"I like the one who plays me. She's kinda sexy."
—Xena, on Lucy Lawless
Lucille Frances Lawless MNZM (née Ryan; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand 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 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys 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, Xena: Warrior Princess, 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 Grease as Betty Rizzo. She made a cameo appearance on Spider-Man as a punk rock girl. But her next really big role would not be until the new Battlestar Galactica, where she played Intrepid Reporter D'Anna Biers, AKA Cylon Number Three.
Her next big roles were in Spartacus: Blood and Sand as Lucretia, No Ordinary Family as Helen Burton, and Parks and Recreation as Diane Lewis, a love interest of Ron Swanson.
She lives with her husband (Xena co-creator Robert Tapert) 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 "lawlessness."
Roles
- Hercules and the Amazon Women as Lysia (1994)
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as Lyla and Xena (1995)
- Xena: Warrior Princess as Xena, Meg, Diana, and Leah (1995-2001)
- Celebrity Deathmatch As Herself (voice) (2000)
- Just Shoot Me! as Stacy (2001)
- The X-Files as Shannon McMahon (2001)
- Spider-Man as Punk Rock Girl (2002)
- EuroTrip as Madame Vandersexxx (2004)
- Two and a Half Men as Pamela (2005)
- Battlestar Galactica (2003) as D'Anna "Number Three" Biers (2005-2009)
- Veronica Mars as Agent Moris (2006)
- Burn Notice as Evelyn (2007)
- CSI: Miami as Audrey Yates (2008)
- Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight as Goldmoon (2008)
- Justice League: The New Frontier as Wonder Woman (2008)
- Bedtime Stories as Aspen (2008)
- Flight of the Conchords as Paula (2009)
- The L Word as Sgt. Marybeth Duffy (2009)
- Bitch Slap as Mother Superior (2009)
- Spartacus: Blood and Sand as Lucretia (2010-2013)
- No Ordinary Family as Helen Burton/Mrs. X (2011)
- Parks and Recreation as Diane Lewis (2012-2015)
- Top of the Lake as Caroline Platt (2013)
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Isabelle "Izzy" Hartley (2014)
- Salem as Countess Marburg (2015)
- Ash vs. Evil Dead as Ruby (2015-2018)
- Evil Dead: The Game (2023) as Ruby
- Mosley as Bera (2019)
- My Life Is Murder as Alexa (2019)
Tropes
- Action Girl: Tends to play these.
- Awesome, Dear Boy: 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.
- …But I Play One on TV: Mostly as Xena.
- Due to Xena's perceived relationship with Gabrielle by fans in Xena: Warrior Princess, 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 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. character, who is strongly hinted at being in a relationship with Saffron Burrows' character - Burrows being quite the LGBT icon in her own right, too.note
- And for the LGBT icon hat trick, her Ash vs. Evil Dead 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 Ambiguously Bi; 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 Played for Laughs. When she guest starred on The Simpsons 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.
- Due to Xena's perceived relationship with Gabrielle by fans in Xena: Warrior Princess, 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.")
- Cast the Runner-Up: She turned down the role of Ellen in Battlestar Galactica, and they ended up creating the character D'anna Biers for her.
- Dye Hard: 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 almost jarring.
◊ - Dyeing for Your Art: She's a blonde but dyed her hair dark brown or black for Xena.
- Fake American:
- 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 Saturday Night Live in 1998, she did a spot-on impression of Stevie Nicks 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 As Herself on The Simpsons, she used an American accent.
- Fake Brit: She uses The Queen's Latin for her role as Lucretia on Spartacus, like the majority of New Zealand cast members.
- Friendship on the Set: Renee O'Connor, who played Gabrielle, has remained a close friend ever since their Xena days, and attended her wedding to Rob Tapert.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: On Galactica as Number Three◊. Not to mention her signature role of Xena.◊
- Irony as She Is Cast: 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.
- Ms. Fanservice: While she was never a professional model, she did win the Mrs New Zealand Beauty Contest in 1989, and of course played the scantily clad Amazonian Beauty Xena. Funnily enough, the first nude scenes of her career didn't come until she was already in her forties.
- Older Than They Look: She is in her fifties, but looks to be in her thirties.
- Playing Against Type: 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 Battlestar Galactica (2003) and Spartacus: Blood and Sand. She's also appeared in sitcoms such as Flight of the Conchords and Parks and Recreation.
- Real-Life Relative: Her husband Rob Tapert was one of the producers on Spartacus.
- Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: 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.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: 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.
- Stage Names: 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.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's five foot ten inches (177 cm) tall.
- Typecasting: She recalls wanting to play Sandy in a Broadway production of Grease, but getting cast as Rizzo because it fit into her Good Bad Girl typecasting.
- What Could Have Been:
- She was asked to audition for Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, but had to decline due to her pregnancy.
- Lucretia was supposed to be Killed Off for Real 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.
- A Wizard Did It: She is the Trope Namer. It comes from her appearance in the The Simpsons "Treehouse Of Horror X" segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena".
