Lucy Lawless is keen on revisiting her iconic role as Xena: Warrior Princess. Photo / NZ Herald.
Lucy Lawless is keen on revisiting her iconic role as Xena: Warrior Princess. Photo / NZ Herald.
Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless is keen on the idea of resurrecting Xena – but would rather do it on the big screen rather than shoot another TV series.
Lawless rocketed to global stardom almost 25-years ago, in the title role in the fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess, which was filmedin New Zealand and ran for seven seasons between 1995 and 2001.
The 51-year-old is returning to television in the Australian crime comedy drama series My Life Is Murder, but told the New York Post she remains open to revisiting her most famous character – although her husband, series co-creator Rob Tapert won't be involved.
Lucy Lawless stars in the Australian crime comedy drama series My Life Is Murder. Photo / Getty Images.
"Look, they tried to do it and get my husband in on it but he said 'I honestly cannot think of a way to do it better than I already did it'," Lawless explained.
"He's afraid he's going to make some really sh—y version. I made this comment during an interview like, 'Yeah, let's do it!' and got like 100 e-mails: 'Give us a call!'"
Lawless says she was left impressed and inspired after seeing Linda Hamilton was reprising her iconic role in a new Terminator film. She is holding out hope that there could be a similar way to revisit Xena together with her former co-star Renee O'Connor who played Gabrielle in the much loved series.
"I did see a promo with Linda Hamilton for the reboot of Terminator and I was like, 'Yes! They nailed it!'", she told the New York Post.
"It was admiration and jealousy and I was like, why are they not doing that with Xena? Bring back me and Renee as the ages we are now and hand the baton over. I'm not signing a six-year [TV] contract to play Xena, but as a movie? Great!"
Lucy Lawless is keen on revisiting her iconic role as Xena: Warrior Princess. Photo / NZ Herald.
Meanwhile, Lawless will star in My Life Is Murder as fearless private investigator Alexa Crowe, who works to solve mysterious crimes while juggling the demands of everyday life.
Lawless, who shot the 10-episode series in Melbourne, told the New York Post she was now in a position to focus on her career once more.
"I was in New Zealand raising my kids, and now that my kids don't seem to need me in the same way, the time was right," she said.
"[Series executive producer] Claire Tonkin contacted me on the day that I happened to be in Sydney for Gay Pride. I said, 'You've got an hour and a half on Sunday if you want to meet.' She was the right person at the right time with the right idea and it was time for me to step up. And I was close to home if my [17-year-old] son needed me."
Some of Australia's best acting talent will guest star in each episode of My Life Is Murder which is set to screen on TVNZ 1.
