Topps Xena: Warrior Princess Magazine #1
-October 1997
The
Many Faces of Renee O'Connor
by -?-
"I
always wanted to become an actress," Reneé O'Connor says with exuberance
of her TV character, Gabrielle, courageous sidekick to Xena: Warrior
Princess. "I mean, it was sort of like an obsession. I took acting
classes outside of school, and within school. Anything having to do
with theater. God, I was such a ham!"
With her series now the highest-rated in first-run syndication, Reneé's
obsession seems to be paying off in a big way. A transplanted Texan
with a passion for good drama, challenging opportunities and Mexican
food, O'Connor is frequently awed by the good fortune that has graced
her career, and the solid friendships she's developed with the Xena
cast and crew.
"We're really a surrogate family, and Lucy is like my big sister,"
the 26 year-old relates warmly, adding, "I can tell Lucy anything.
Probably more information than she needs or wants to know!"
Away from home in the wilds of New Zealand (not that wild, actually
- "it's cosmopolitan, like San Francisco"), the young actress immediately
bonded with her colleagues, and, if the blooper tapes are any indication,
she's working on a very happy if somewhat loopy set. For instance,
in Xena's classic vampire episode, "Girls Just Wanna Have
Fun," a befanged Lawless flubbed her line and couldn't resist
belting out "Deep in the Heart of Texas" in response. She was
immediately joined by O'Connor, also sporting vampire teeth, and the
result was captured on film and is frequently shown to amused fans
at conventions.
"That was so funny," O'Connor recalls with a shake of the head. "It
isn't very often that we 'lose it,' but when we do it's hilarious.
Sometimes all Lucy and I have to do is look at each other and we crack
up." A good way to get through a typically arduous shoot, everyone
agrees.
O'Connor began her association with Renaissance's unique approach
to mythology back in 1995, winning the lead female role in Hercules
and the Lost Kingdom, second of the now-legendary Herc telefeatures.
The character she played was named Deianeira.
"There was a certain amount of confusion over that," O'Connor explains,
noting that actress Tawney Kitean played the "same" character exactly
one episode later as a more mature woman who actually winds up marrying
Hercules. "Originally, I believe, she was going to be a grown-up version
of the Deianeira I played. But after they finished the script and
started filming, they decided not to go in that direction, because
they thought it was too much of a stretch. So they decided to have
my character be a young girl who just happens to have the same name.
Obviously, the older Deianeira is Hercules' true love."
Whatever. Deianeira, as portrayed by O'Connor, evolved from a feisty
ragamuffin to a polished princess before the two-hour movie was finished,
and this believable transformation caught the eye of executive producer
Rob Tapert. "We were very impressed with Reneé," he recalls,
so much so that Renaissance offered her an important part in Darkman
II, their 1995 direct-to-video sequel to Sam Raimi's big-screen
bit.
And then came Gabrielle. "I didn't meet with Lucy for the audition,"
O'Connor remembers. "I was taking acting classes and I studied the
role very carefully. In some ways Gabrielle was like (young) Deianeira,
but in other ways she was different. Finally, I went to dinner with
Lucy and we could tell there was some kind of chemistry going on there.
I think Lucy knew I had the part by then, but I wasn't so sure."
Now a full-fledged series, Xena: Warrior Princess began its
epic storyline, with the lead character seeking atonement for an avalanche
of sins and her feisty sidekick, a teenage runaway, embarking on an
exciting new life of discovery and adventure.
"In the beginning of the show, there wasn't as much written for Gabrielle,"
remembers O'Connor. "I really had to discover what her story would
be, sort of develop a sub-text for myself, and take her on her own
journey. Then, luckily, the writers started giving her more to do
and she definitely evolved into this separate being..."
A being that keeps evolving and maturing, very much like her portrayer,
creating a natural parallel development that the show's creative staff
embraces wholeheartedly. Although designed pretty much as Xena's devoted,
fast-talking foil, life-affirming Gabrielle is now utilized as an
emotional stabilizer for the frequently haunted Warrior Princess,
the person in the story most viewers can relate to and feel comfortable
with.
"I guess it's a classic bonding thing," O'Connor suggests. "You know,
the hero and the sidekick. I believe that Xena and Gabrielle have
a relationship that is so profound that, no matter what, there will
always be a love between them. It's what I call 'a marriage of friendship.'
And I don't think they'll ever separate."
Of course, all this exciting career success requires rigorous work
and dedication. Except for various hiatuses, O'Connor must live in
New Zealand all year, get up at 4:30 every morning and work a 12-hour
filming day. When she eventually returns ho to her one-bedroom apartment
in Freeman's Bay, the exhausted actress has to prepare for the next
day's scenes. "I always read an episode script at least three times,"
she explains "so that the night before we are required to shoot a
scene I am word perfect."
Now going into its third year and at the peak of popularity, Xena:
Warrior Princess promises some interesting surprises next season.
"We will be traveling a bit more this year - you'll see us go to different
countries, like China," O'Connor points out, noting that the production
crew is filming in other parts of the north island and the visual
possibilities are limitless. "This is fantastic for us and should
also be pretty amazing for our audience, because you'll see different
cultures and different forms of fighting," she promises.
It's been a interesting journey from the Texas suburb of Katy to the
plains, mountains and communities of New Zealand, and right now Reneé
O'Connor is, well, on top of the world. "I owe a great deal to Gabrielle,
in every way," she says earnestly. "Since I've come out here and since
the role is so demanding, I've taken up more traditionally masculine
sports, like boxing and kickboxing and more of the martial arts. I
feel much stronger and much more confident than I did when I first
began the series. I'm definitely becoming a woman."
And what advice does this beautiful, creative, strong-willed woman
have for young people who want to follow her lead and land a career
in show business?
"My advice is: stay 'in your community and try to work on student
films and do neighborhood theater," O'Connor says firmly. "A lot of
people go to California and just get lost in the whole system. They
try so hard to become famous, to get a job, when they really haven't
been trained. I've been influenced a great deal by the actors here,
including Lucy, because most of them are classically trained. They
use their voices in different ways, they use their bodies... and I
think, coming from California, we have forgotten how to do that. Many
people are cast for how they look.
"So I would suggest that people really try to expand and challenge
themselves, look beyond what people expect of you and try to do something
different..."
Sound advice from a successful actress with years of rewarding creative
challenges ahead of her.
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