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->''"I like the one who plays me. She's kinda sexy."''
-->--'''[[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]]''', on Lucy Lawless

Lucille Frances Lawless [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever MNZM]] (née Ryan; born 29 March 1968) is a UsefulNotes/NewZealand actor, musician, and singer. She began as a singer, then as a jazz musician, and transitioned to acting in the 1990s. Her first major role was in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' pilot ''Hercules and the Amazon Women'' as Lysia the Amazon. She later played Lyla in the regular show, and then appeared in one episode, "The Warrior Princess," as...

...Xena. The character proved so popular she got her own show, ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', which made Lawless a star. Xena ran for six seasons, and Lawless continued to act in other roles. She appeared on the Broadway revival of ''Film/{{Grease}}'' as Betty Rizzo. She made a cameo appearance on ''Film/SpiderMan1'' as a punk rock girl. But her next really big role would not be until the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', where she played IntrepidReporter D'Anna Biers, AKA Cylon Number Three.

Her next big roles were in ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' as Lucretia, ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'' as Helen Burton, and ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' as Diane Lewis, a love interest of Ron Swanson.

She lives with her husband (''Xena'' co-creator Creator/RobertTapert) and their two children, and also has a daughter from her previous marriage. She is a member of Greenpeace, and was arrested in 2012 with five other activists for occupying an oil-drilling ship for 77 hours, though the $545,000 in compensation requested by Shell Oil was reduced to an $547 fine and 120 hours of community service. Lawless has since vowed to remain with Greenpeace.

The dwarf planet Eris (discovered in 2005) was originally nicknamed Xena (after Lawless's iconic role), and its moon Gabrielle for Xena's closest companion. Later on the moon was officially named Dysnomia, which is Greek for "[[BilingualBonus lawlessness]]."

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!Roles

* ''[[Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules and the Amazon Women]]'' as Lysia (1994)
* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' as Lyla and Xena (1995)
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' as Xena, Meg, Diana, and Leah (1995-2001)
* ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' [[AsHimself As Herself]] (voice) (2000)
* ''Series/JustShootMe'' as Stacy (2001)
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' as Shannon [=McMahon=] (2001)
* ''Film/SpiderMan1'' as Punk Rock Girl (2002)
* ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'' as Madame Vandersexxx (2004)
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' as Pamela (2005)
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' as D'Anna "Number Three" Biers (2005-2009)
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'' as Agent Moris (2006)
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' as Evelyn (2007)
* ''Series/CSIMiami'' as Audrey Yates (2008)
* ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}: Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' as Goldmoon (2008)
* ''[[ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier Justice League: The New Frontier]]'' as Franchise/WonderWoman (2008)
* ''Film/{{Bedtime Stories|2008}}'' as Aspen (2008)
* ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'' as Paula (2009)
* ''Series/TheLWord'' as Sgt. Marybeth Duffy (2009)
* ''Film/BitchSlap'' as Mother Superior (2009)
* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' as Lucretia (2010-2013)
* ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'' as Helen Burton/Mrs. X (2011)
* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' as Diane Lewis (2012-2015)
* ''Series/TopOfTheLake'' as Caroline Platt (2013)
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' as Isabelle "Izzy" Hartley (2014)
* ''Series/{{Salem}}'' as Countess Marburg (2015)
* ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'' as Ruby (2015-2018)
** ''VideoGame/EvilDeadTheGame'' (2023) as Ruby
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mosley}}'' as Bera (2019)
* ''Series/MyLifeIsMurder'' as Alexa (2019)
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!Tropes

