved, because I had
> something like a flower pot on my head at one point, but once I put on
> this particular wig we all said, "Oh that's the one!" And personally,
> the moment I put on a wig I feel different, like I'm Jim Carrey in The
> Mask. It's very fun!
>
> View: What was it about Bedtime Stories that made you want to get back to work?
>
> Lawless: Part of it was just about getting out of the house. I think
> it's what the kids wanted! I was in my middle child's room the other
> night, irritating him with all these facts about chameleons, and he
> just asked me to leave the room. And the youngest one has repeatedly
> begged me to go back to work because he's quite interested in
> television and films and thinks I might be able to introduce him to
> someone famous.
>
> View: So any film would have done?
>
> Lawless: [Laughs] No! But who wouldn't want to work with Adam Sandler?
> I've always thought he's a very solid actor, three-dimensional and
> just real. It's not a coincidence that he's this multimillion-dollar
> man. The film has also got this great cast and it's a big Disney
> production. I'm just thrilled to be included!
>
> View: Did you have to audition?
>
> Lawless:Yes, of course, and Adam Sandler in particular had to strongly
> say "I want Lucy Lawless" because I would not have been on the list of
> the top 50 actresses, not even the top 100 actresses, that Disney
> would have thought of.
>
> View: Is that because you've haven't worked much in recent years?
>
> Lawless:Partly that, and that people tell me it's going to be hard to
> get over the Xena stigma, although I can't say I have really given
> that much credence. It's not like I could do anything about it anyway
> and, you know, Xena was a really great experience and I really lived a
> lot doing it and I'm grateful for everything it gave me.
>
> View: Do you ever miss it?
>
> Lawless: Xena was a lot of fun, but it was also hard work and I had
> the pressure of being the star. But I love making films and
> television, I love being on set and I never complain about being here,
> particularly not on this film. This really is the best time I have
> ever had in my life.
>
> View: Why's that?
>
> Lawless: I think it really does come down to Adam Sandler and the
> director [Adam Shankman]. It's like having two really benevolent
> dictators, because they know how they want things to go and they're
> here to get the job done, but they want it to be enjoyable too. So I
> think a lot of their casting is based on not wanting to work with
> anyone who's a pain.
>
> View: Now you're planning to work more, does that mean spending more
> time in the States, too?
>
> Lawless: It's where the business is, yes. I've tried to divide my time
> between the US and New Zealand, but it's difficult, and I suddenly
> realised that I like it in Los Angeles anyway. Because when you first
> come here, especially from New Zealand, you go, "This is the ugliest,
> nastiest, greyest, smoggiest town in the world", and then your scale
> of beauty adjusts and suddenly you think, "Oh, isn't it beautiful, not
> too much smog today!"
>
> View: And do you have any other films or television in the offing?
>
> Lawless:The oddest thing is that Court TV wanted me to go and fly a
> jet fighter and have a duel with Muhammad Ali's daughter. You know, a
> girl-fight in the air! I had to tell them I couldn't do it for
> insurance reasons but when I first heard about it, I was like, "Yes,
> I'll do that", because it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things and
> I tend to jump at those opportunities. Other than that, I'm talking to
> people about some interesting television pilots. We'll see! I have to
> say that Bedtime Stories may have spoiled me a bit though because it
> has been such a fantastic experience. I mean, the thing is, once
> you've had a taste of Camp Sandler, I think it's hard to sign on
> anywhere else.
>
> Bedtime Stories is in cinemas now.
>
> ------------------------------------
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