The Katy Times (Katy, TX) -April 27 1997
The
Kid's Doing Great!
Taylor
grad still awed by Xena success.
by Dave Mundy
Some
people worry about it raining on their homecoming parade. Reneé O'Connor
takes just the opposite view.
"This is great! The weather in Houston is everything I remember,"
O'Connor sniggered, tongue-in-cheek. "It's like I'm 16 all over again.
It's fantastic being here, rolling in the rain."
Those who might not immediately recognize the name of the 1989 Taylor
High graduate certainly wouldn't doubt the wry comment coming out
of the mouth of O'Connor's "other" self, however. O'Connor stars as
fast-talking young Gabrielle, Xena's plucky traveling companion and
devoted best friend, in the hit syndicated series Xena: Warrior
Princess. She flew into Houston Friday afternoon as part of a
whirlwind visit which included dropping by the High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts, where she studied her sophomore and junior
years before finishing at Taylor, for that school's 25th anniversary
celebration.
"This evening, I want to spend some time with my family, eat some
Mexican food, all the things you remember," said O'Connor in a telephone
interview. "It'll be great to see some of my old teachers at the reunion
tomorrow afternoon, and I'll probably try to visit a few friends in
Nottingham.
"It's such a short trip, so I want to spend as much quality time with
my family as I can," she added. "It's just so great to be back."
She remains startled by the spectacular success of Xena, but
gives credit to the writers for good stories and the show's star,
Lucy Lawless.
"I had no idea this would be such a success. The writers are constantly
challenging us," O'Connor said. "We're not proper Shakespeare or anything,
but we're still dealing with human elements that can be challenging.
It's more of a stylized version of the world and the story of a friendship
between two women."
She describes Gabrielle as something of an adventuring poet.
"I was excited about the chance to play a spirited girl like Gabrielle,"
she said. "She's more of a storyteller, but she's the sentimental
side to Xena."
She said she prefers the more comedic episodes of the series, her
favorite being one entitled "A Day in the Life."
"Lucy and I basically played off each other's characters. That is
so hard to match your words and movements to what someone else is
doing." The role in Xena, is far from O'Connor's only credit,
however. In a relatively short time, she's done an extensive array
of work in both television and feature films. O'Connor first came
to the attention of Xena executive producers Rob Tapert and
Sam Raimi when an audition won her the role of the young Delaneira
in their two-hour "Action Pack" adventure Hercules and the Lost
Kingdom. They were so impressed by her performance opposite Hercules
star Kevin Sorbo, they signed her for a starring role in Darkman
II: The Return of Durant, a feature released on home video in
July 1995.
Prior to that, she co-starred with Ellen Burstyn and Sheryl Lee in
the ABC movie Follow the River, portraying a young woman captured
by Shawnee Indians, and played a woman who hires Rockford as her bodyguard
in CBS' The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise, which was
initially broadcast in May, 1995.
She began studying acting at the age of 12 at Houston's Alley Theatre,
and later attended Houston's High School of the Performing and Visual
Arts before spending her senior year at Taylor.
She signed with Disney during her senior year at Taylor in 1989, starring
in the Teen Angel serial, which was featured on The Disney
Channel's Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to star in Match
Point, another serial. That same year, she moved to Los Angeles
and soon landed a featured role in the episode of Tales from the
Crypt that marked Arnold Schwarzenegger's directing debut.
O'Connor went on to portray Cheryl Ladd's daughter in Danielle Steel's
Changes, and appeared in the NBC movie The Flood. Her most
recent theatrical film role was that of Julia Wilkes in Disney's The
Adventures of Huck Finn, starring Elijah Wood. She also guest-starred
as the daughter of a murdered couple in an episode of the acclaimed
ABC television series NYPD Blue.
Nowadays, the production schedule in Auckland, New Zealand, where
Xena is filmed, doesn't allow much time; a three-week break
in April and an eight-week break in August. She's taken up horseback
riding, rock climbing and kickboxing. She jogs and lifts weights to
keep in shape for her work on the show, which has become increasingly
more physical as her character has gradually learned to defend herself
under Xena's tutelage. When not in Auckland, she makes her home in
Austin, where her mother and stepfather, Sandra and Eddie Wilson,
own the famous Austin restaurant Threadgill's.
O'Connor said she hasn't made plans beyond Xena.
"I feel I've learned so much in the last two years, I'd like to
stay in television," she said. "Actually, it just depends on the work,
as long as the writing is quality material and you feel passionate
about the character."
[back
to articles index]