* ActionGirl: Tends to play these.
* AwesomeDearBoy: Although Lucretia is supposedly killed off in the finale of ''Spartacus: Blood & Sand'', she and John Hannah enjoyed playing against type so much they agreed to come back for a last-minute prequel series ''Gods of the Arena''.
* ButIPlayOneOnTV: Mostly as Xena.
** Due to [[HideYourLesbians Xena's perceived relationship with Gabrielle]] by fans in ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', Lawless is considered to be a "lesbian icon", despite being straight, and takes it seriously. She has appeared at many gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. (While the show was on she remained somewhat undecided about the nature of the relationship, but by the time the finale rolled around, Lawless acknowledged that it wasn't just a thing, saying: "Nope, they're married, man.")
*** Her status as a lesbian icon is further acknowledged in her ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' character, who is strongly hinted at being in a relationship with Creator/SaffronBurrows' character - Burrows being quite the LGBT icon in her own right, too.[[note]]This would make them the first same-sex couple in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse; however, the first ''unambiguously'' LGBT secondary character didn't turn up for another whole year, and it took another six months on top of that to get an LGBT character who's part of the main cast of a different show in the franchise.[[/note]]
*** And for the LGBT icon hat trick, her ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'' character, Ruby, is one of the few women never to be even slightly won over by Ash's classical good looks and cheesy pick-up lines... which may have something to do with her increasingly apparent infatuation with Amanda.
*** Even before she was cast as Xena, she played a lesbian truck driver in the short film ''Peach''.
*** Likely as a nod to this, Lucretia in ''Spartacus'' is AmbiguouslyBi; sharing a few kisses with Illythia, and the prequel ''Gods of the Arena'' seems to outright confirm it; with Lucretia being kissed by Gaia and visibly enjoying it.
** An in-story example PlayedForLaughs. When she guest starred on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' [[WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror Halloween episode]], she keeps having to remind people she is Lucy Lawless, not Xena. At the end of the episode, when she flies Bart and Lisa home (remember, animated), Lisa comments that "Xena can't fly!" Lucy ''again'' mentions she's ''not'' Xena.
* CastTheRunnerUp: She turned down the role of Ellen in ''Battlestar Galactica'', and they ended up creating the character D'anna Biers for her.
* DyeHard: Her hair is naturally ash blonde, but she is best known as the dark-haired Xena, to the point that seeing her with her natural hair color is [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CvHX-lltMys/TkZU-zomt-I/AAAAAAAAFqM/QBnGD2tjwI8/s1600/Lucy+Lawless+Hot+Beauty+Actress+from+New+Zealand+%25281%2529.jpg almost jarring.]]
* DyeingForYourArt: She's a blonde but dyed her hair dark brown or black for Xena.
* FakeAmerican:
** Most viewers have ''no'' idea she is from New Zealand, largely because Xena was played with an American accent. D'Anna Biers on ''Galactica'' was probably one of the highest-profile role she's had where she used, if not her real accent, at least one very close to it.
** When she hosted ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in 1998, she did a spot-on impression of Music/StevieNicks in the "Stevie Nicks' Fajita Roundup" sketch, singing some of Nicks' most iconic songs in her distinctive style with Tex-Mex-themed lyrics.
** Even appearing AsHerself on ''The Simpsons'', she used an American accent.
* FakeBrit: She uses TheQueensLatin for her role as Lucretia on ''Spartacus'', like the majority of New Zealand cast members.
* FriendshipOnTheSet:[[invoked]] Renee O'Connor, who played Gabrielle, has remained a close friend ever since their ''Xena'' days, and attended her wedding to Rob Tapert.
* HellBentForLeather: On Galactica as [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cX03JySIRGQ/TF1f6B_otoI/AAAAAAAAC0s/puCY0aZ7nZ0/s1600/number-three.jpg Number Three]]. Not to mention her [[http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/old_xena.jpg signature role of Xena.]]
* IronyAsSheIsCast: On ''Spartacus'' she plays a natural brunette who frequently wears blonde wigs (and red, later revealed to be a tribute to her deceased friend Gaia). She herself is a natural blonde who has to be brunette for roles. Likewise, Lucretia worries about her fertility and characters comment on how unusual it is for her not to have had children at her age; Lucy by contrast was a very young mother, having had her daughter at only 20.
* MsFanservice: While she was never a professional model, she did win the Mrs New Zealand BeautyContest in 1989, and of course played the scantily clad AmazonianBeauty Xena. Funnily enough, the first nude scenes of her career didn't come until she was already in her forties.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She is in her fifties, but looks to be in her thirties.
* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]] While her intial claim to fame came from the rather cheesy ''Xena'' series, she later became known to appear in considerably darker shows like the reimagined ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' and ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand''. She's also appeared in sitcoms such as ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'' and ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
* RealLifeRelative:[[invoked]] Her husband Rob Tapert was one of the producers on ''Spartacus''.
* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle:[[invoked]] The only reason Xena is dark-haired is because she had previously appeared on the show as another character called Lysia with her natural blonde hair, and producers wanted to distinguish the two.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Forced a few of these during her time starring on "Xena", most notably, Xena's body switching exploits with Callisto lasting an episode longer than intended when Lawless broke her pelvis, and Xena's pregnancy when Lawless became pregnant.
* StageNames: A mild example. Her full name is Lucille, but was always nicknamed Lucy anyway, and Lawless was her first husband's surname, which she kept after their 1995 divorce.
* StatuesqueStunner: She's five foot ten inches (177 cm) tall.
* TypeCasting:[[invoked]] She recalls wanting to play Sandy in a Broadway production of ''Grease'', but getting cast as Rizzo because it fit into her GoodBadGirl typecasting.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:[[invoked]]
** She was asked to audition for Galadriel in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', but had to decline due to her pregnancy.
** Lucretia was supposed to be KilledOffForReal in the finale of ''Blood & Sand''. When Andy Whitfield passed away and Lesley Ann Brandt also had to be recast, Steven S De Knight opted to keep as many new faces around as possible to help with the transition.
* AWizardDidIt: She is the TropeNamer. It comes from her appearance in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse Of Horror X" segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena".
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