TV Zone #136 -February 2001


Gabrielle's Hope
by Joe Nazarro

It seems hard to believe, but in a few weeks, filming will wrap on the final episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, one of the most successful adventure series in the history of syndicated television. But just how that episode ends is still very much up in the air. Will Xena (Lucy Lawless) ride off into the sunset with her long-time companion Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) and live happily ever after, or will they both go out fighting for their beliefs, in one final blaze of glory?


Well, there’s isn’t much point in asking O’Connor, who claims that she still hasn’t been told how the series will reach its conclusion. “Everyone asks Lucy and I how the show will end,” she insists, “but we still don’t know. It’s very bittersweet at the moment, because there aren’t many episodes left; I think there are only five more to do.”

The Final Hurdle
The actress is speaking from Auckland where the cast and crew of Xena are heading into their final block of filming. “Right now, we’re working on an episode that deals with the extermination of the centaurs. We reintroduce Ephiny’s character and meet her son as a grown man. And then we’re going to film a wonderful episode called When Fates Collide, which takes us out of our reality and explains what could happen if one person’s destiny was changed and how that would affect everyone else. I think that one is really interesting and quite well written. So we have those two coming up, and then we go into the musical and the last two episodes, which Rob [Tapert, the show’s executive producer and real-life husband of Lucy Lawless] is directing.

“Those two are actually one story, and I’m so excited that Rob is directing again. I think it was Year Four when he was last behind the camera, and for this to be his baby and to be ending is going to be profoundly sad, but it’s going to be a wonderful experience for us all to be together in the end like that. It must be a bit of a relief to know that he doesn’t have to prepare five more stories after he finishes directing, so that might ease the burden a bit.”

Darker Sixth
Compared to previous outings, the sixth season of Xena was a bit darker in many ways, from the Evil Dead like storyline of The Haunting of Amphipolis, to Xena’s graphic torture scenes in Who’s Gurkhan?, to Gabrielle’s near-roasting in The Abyss and near-decapitation in Legacy. “I definitely think it’s a dark year,” affirms O’Connor.
“One of our recurring themes is, what do you do with the one man who’s trying to exterminate a race? That seems to be our situation: do we have to exterminate him in order to keep the greater good intact? That’s a huge challenge.

"Being a hero show, nobody wants to see the hero kill anyone, and we’ve been approaching that theme time and time again this year. So to me that’s pretty dark. Roasting Gabrielle over a fire was actually for me, the most profound moment in the entire series. It was such an awful experience; I’ve never before felt completely violated in acting ever..."

Some of the changes in the series are much subtler. Gabrielle’s physical appearance for example, has continued to evolve into the formidable young warrior of recent seasons. “It’s funny,” reflects O’Connor, “I was just thinking about that after watching the profile of Lucy [for the E! Network in America] and seeing us in the early days. It’s really interesting for me to think about what I was doing physically at the time; I was lifting a lot of weights and eating carbohydrates in order to exercise as much as I was.

"I think I had this bizarre sense that I had to be a big strong woman in order to pull off this sort of role. I obviously had to realize that it didn’t look that attractive on camera, so I basically experimented over the years and tried to find what sort of exercise and diet suited my body type the most. It’s been really interesting, actually; I finally met with a nutritionist and worked out what sort of food is really good for you, because I’d been experimenting quite a bit. I tried vegetarianism for about a year, but I’m really pleased with the results [now], and how comfortable I feel with my lifestyle.”

While on the subject of life style choices, it seems fitting to acknowledge the show’s long-running subtext about just how deep the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle actually runs. “You know, we have an interesting episode coming up with our musical, where we play different characters. That’s when I really think we’ll embrace the gay community who have supported us all these years and hopefully have a ball with enjoying and celebrating that culture. I’m playing Sappho, and Lucy is playing her lover, it was Fred, but I think they’ve changed her name. Lucy is such a wonderful comedian that I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with the characters...”


Note: after this issue went to press, there was a big question mark over the musical episode as described above by Renee. Seems like it won't happen, sadly - Web. Ed.


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